My pantry has exploded!

[member234098]

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Edited by member234098 - 5/26/12 at 11:01pm

[hildare]

they are hell to get rid of.  the traps aren't working?? 

maybe increase the # of traps.  my dh had a store that had grain products and one shipment came with the evil moths, and he tried everything but the traps did eventually work.  it has nothing to do with your cleanliness, mama!  those things are evil!  dh had also called a pest control company and they told him that they could spray but it wouldn't help much if at all, and that the traps were the best way to deal with it. 

one other thing to try-- can you move your houseplants outside temporarily?  i think i remember (not sure about this though) that they can live in the soil and reproduce there if nothing else is available. 

for your pantry, if you can, try to store everything in those really tight sealing tupperwares. 

[member234098]

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Edited by member234098 - 5/26/12 at 11:00pm

[insidevoice]

Originally Posted by miriam 

Just to add:  I have a rule in my home that when one returns from a trip, the suitcase goes to the laundry room immediately.  This is to avoid BEDBUGS!  Oh, I scratch to just think about them!

I won't even let the bags in the house.  They stay outside and I put the clothes to be washed into a plastic bag to directly transport to the laundry.  Nope, no paranoia here... 

[member234098]

I

Edited by member234098 - 5/26/12 at 11:00pm

[hildare]

Originally Posted by miriam 

A reminder:  I live near open fields. In 27 years I have had only one mouse in the house.   I do keep D-Con in a corner in the pantry.  There were moth hatchings in the old D-Con that I had forgotten about; so no mice, but the moths had a field day.

if that isn't proof that they are evil, nothing is.  sporting in the poison, indeed.

[kayleesmom]

Originally Posted by insidevoice 

I won't even let the bags in the house.  They stay outside and I put the clothes to be washed into a plastic bag to directly transport to the laundry.  Nope, no paranoia here... 

I do the same thing I hate bugs

[kitchensqueen]

This thread terrifies me. :-(

[Earthy Mama]

We were infested with pantry moths. I had to throw everything away that was a grain. I cleaned all of my cabinets really well. Now, everything is sealed up in glass jars. It was so disgusting.

[Shantimama]

Moths don't come because your kitchen and pantry aren't clean, they come because they were already lurking in some package of dry goods you purchased. I have had to deal with them a couple of times over the years and all it took to get rid of them was completely emptying the cupboards, scrubbing everything down, wiping containers off as I returned them to the cover and throwing out suspicious packages. I now keep a lot of my dried goods in the freezer until I need them so that if I discover another infestation I won't have to discard much food.

[beanma]

I've had them in flour before, but they never caused a whole infestation because the flour was sealed in a jar or in the freezer. I didn't realize they were in it, though, and made cooked playdough with it for dd's preschool class, then I saw the little cooked larva and decided that the other parents probably wouldn't want their kids playing with that playdough, so I had to start over. I have also had them in birdseed, but I keep that outside. Ugh!

[SweetSilver]

Those suckers can grow in the folds of packaging.  I've found them in salt and pepper flakes.  You can't have any paper whatsoever *anywhere* until they are completely gone.  All lids should be absolutely, positively excruciatingly tightly closed.  Come Passover season, take some inspiration from our Jewish mamas and throw out everything flour-based.  Well, you could do that now, of course..... and maybe you need to!