How to get rid of moths in the kitchen. How to remove food moth using folk remedies. How to get rid of food moths in the kitchen
Ecology of life. Life hack: Moths in the kitchen are not only flying moths, but also their pupae, larvae and eggs. This means that in order to remove pests forever, you need to deal with them comprehensively - find and eliminate the outbreak, clean the furniture / ceiling, throw away everything that was infected and process potentially infected products.
Moths in the kitchen are not only flying moths, but also their pupae, larvae and eggs.
This means that in order to remove pests forever, you need to deal with them comprehensively - find and eliminate the outbreak, clean the furniture / ceiling, throw away everything that was infected and process potentially infected products.
Food moth happens different types. Most often in the kitchen in a city apartment you can find: flour moth, a little less often - cocoa moth (very similar to clothes moth) and southern barn moth (the fight against it is more difficult than with others). Where do they come from even in the cleanest kitchen cabinets?
Tiny, almost invisible eggs find their way into the kitchen in packages of cereals, cereals, biscuits, dried fruit, flour, spices and other groceries. Then, within a week, food moth larvae hatch from them, which subsequently pupate and turn into moths.
In this material you will find step by step instructions how to get rid of food moth, what preventive measures to take to avoid it reappearance and how to save food if it's a pity to throw it away.
Step 1. We are looking for a hotbed and infected products
Moth eggs look like small white grains stuck together, similar to semolina. The larvae first look like small whitish worms, and then they grow to 1.27 cm and have black or brown heads. Another clear sign of food contamination is cobwebs, as in the photo below.
Moth infested oatmeal
To get rid of food moths, the first thing you need to do is:
1. Inspection kitchen cabinets and products. Inspect all the supplies that are stored in the kitchen cabinets - you need to find not only the source, but also the products already infested with larvae and eggs.
Do not forget to check unpacked groceries, because moths easily eat through cardboard, foil and polyethylene.
Pay special attention to the edges of the jar lids - they may have a moth cobweb.
Remember that not only groceries can be contaminated, but also animal feed, bird seeds, fishing bait, that is, almost everything that is not stored in the refrigerator.
2. Inspection of the ceiling. Ceiling, ceiling moldings, wallpaper edges and chandelier base. The moth loves to hide in dark crevices and corners.
3. Inspection of cabinet tops. Here you can also see moth cocoons.
By the way, if you doubt whether there is a mole in your kitchen at all or, say, whether it was possible to bring it out after cleaning, then inspect the room at night - adults will gather around a burning chandelier.
Step 2. We carry out a total cleanup
1. Eliminate the source and products that show clear signs of contamination. Once you find which product has been the source of the insects, wrap it tightly in plastic bag and throw it away immediately, or better yet, burn it altogether.
2. Do a thorough cleaning. Empty the kitchen cabinets and take out the shelves, and then vacuum them and the inside walls of the cabinet, Special attention paying attention to corners and crevices.
A vacuum cleaner (without a nozzle or with a small nozzle) will tighten the hidden moth and prevent unobtrusive eggs from remaining in the closet. This method is very effective, so if you do not have a vacuum cleaner, you should ask your friends for it. The main thing after the procedure is to throw out the bag or freeze it in freezer for 3-4 days.
3. Wash all containers and jars. You can do this with vinegar or laundry soap. The container in which the contaminated products were located should be frozen for 3-4 days or heated in the microwave for 5 minutes.
4. Vacuum the ceiling. If you find moth settlements on the ceiling, ceiling plinths, tops of cabinets, near the chandelier, and also under the edges of the departed wallpaper, then vacuum these places too.
Step 3. Kill the adults and put up the traps
How to catch adults who have already scattered to the corners of cabinets and kitchens? Males (by the way, harmless, but fertilizing females) can be caught using a glue trap (photo below). The principle of its operation is simple - a trap treated with female pheromone attracts males and “catches” them, and, of course, the mole cannot reproduce without males. Thus, pheromone traps will help prevent the re-emergence of insects.
glue trap
The females will have to be killed. traditional methods- a fly swatter or a folded newspaper, since they fly poorly and slowly, it is not so difficult to do this.
Step 4: Handling Potentially Infected Products
So, you've thrown away the source product and the food with clear signs of contamination, but what about the rest of the supplies that appear clean on the outside or were slightly contaminated?
