Moth damage information

123 Cleaners offers a specialised moth damaged clothing and garment cleaning service to guarantee the complete elimination of moth larve. All items are either dry cleaned or laundered using special chemical additives along with extra long program cycles to ensure complete disinfection.

This service only applies to items that can be removed from site and cleaned in our processing factory. You can visit our processing shop or our van service covers all of London and beyond.

We recommend the total cleaning of your wardrobe and similar household items to ensure that no larvae remain. As always with 123 cleaners you can be assured of the best prices possible especially with our bulk discounts.

We also offer a moth holes repair service as well as various products to ensure they dont return.

More info on fabrics oldest enemy....

Often new holes in your garments are put down to wear and tear or even to damage by your dry cleaner but actually it's the fault of fabric’s oldest enemy, the moth. Moths are unfortunately a common household pest that can cause many hundreds of pounds worth of damage. The worst damage is normally seen on items which have been stored with food and body odors such as jumpers. Many of the little holes will appear in the armpit, front or lap areas of a garment.

The damage is usually confined to wools, silks, hair fibers or furs—all protein fibres. Close examination of the damage (Pre cleaned) usually reveals the presence of silken webs that are spun by the larvae. It is here that the mole holes develop.

Two kinds of moths are largely responsible for damage to the textiles: the webbing clothes moth and the casemaking clothes moth. Both are pale yellow or straw-colored, and can be mistaken for the Indian meal moth, which lays eggs in flour and cornmeal.

Clothes moths are difficult to find because they avoid light, doing their worst at night, in dark closets and in storage chests. It’s the larvae that do the damage, though, and female moths can lay up to 300 eggs at a time. Eggs hatch in 6 to 20 days, depending on the temperature.

Prevention

Cedar closets and cedar blocks smell wonderful, but cedar oil vapor only kills young larvae, not the mature moths, and cedar-lined closets only have a useful life of about three years. Freezing is an effective way to kill both moths and larvae. And liquid dry-cleaning solvents kill moths and larvae during the immersion process, but won’t keep them away long-term. Clothes moths find their way into the smallest as well as the largest homes.

What about mothballs? A mothball is not a repellent, but an exterminator. As mothballs evaporate, they produce fumes that slowly kill insects. In order for them to be effective, the storage space needs to be airtight so that the chemical can reach high enough concentration to act as a fumigant.

Dry cleaning or laundering items in hot water (temperature above 50c ( for 30 minutes) kills all stages of insects. This is the most common and effective method for controlling clothes moths in clothing, blankets, and other articles. (Because many woolen garments should not be washed in hot water, dry cleaning may be the only suitable cleaning option.)

If you've had a moth infestation and you'd like to clean all your clothes to eliminate any further damage we at 123 Cleaners can help. Our dry cleaning and special laundering programs will completely eradicate the moth larvae. Contact us for further advice and ask about our bulk discounts.

Tips

• Keep fabrics clean - Insects are less likely to feed on clean fabrics than on heavily soiled ones. Clothes moths are attracted to articles soiled by food, beverages, perspiration and urine, rather than the clean wool itself.
• Keep your house clean. Vacuum under furniture, along baseboards, in closets and around vents and draperies. Get rid of full vacuum cleaner bags promptly, as they may contain eggs, larvae or adult insects.
• Store out-of-season clothes properly. Dry-clean or wash them in hot water (above 120 degrees F for 30 minutes) before storing. Store clothes in an airtight container.
• Place mothballs in airtight containers, and include a layer of paper to keep clothing from coming in contact with the insecticides.