I’m not talking about the amount you paid for that gorgeous cashmere sweater.

I’m talking about the lifelong commitment of keeping your cashmere moth free, pill free and looking fresh for as long as possible.  It’s a process that is time consuming but it’s worth it if you enjoy wearing this luxurious natural fabric. And who doesn’t?

Last week when I put on one of my sweaters only to find several small holes and one fairly large hole I decided “no moths, no more!”  I will never use moth balls because they smell horrible.  My grandmother’s chest of drawers used to reek of them.  Even though they do the trick – NO way!  I roll my sweaters with pretty lavender sachets in a box containing cedar wood chips.   After this I went through my sweaters one by one and found another three that have holes.  So now I’m desperate. And through experience I know that if you’re lucky enough to find someone to mend them you might as well buy a new one because it’s expensive. So I called my friend Colleen because a) she has a lot of cashmere and b) I don’t have Martha Stewart’s phone number and this was the next best thing because c) she seems to know a lot about a lot and d) when she discovered that moths had eaten her favourite cashmere housecoat she called the moth exterminator people (she recommends Mat Neale  from *Pest Solutions in Vancouver) who sprayed her whole house with a non-toxic substance that killed those little suckers dead. Apparently they also have pheromone moth traps.

I didn’t want to do that so on her advice I spent a good portion of Sunday (and yes, I’m aware that there are far more pressing issues in the world and this is not the worst problem that someone can have) but this is my style post so we can be decadent taking care of this problem.

First I shook the sweaters outside just in case there were invisible hangers-on.  Then I turned them inside-out and put them in the dryer on HOT a few at a time for 20 minutes each round.  As long as the item is dry it will not shrink.  This will kill any possible larvae almost impossible to see.  It sounds gross I know.  Then after cooling I used a fuzz remover called “Gleener” on the ones which needed it and it worked like a charm.  In Canada you can find it at Canadian Tire.  Comes with three attachments for removal depending on the severity of the fuzz and the other end has a lint remover.  My new best friend!

Then I neatly folded each one and stuffed them into individual large zip-lock freezer bags.  Then…into the freezer they go for storage.  At this point if you don’t have a large freezer you may want to consider removing any frozen items to make room for your sweaters.  Or I recommend getting a second freezer for your sweaters. Or; don’t put stuff in the freezer at all…just your sweaters.  Then of course your warm cosy sweater will have to warm up before you wear it – this is what we go through in the name of  fashion comfort.

I wish there was an easier better way but I’m aware that the picky little buggers don’t like extreme weather conditions so doing it this way will eradicate the problem.

You know something else I noticed?  They have an appetite for quality wool, silk and very fine cotton.  NO; I’m not planning to refrigerate my whole closet!!

Not that everything in my closet is of the utmost finest but still….

What about leaving something out for bait?  Something like a t- shirt in a pima cotton, silk, wool, cashmere blend that will attract and take their attention away from anything they want to invade next.  Something that says “dinner is ready and it’s a smorgasbord of all your favourite food FABrics” and they can eat the whole goddamn thing for all I care as long as they stay away from all the rest.

Well it’s an idea.  Do you have a better one?

 One that will never go out of style!

Your Welcome

Moths, they’re just like us – they appreciate the finer things in life!

*Pest Solutions: 604-986-8881