The easiest way is to throw them away, but if you want to, you can save potentially contaminated food in the following two ways:
After sifting and sorting out cereals, flour or other product, keep it in the freezer or on the balcony (in winter time) at least 3-4 days.
After pouring the product onto a baking sheet, heat it in the oven at a temperature of 60 degrees for at least 40 minutes. Before warming it, of course, you need to clean it.
Keep in mind that the first processing method, although longer, retains all the vitamins and nutritional properties food.
Step 5. We carry out prevention and protect products
1. New or cold/heat processed foods (including pet food) should be poured into glass, thick plastic or metal containers/jars with tight-fitting lids. This will protect the supplies from the penetration of moths and prevent them from escaping outside the container. Recall that cardboard, paper, foil and plastic bags are easily eaten by it.
How to properly store groceries
2. In the fight against moths in the kitchen, it will come in handy and folk recipe– storage of products with natural repellents:
With a couple of leaves bay leaf;
With peeled, but not cut garlic (a couple of heads are enough);
With orange peels.
Bay leaf to protect flour from moths
3. On the shelves, you can also lay out one of the following, either: sprigs of lavender, birch leaves, geranium, wormwood, rosemary, laundry soap or strong-smelling essential oils. For example, fir oil is suitable, with which you can moisten a cotton pad and leave it in the closet.
Remember that these folk remedies will scare away the adult moth, preventing it from laying eggs in food and on the shelves, but they will not work on the larvae. Moreover, if you suddenly put a package of infected cereal on a shelf with lavender, then the moth larvae will not die in it, and the butterflies that will appear later will no longer be afraid of the smell of lavender. That is why it is necessary to deal with domestic pests comprehensively.
And a little more about prevention
The following tips will help you avoid moth recurrence:
Try not to store food for more than 2-4 months and, of course, do not store supplies that have passed their expiration date.
Store foods you rarely use in the refrigerator.
Buy dry foods in small quantities so that you can eat them within a couple of months.
Buy groceries only from well-known manufacturers and if possible, check the quality of goods in the store. For fidelity, freshly bought cereals, cereals, flour, nuts, dried fruits and other products, freeze for 3-4 days (in dry form).
Pet food, such as bird seeds or, say, bait for fishing, do not store in the kitchen.published
This will be of interest to you:
Food moth repellents are used to keep food safe. Small butterflies seem harmless, only in practice it turns out that this is quite dangerous insects. If you do not get rid of the food moth in time, it will undermine the available reserves. Eventually they will have to be thrown away. You can save products that are affected to a lesser extent.
If a mole is wound up, it is probably a representative of one of the species:
Such insects are more common in private housing within the kitchen. Wingspan - up to 8 mm. The color is pale: from beige to brown. The upper wings are darker than the lower ones.
In length, the pest reaches 1 cm. When the wings are folded, representatives of different insect species are similar to each other, since the color is difficult to see.
Larvae in length reach 1.5 cm, are characterized by a light color. If adults differ in outward signs, then young offspring are sometimes difficult to distinguish.
Damage
It is imperative to remove the moth in the kitchen, otherwise it will destroy most of the products. Insects feed on cereals and flour, nuts, dried fruits, as well as seasonings, tea, chocolate products and seeds. They spread through the air (fly through windows, through ventilation), enter the apartment with products brought from the store. Accordingly, it is impossible to completely protect yourself.
Eating insect-tainted foods can lead to a severe allergic reaction.
It is recommended to start insect control immediately after the appearance of signs of infection: dust at the bottom of containers with bulk products; change in the structure of flour and cereals (they become lumpy). On the nuts appear moves that caterpillars make. Appearance the product deteriorates, cocoons and cobwebs are visible, larvae are found. Especially unpleasant when they are inside chocolates, because in this case caterpillars are hard to spot.
A butterfly can start suddenly, even if the house is kept clean and a large amount of stock is not stored. You can get rid of food moths in the apartment different ways, but first you need to find the source of infection. To completely exterminate all individuals and offspring, it is necessary to clean the kitchen.
To destroy the larvae and eggs, certain means are used, since not all drugs have an effect on the young offspring of butterflies. In addition, it is necessary to decide what to do with moth-infested products.
