ALL ABOUT MOTHS
There are two types of moths, those that prey on food (white, gray) and those that prefer clothes (brown, gold). Foodistas VS Fashionistas, the eternal struggle. There is certainly a whole lot of exciting information to say about food moths, but since we are talking about wool at La Maison de la Maille, we will first focus on the second category. Who are they? What are they doing? Why? And how to get rid of them. We tell you everything.
WHAT IS A MOTH?
A small insect of the Tineidae family, the moth is a type of butterfly that is found most of the time in nature but which has no trouble inviting itself into your home to eat in your closet. Lovers of noble, pure and good quality materials, they adore wool, fur, feathers and leather. A woman of taste.
The good news for the planet: moths have the ability to dissolve keratin, a protein found in hair, feathers and cuticles of some animals (if you feel like throwing up a little, that's normal). A culinary fad that’s certainly a bit abnormal but nature is really well designed because the moth plays a very important role in the destruction and recycling of certain materials which are difficult to biodegrade.
The good news for your clothes and throws: Once the larvae have metamorphosed into moths they only live 15 days.
​
HOW CAN YOU KNOW YOU HAVE MOTHS?
Often we notice them when we see a hole in an item of clothing, you know... Rarely before.
Still, there may be some clues to their presence under your roof. Since the moth is lucid (fears light), you are more likely to come across them at night flying around your closets. Or that you can see one in the back of a drawer or cupboard that you don't open often (we often notice the presence of holes in things that we take out during a change of season). Yes, that little beast flapping its wings happily in your bedroom might not be the moth you think it is. Just sayin.
Good to know : the well-known holes are made by moth larvae, not by the moths themselves. Although their lifespan is relatively short-lived, their reproductive capacity is lively. They colonize at lightning speed. It is therefore essential to treat the cupboards well when you have been infested.
​
HOW TO GET RID OF THEM
To overcome moths and larvae, there are a host of techniques. Used for decades to destroy colonies, insecticides in all forms (hanging cassettes, aerosol, lozenges, etc.) no longer have to prove their effectiveness as both preventive and curative but are not known for their ecological virtues, are they. But because we don’t prefer the moths to our homes (sorry), we can just as easily opt for fumigation, suction or heat treatment. And better yet, with the help of the planet protection movement, we now know that it is also possible to get rid of moths with natural tips. A solution obviously recommended by La Maison de la Maille. Essential oil, camphor, lavender, cedarwood, mint, thyme, Aleppo or Marseille soap ... There are many alternatives to chemicals to overcome these small pests without polluting. Amen.
Discover more products:
It has happened to all of us at least once. That painful moment when you realize that in the pile of laundry that you hastily threw in the machine (before launching a synthetic program) there was a cashmere sweater. And that at the end of the wash/spin at 1200 turns, this sweater looks like a chihuahua sweater. As we at La Maison de la Maille want to do everything possible to ensure that our creations do not suffer this sad fate one day, we have decided to give you here the keys to maintain your plaid. Read more
Where is he from ? What is he doing ? How is his fleece? Is he nice, clean and sociable? We have closely studied the different characteristics of the alpaca in order to tell you a little more about this animal species still relatively unknown in Europe. Since its fiber is widely used in the manufacture of our La Maison de la Maille products, it seemed essential to us to highlight the 10 most important (and no doubt surprising) traits of its personality.