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cimoreneWe ARE going to use moth deterrents, in the form of cedar blocks, herb sachets and some essential oil.
But given that no combination of deterrents, including cedar, is foolproof except storing things in a sealed box that is completely made of cedar and which has its level of cedar oil replenished (because otherwise even solid cedar will lose effectiveness over time)... we are going to have to do more than that.
First: changing how we store out-of-season clothes, in-season but infrequently-worn clothes, and yarn (adding vacuum bags, sealable plastic bins - which aren't actually airtight usually, but close to airtight might be better than nothing?, and ziplock bags depending on size).
Second: we're gonna have to spray SOMETHING behind the closet. You may remember from our closet-building (thread of pics of it in progress) that the closet is structured like a massive bookshelf that's anchored into the cement wall behind and on one side of it, with interior side and back panels so the actual cement wall (which is a giant mess, would've cost a bunch to fix) isn't visible. The floor is similarly raised. And it's all made of unfinished wood. Air can circulate under, behind, and to the right of the closet between the closet surfaces and the walls/floor beyond them, but human hands can't reach in there. We know now that this was not the greatest idea because moths are probably there though. It's still possible to reach the open top of this wall - once everything is moved off the top of the closet and someone is on a ladder that is - and someone is gonna have to go up there (me because Wax is afraid of heights) and spray something down behind. We now have to compare the options and find the most cat-safe one, I guess. (The cats can't actually get BEHIND the wardrobe, but it is unfinished wood...?)
Now, the closet itself would be less hospitable to moths if finished/painted/sealed, and we do think we will paint it with an environmentally-friendly, all-natural and no-VOC woodstain, and perhaps cover more of the charmingly rustic seams (gaps) inside with trim or caulk. That's not immediate though, because large quantities of natural no-VOC paint are expensive. Also because Wax's cousin (with his wife, whom we like, and his new baby, whom we haven't met) and favorite aunt and (not favorite, but married to the fav aunt) uncle are visiting next weekend and we won't have time to do much shopping then. (Also I'm still running around trying to re-launder all our laundry but with nowhere to put it when it's done.) Maybe next month.
But given that no combination of deterrents, including cedar, is foolproof except storing things in a sealed box that is completely made of cedar and which has its level of cedar oil replenished (because otherwise even solid cedar will lose effectiveness over time)... we are going to have to do more than that.
First: changing how we store out-of-season clothes, in-season but infrequently-worn clothes, and yarn (adding vacuum bags, sealable plastic bins - which aren't actually airtight usually, but close to airtight might be better than nothing?, and ziplock bags depending on size).
SIDE NOTE: we started looking around at various Finnish stores for vacuum bags and discovered that what looks like about 60% of them are cheap crap and don't work at all. One-star reviews, three-star reviews with no comments and then every review that DOES have a comment says "already broken", "broke the first time I used it", "leaks air continuously, waste of money"... even "this is not actually a vacuum bag; there's no place to attach a vacuum". A bunch of things that cost 6 bucks or less in this category at a number of discount-type stores. Then there are proper vacuum bags sold at other stores that do work, but cost around 20 bucks. This ratio strikes me as really wild! Usually when there's a cheap knockoff version of some widespread product, it at least SORT OF works, or works for a short while, right? Imagine if a bunch of cheap stores sold their own brands of Ziplock bags that never zipped at all, and in some cases didn't even have a semblance of a zipper??? Or if 60% of mirrors cost 5 bucks or less but didn't reflect anything at all?
Second: we're gonna have to spray SOMETHING behind the closet. You may remember from our closet-building (thread of pics of it in progress) that the closet is structured like a massive bookshelf that's anchored into the cement wall behind and on one side of it, with interior side and back panels so the actual cement wall (which is a giant mess, would've cost a bunch to fix) isn't visible. The floor is similarly raised. And it's all made of unfinished wood. Air can circulate under, behind, and to the right of the closet between the closet surfaces and the walls/floor beyond them, but human hands can't reach in there. We know now that this was not the greatest idea because moths are probably there though. It's still possible to reach the open top of this wall - once everything is moved off the top of the closet and someone is on a ladder that is - and someone is gonna have to go up there (me because Wax is afraid of heights) and spray something down behind. We now have to compare the options and find the most cat-safe one, I guess. (The cats can't actually get BEHIND the wardrobe, but it is unfinished wood...?)
Now, the closet itself would be less hospitable to moths if finished/painted/sealed, and we do think we will paint it with an environmentally-friendly, all-natural and no-VOC woodstain, and perhaps cover more of the charmingly rustic seams (gaps) inside with trim or caulk. That's not immediate though, because large quantities of natural no-VOC paint are expensive. Also because Wax's cousin (with his wife, whom we like, and his new baby, whom we haven't met) and favorite aunt and (not favorite, but married to the fav aunt) uncle are visiting next weekend and we won't have time to do much shopping then. (Also I'm still running around trying to re-launder all our laundry but with nowhere to put it when it's done.) Maybe next month.