We find the source of infection
Before getting rid of the moth itself, you should find the source of its appearance. Butterflies leave offspring different places, where in a week the larvae will appear and begin to destroy the product. In habitats, a cobweb is noticeable, caterpillars with a large black head. Moth eggs are difficult to spot, as they small size(no more than a grain of semolina) and white.
Close-up photo of a food moth larva
First you need to inspect the ceiling and cabinets for the presence of butterfly cocoons. They are usually found on ceiling plinths, wallpaper joints, at the base of lamps, in crevices and in corners. Pest cocoons are also found in the upper part of the cabinets.
The first step is to inspect the products. You should look for sticky grains, larvae.
Room cleaning
Pest control involves cleaning the entire kitchen. It is necessary to get rid of traces of insects. First, heavily contaminated products are thrown away. Having got rid of the source of pests, they move on to cleaning the furniture from the inside. To do this, the contents are pulled out, the shelves are also taken out of the cabinets if possible.
Using a vacuum cleaner, you need to go through the nozzle in all corners, crevices and surfaces. The air flow will suck in the insects. The dust bag is best thrown away, but you can leave it in the freezer for a few days. This will kill the insects.
Surfaces inside cabinets should be treated with a solution of vinegar or insecticides (Antimol, etc.). Containers for storing bulk products must also be washed with vinegar solution or laundry soap.
Chemical preparations and folk methods
An aerosol is suitable for treating cabinets and other surfaces, but only if there is no food stored inside. This remedy for food moths is not used for spraying products. Popular options: Raptor, Raid, Armol, Combat Super Spray.
Of these drugs, only Armol destroys exclusively adults. If the task is to bring out the young (larvae and caterpillars), then Raptor, Kombat, Raid should be used.
Special sections allow you to get rid of butterflies: Globol, Raptor, Moskitol. They are located in the corners of the room, not far from the source of infection. Close to products this remedy do not store.
If the moth is wound up in cereals, then glue traps should be considered. They use a pheromone to attract males. Butterflies will not reproduce without males.
You can also fight the pest with folk remedies:
- Dried lavender or essential oil
- Laundry soap. It is cut into pieces and laid out around the room.
- Zest of lemon, orange
- Strong-smelling herbs: tansy, wormwood, cloves, rosemary, thyme, or mint.
Home methods repel pests, but do not lead to death. For this reason, they are considered only as an auxiliary moth control measure.
Video tips: We fight food moth with home remedies
How to handle contaminated products?
Disastrous temperature for the butterfly and offspring: more than -10 and above +30 degrees. For reliability, the products are processed in the oven at a mode of +60 degrees and above, or by putting them outside if it is hot outside.
Freezing is an effective way to control pests.
Moths in the kitchen are not only flying moths, but also their pupae, larvae and eggs.
- This means that in order to remove pests forever, you need to deal with them comprehensively - find and eliminate the outbreak, clean the furniture / ceiling, throw away everything that was infected and process potentially infected products.
Food moth is of different types. Most often in the kitchen in a city apartment you can find: flour moth, a little less often - cocoa moth (very similar to clothes moth) and southern barn moth (the fight against it is more difficult than with others). Where do they come from even in the cleanest kitchen cabinets?
- Tiny, almost invisible eggs find their way into the kitchen in packages of cereals, cereals, biscuits, dried fruit, flour, spices and other groceries. Then, within a week, food moth larvae hatch from them, which subsequently pupate and turn into moths.
In this material, you will find step-by-step instructions on how to get rid of food moths, what preventive measures to take to avoid its reappearance, and how to save food if it is a pity to throw it away.
Step 1. We are looking for a hotbed and infected products
Moth eggs look like small white grains stuck together, similar to semolina. The larvae first look like small whitish worms, and then they grow to 1.27 cm and have black or brown heads. Another clear sign of food contamination is cobwebs, as in the photo below.
To get rid of food moths, the first thing you need to do is:
- Inspection of kitchen cabinets and products. Inspect all the supplies that are stored in the kitchen cabinets - you need to find not only the source, but also the products already infested with larvae and eggs.
- Do not forget to check unpacked groceries, because moths easily eat through cardboard, foil and polyethylene.
- Pay special attention to the edges of the jar lids - they may have a moth cobweb.
- Remember that not only groceries can be contaminated, but also animal feed, bird seeds, fishing bait, that is, almost everything that is not stored in the refrigerator.
