Clothes Moths
Tineidae
General Information
The larvae of clothes moths feed on cloth fibers, leaving small holes in your fabrics. Their favorite meals include animal-based fibers like silk, wool, cashmere, angora, and fur. Help safeguard your family’s clothes from these fabric-feasting pests with easy tips for how to banish moths in the closet.
- Clothes moths are sometimes called closet moths or wool moths.
- Unlike most moths, clothes moths are not attracted to light.
- They are very weak fliers, so they are more commonly seen crawling across garments and the other items they infest.
- A female may deposit 100 to 300 moth eggs. The eggs take 1 to 2 weeks to hatch into the larval stage during the summer or in a heated room. 1
- It is the moth larvae, not the adult moths, that eat and destroy fabrics.
- Moth larvae produce visible silk casings or webbing as they feed.
Size
Color
Bite or Sting
Wings
Commonly mistaken for
Additional details
- Clothes moths will infest clothing and other stored fabrics that are made of any natural fibers or fiber blends.
- They are most commonly found in closets, dresser drawers, attics, basements, and other areas where garments are stored.
- Clothes moths come inside to feed on fabrics that are made of silk, wool, cashmere, angora, and fur.
- Clothes moths will feed on cloth fibers and leave small holes in your fabrics.
- Keep clothes brushed and cleaned, especially items that will be stored for any length of time.
- Clean fabrics stained with food or perspiration before storing them because these items are attacked by clothes moths most often.
- Sweep or vacuum regularly to remove woolen lint or hair from floors, shelves, and drawers.
- Clothing bags, cedar closets, and cedar chests provide protection only when stored materials are air-tight and free from infestation before storage begins.
- Look for clothes moths in the folds of your clothing as well as dark corners of the closet.
Solutions for Clothes Moths
Flies, mosquitoes, or wasps buzzing a little too close for comfort? Raid® Flying Insect Killer works on contact — both indoors and outdoors — with no lingering chemical odor.
Highlights:
Raid® Flying Insect Killer is specially formulated to kill a number of flying insects including flies, wasps, hornets, and mosquitoes.
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- Available in 15 oz., 18 oz., and 20 oz. sizes.
Kills flies, mosquitoes and listed bugs
Highlights:
Use this product to kill flies, mosquitoes and other listed bugs for up to 6 hours.
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- Discreet design
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*American cockroaches and Argentine ants, and applied on non-porous surfaces
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Raid® Max Perimeter Protection helps keep listed bugs out and leaves no odor or oily residue (see label for details).
Highlights:
- Kills ants, fleas, flies, gnats, roaches, spiders, centipedes, stink bugs and more (See label for full list)
- Leaves no odor oily residue
- For indoor and outdoor use
- Spray outdoors, around doors, windows, and along your home's foundations
- Spray indoors along floor boards, door and window frames
- Use in hard-to-reach places where long-term control is needed
- Perimeter Protection kills 10x more roaches than the leading competitor* (*Based on 48 hour mortality rates of German and American cockroaches in laboratory testing after five-minute exposure to a one-day aged deposit of product on hardwood plywood panels)
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Raid® Multi Insect Killer is specially formulated to kill both crawling and flying insects.
- Kills common listed household insects.
- Also available in Orange Breeze scent.
- Available in 15 oz. size.
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Raid® Flea Killer Plus Fogger allows you to treat an entire room with a water-based formula that kills fleas and hatching eggs for up to four months.
- Available in 15 oz. size.
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