It’s “Check the Moth Traps” week at Ian Drummond Collection! It’s a regrettable part of the business of caring for vintage clothing – we are extremely vigilant, and it’s a constant battle. We are always saddened by damage and losses.

The best method we use is prevention – we check items carefully before they come in, and everything is kept as clean as possible. Yes, good housekeeping prevents moths. For a 10,000 square foot warehouse with thousands upon thousands of edible items, we have very few problems, though they do occasionally happen.

Traps only kill the adult moths – the ones we use collect adult moths using pheromones. They think it’s sexy time, but then… DEATH. We purchase the Aeroxon traps from Wotever, Inc.   It’s when we see bodies in them that we know we have to look around for what they were doing, and usually they were doing the nasty. The resulting problem is then two part – adult prevention, and also larvae-cide.

The dry/wetcleaning process, freezing and heat are some of the methods that kill larvae (we are bringing a chest freezer in as another preventative measure), and another tool in the (vintage, perfectly distressed “character” wardrobe) belt  is the dry ice method.  Adult moths are susceptible to various chemical and natural oil options, used in certain concentrations. It’s hard to be truly moth-proof – even if we have the most amazing New Old Stock wool sweaters that make that claim.

Truly, constant vigilance is key. Every time we touch something – especially a gorgeous “purrfectly soft” vintage sweater in amazing condition, moth traces are one of the things we look for.  So we offer this post as reminder: You should probably attend to pest prevention in your home soon too – after all, it’s cashmere season!