- Ceiling inspection. Ceiling, ceiling moldings, wallpaper edges and chandelier base. The moth loves to hide in dark crevices and corners.
- Inspection of cabinet tops. Here you can also see moth cocoons.
By the way, if you doubt whether there is a mole in your kitchen at all or, say, whether it was possible to bring it out after cleaning, then inspect the room at night - adults will gather around a burning chandelier.
Step 2. We carry out a total cleanup
- Eliminate the source and products that show clear signs of contamination. As soon as you find which product has become a source of insects, wrap it tightly in a plastic bag and immediately discard it, or better yet, burn it completely.
- Do a thorough cleaning. Empty your kitchen cabinets and take out the shelves, then vacuum them and the inside walls of the cabinet, paying special attention to the corners and crevices.
- A vacuum cleaner (without a nozzle or with a small nozzle) will tighten the hidden moth and prevent unobtrusive eggs from remaining in the closet. This method is very effective, so if you do not have a vacuum cleaner, you should ask your friends for it. The main thing after the procedure is to throw out the bag or freeze it in the freezer for 3-4 days.
- Wash all containers and jars. This can be done with vinegar solution or laundry soap. The container in which the contaminated products were located should be frozen for 3-4 days or heated in the microwave for 5 minutes.
- Vacuum the ceiling. If you find moth settlements on the ceiling, ceiling moldings, tops of cabinets, near the chandelier, and also under the edges of the departed wallpaper, then vacuum these places too.
Step 3. Kill the adults and put up the traps
How to catch adults who have already scattered to the corners of cabinets and kitchens? Males (by the way, harmless, but fertilizing females) can be caught using a glue trap (photo below). The principle of its operation is simple - a trap treated with female pheromone attracts males and “catches” them, and without males, moths, of course, cannot reproduce. Thus, pheromone traps will help prevent the re-emergence of insects.
- You can buy such a trap for 200-300 rubles in online stores and household chemical stores.
Females, on the other hand, will have to be killed by traditional methods - a fly swatter or a rolled-up newspaper, since they fly poorly and slowly, it is not so difficult to do this.
Step 4: Handling Potentially Infected Products
So, you've thrown away the source product and the food with clear signs of contamination, but what about the rest of the supplies that appear clean on the outside or were slightly contaminated?
The easiest way is to throw them away, but if you want to, you can save potentially contaminated food in the following two ways:
- After sifting and sorting out cereals, flour or other product, keep it in the freezer or on the balcony (in winter) for at least 3-4 days.
- After pouring the product onto a baking sheet, heat it in the oven at a temperature of 60 degrees for at least 40 minutes. Before warming it, of course, you need to clean it.
Keep in mind that the first processing method, although longer, retains all the vitamins and nutritional properties of food.
Step 5. We carry out prevention and protect products
- New or cold/heat processed foods (including pet food) should be poured into glass, thick plastic or metal containers/jars with tight-fitting lids. This will protect the supplies from the penetration of moths and prevent them from escaping outside the container. Recall that cardboard, paper, foil and plastic bags are easily eaten by it.
- In the fight against moths in the kitchen, a folk recipe is also useful - storing products with natural repellents:
- With a couple of bay leaves;
- With peeled, but not cut garlic (a couple of heads are enough);
- With orange peels.
- On the shelves, you can also lay out one of the following, either: sprigs of lavender, birch leaves, geranium, wormwood, rosemary, laundry soap or strong-smelling essential oils. For example, fir oil is suitable, with which you can moisten a cotton pad and leave it in the closet.
Remember that these folk remedies will scare away the adult moth, preventing it from laying eggs in food and on the shelves, but they will not work on the larvae. Moreover, if you suddenly put a package of infected cereal on a shelf with lavender, then the moth larvae will not die in it, and the butterflies that will appear later will no longer be afraid of the smell of lavender. That is why it is necessary to deal with domestic pests comprehensively.
And a little more about prevention
The following tips will help you avoid moth recurrence:
- Try not to store food for more than 2-4 months and, of course, do not store supplies that have passed their expiration date.
- Store foods you rarely use in the refrigerator.
- Buy dry foods in small quantities so that you can eat them within a couple of months.
- Buy groceries only from reputable manufacturers and, if possible, check the quality of goods in the store. For fidelity, freshly bought cereals, cereals, flour, nuts, dried fruits and other products, freeze for 3-4 days (in dry form).
- Keep pet food, such as bird seeds or, say, bait for fishing, away from the kitchen.
Every housewife cares about the preservation of products in her kitchen. But one has only to give up the slack, and a dangerous enemy will start in your kitchen cabinets - food moth. This harmful insect settles in cereals, flour, dried fruits, bread, making food unfit for consumption and multiplying rapidly. If you notice a food moth within your apartment, immediately start fighting it, and we will help you with this.
Food moth: who is it and how is it different from the usual
The food moth looks like a small moth up to 10 mm in size. Her color is subtle, usually gray with patches or brown with stripes. The pollen on the wings has a pearly sheen, but you can only see it on your palms after you slap the insect.
This is what a food moth looks like
The moth moves through the air, and the trajectory of its flight is so chaotic that it is very difficult to catch it. Surely you have come across this: a long run around the kitchen and other rooms, and stormy "applause" to this flying misfortune. Yes, it is almost impossible to destroy the moth with your hands - it is too fast and dodgy. The time of moth activity is at night, when the insect can freely and unhindered move around the room. As soon as you notice her, she tries to fly away or hide in an inaccessible place.
The food moth does not live long, from several days to 3 weeks. But in this short period, an adult will bring so many offspring that the products in your kitchen will be in serious danger.
And this is a clothes moth. Do not confuse!
If you find moths in the kitchen, check these foods right away:
- pasta;
- buckwheat;
- nuts;
- peas;
- sugar;
- semolina;
- oatmeal;
- coffee;
- cocoa;
- beans;
- cookie;
- pet food;
- dried fruits.
It is here that the moth settles in the first place, and from here it gets into ready-made dishes. Most great harm causes not an adult, but larvae. During the growth period, they eat dry foods, leaving cobwebs, feces, skins that appear after rebirth, and their dead "brothers". All these consequences of vital activity not only look unpleasant, but also poison the products to a certain extent.
Reasons for the appearance
Package with cereals infected with food moth: larvae and cobwebs are visible inside
In addition, nothing prevents moths from entering your territory on their own, through a window, door or ventilation holes. Warm dry weather is especially conducive to such travel.
In a new place, the moth looks for products that are attractive to itself and penetrates into them, even gnawing through plastic bags if necessary.
Cardboard packaging is not at all a serious obstacle for our heroine. If you find a thin cobweb and light yellow worms in the products, this is the first sign of infection.
Please note: only larvae hatched from eggs are engaged in spoiling and eating your products. Adult moths drink only water, and sit on food only for the purpose of laying eggs.
Let's start destruction
If you still find the appearance of moths in the kitchen, first try to influence it with temperature.
Such methods are only suitable if you have no more than 20% of products infected. And it’s not a fact that eggs or moth larvae will not remain in cereals processed in this way and sifted. Therefore, it is better, nevertheless, to throw away the affected products and start cleaning the premises from insects and their offspring before going to the store for new stocks of cereals.
Household moth control products
The first thing to do is to general cleaning; the moth is afraid of light and soap.
Open all kitchen cabinets and wipe down properly soapy water all surfaces. Be especially careful in corners and crevices where insect cocoons can be stored. Wash all utensils in which contaminated food has been stored with laundry soap.
Wipe all surfaces of kitchen cabinets with vinegar. Leave the kitchen to air out for a couple of hours.
Place special pheromone traps around the kitchen in the form of oblong pyramids open on both sides. At the bottom of such a trap is a bait with a pheromone that attracts adult male moths. The moths are firmly glued to the surface and do not pose a danger. The population gradually decreases until it dies completely.
Pheromone glue trap for food moths
Note! Such traps have many advantages, but there is also a significant drawback: pheromones can lure moths from all around. To prevent this from happening, tightly close windows and doors in the room where the trap is used.
Hang around the rooms adhesive tapes from insects that are used in the fight against flies. This method will help you significantly reduce the number of adult moths. Sticky traps, which are attached to flat surfaces. They can be placed on the walls and doors of cabinets in which you notice the most moths.
There are many chemicals to fight food moths. They are divided into:
- insecticides - liquidation agents containing substances that poison insects;
- Repellents are herbal products that repel insects.
The most popular chemicals for this purpose are Raptor from moths, Armol and Kombat aerosol.
- "Raptor" moth protection is used against adult moths and larvae. It is sprayed on any surface, including kitchen furniture. Effective action lasts up to 12 months.
- Aerosol "Armol" has an instant effect against butterflies and a prolonged effect against larvae. Effective action - up to 6 months.
- Aerosol Kombat destroys moths at any stage of development - from eggs to adults. Easily penetrates into any cracks and joints, which increases the range of action of the product. In addition, this aerosol is safe for animals and humans.
These products should be used away from food products, that is, before processing, take them out of the kitchen and return them after 1-2 days. In addition, all dry bulk products with a long shelf life should be kept in tightly closed jars or containers. Otherwise, after contact with chemicals, the products become hazardous to health and unsuitable for food.
In addition to the above funds, there are also Dezmol and Antimol tablets, Phytocid, Gela, Arsenal, Zitol cassettes, Prayer plates. You can spread these products on or under cabinets, and food moths will bypass your kitchen.
Folk remedies
If for some reason you do not trust the modern achievements of the chemical industry, take the advice of our grandmothers. Food moths do not tolerate strong odors, and they can become your ally in the fight against insect pests.
- Smell of lavender. It is not tolerated by any moth, so lavender has long been used as a in kind and in the manufacture of chemicals. You can put a few drops of lavender oil on cotton swabs and arrange them in the corners of cabinets, or you can put small bouquets of fresh lavender flowers.
Keep lavender in your kitchen cabinets
- Citrus. Lemon and orange peels or essential oils from these fruits in the corners of kitchen cabinets will easily drive away adults.
Use orange and lemon peels or their essential oils
- Put a few cloves of garlic in the containers where you store the cereals. The pungent smell will scare away the moths from the products. Garlic will not affect the taste and smell of cereals.
Arrange garlic cloves in food containers
- Arrange bay leaves around the perimeter of the kitchen cabinet. They can also be added to containers with products that attract moths.
Arrange bay leaves on the shelves of kitchen cabinets
- Spicy smells of plants such as basil, fir, geranium, cloves, tansy, rosemary, rosemary, also perfectly repel food moths. Apply scented oils with these scents to cotton swabs and place them where you store moth-attractive foods.
The moth does not tolerate spicy bright smells, so the essential oils of flowers will help you
Leaves walnut
- A proven remedy is natural camphor and essential camphor oil. This smell will prevent moths from approaching food cabinets.
- Arrange tobacco leaves in drawers and cabinets: moths have an unpleasant smell of tobacco. If there is a smoker in your family, bad habit can be turned into a blessing. After cleaning the kitchen cabinets, you need to carefully “smoke” them from the inside with cigarette smoke. But fresh tobacco leaves are still much more effective.
Dry tobacco leaves
Prevention
As you know, it is better to prevent a problem than to deal with it later. Therefore, adhere to certain rules so that one day you will not find unpleasant flying neighbors in the kitchen.
So you can prevent the appearance of moths in your apartment, or prevent its reproduction at the very initial stage.
Video "Ways to deal with food moth"
We hope our tips will help you not only get rid of food moths in your home, but also prevent their appearance. Remember that prevention is the most important measure to prevent any trouble. Share with us in the comments your methods of getting rid of food moths. Good luck and enjoy your home!
Finding a food moth in your kitchen is an unpleasant event, because troubles come with it. Food moth is not the best "neighbor" because all our groceries are under attack. Everything that may have been stored in reserve can be spoiled, and it’s just unpleasant to realize that someone lives in your products. How about from a food "glutton" and what we will analyze in this article.
- cereals- the most favorite place of grain moth. First of all, the following will be hit: rice, oatmeal, oatmeal, pasta, etc .;
- nuts- moth equally loves hazelnuts, peanuts, walnuts, both in peeled form and in shell;
- Dried fruits- you can often observe raisins, dried apricots, prunes covered with a kind of cobweb;
- Carton boxes- you can also find food moths in closed packs of tea, all kinds of cereals, oatmeal, etc .;
- There have been such cases that the insect has been living in the kitchen for a long time - and you can find it behind the refrigerator, kitchen furniture, V household appliances which have not been used for a long time;
- Have products, which the moth does not eat, but can live - this is salt, soda, sugar;
- Vegetable oils, vinegar, honey, jam, jam are not susceptible to infection, the food pest simply dies in them;
Folk remedies against moths
Whatever method of struggle you choose, at the beginning you should carry out a series of measures aimed at detecting the source of infection and eliminating it. Food "glutton" excited housewives at all times. Previously, when there was a shortage of food and stocked up a lot and for a long time, they also thought about how to save all stocks. Various natural repellents have been used. A good prevention from moths will be the usual ventilation, she does not like drafts and fresh air. Sort out your stocks more often, if any, ventilate the cabinets and shelves, wipe the shelves and the inner walls of the cabinets with vinegar or soapy water.
Home remedies for food moths
- Garlic - place on shelves or directly in containers with groceries, a few peeled garlic cloves will not spoil the taste of the products, but you will insure yourself.
- Bay leaves, bags of pepper and cloves will do the job well.
- Mint and lavender in the form of herbs will also help, if there are aromatic oils of these plants, drop them on gauze or a cotton pad and spread them in the kitchen.
- Citrus peel - considered a good pest protection, spread on shelves or on cabinets.
- Geranium on the windowsill will scare away unwanted insects.
- There is also the smell of wild rosemary, tansy, fir, basil or rosemary, the plants themselves or their oils applied to cotton pads.
- The smell of wormwood - small bouquets laid out in places where food is stored will scare away an intruder.
- Walnut Leaves - Freshly picked leaves have a specific odor and laid out in food storage areas will serve you well.
- Camphor and oil based on it was considered an old and proven remedy, but now they are practically not used.
- The smell of tobacco - tobacco leaves or shag discouraged the desire to settle both the food and clothes guest.
Interesting fact: In heated rooms grain moth can produce two to three generations per year. In addition to stocks of seed, food and fodder grains, it can damage still dry fruits, mushrooms and vegetables, as well as seeds of various agricultural and ornamental plants.
Modern and effective means
The fight against food moth has a number of its limitations in comparison with it. And the reason for this is products that insecticides can get into, so we are limited to traps against adults and natural repellents against larvae.
Pheromone traps
Designed primarily for males, sticky traps attract males and prevent moths from reproducing. Can be located in the lockers themselves, good way destruction and prevention. Traps from the following manufacturers have proven themselves well: ARGUS, Raptor, Aeroxon.
ARGUS— active substance Attractant added to adhesive base, so the trap works over the entire surface. Can be positioned directly in cabinets both vertically and horizontally. The trap is designed for 3 months of use, in a package 2 pieces are enough for 10 - 15 m 2 of area.
Raptor food moth protection- consists of 2 sticky plates, designed for up to 90 days. Many use it constantly as a preventive measure, the base is very sticky, install carefully.
Aeroxon- the most expensive trap presented, the German manufacturer indicates a service life of up to 1.5 months. But with a 100% guarantee, it promises to reduce the insect population.
Moth Sprays
Although they are not advised to use ( chemical substances can get into products) but are used quite often. Manufacturers include such brands as: Raptor, Raid, Armol, Mosquitall, Clean House, etc. When using protective equipment, use a respirator, rubber gloves.
A husband and wife walk into a fur shop. The wife enthusiastically looks at fur coats.
A smart saleswoman flies up:
- Are you looking for something?
Husband, solidly:
- Moth food!
Prevention from food "flyer"
- Check the purchased groceries in the store, the integrity of the packaging, the shelf life. Cereals brought from the store, etc. leave in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
- Store everything in airtight plastic, glass, or metal containers. But remember, moths can gnaw through polyethylene, cardboard, and thin plastic.
- Arrange more often to clean the shelves where bulk products are stored, moths need only a small amount of food for growth and reproduction.
- Clean containers each time before refilling.
- Do not stock up in case of a "nuclear war", blockages of food contribute to the appearance and reproduction of moths.
All these simple tips will help you prevent the appearance of food moths in your kitchen. It is always cheaper to prevent the occurrence than to fight later.
Conclusions from Tikhon: Food moth, as well as its unpleasant neighborhood. Prevention and again prevention, it’s a pity if you have to throw away a large amount of stocks, and sometimes this is the only thing that helps.
If you have experience in dealing with food moths, share it in the comments below, perhaps it will help someone make the right decision.
Happiness to you and your home.
