How to Protect Your Wool Garments from Moths
July 18 2026 – Julie Ghatan
Today we're going to talk about protecting your wool sweaters from clothing moths while they're in storage and not in use. It's happend to all of us--we store our precious woolens away for the season only to find the moths have eaten them come fall. Guess what! This is NOT inevitable. You can protect your wool clothing and keep them moth free and it's easy with a few simple tools and a little time.
MYTH BUSTING: CEDAR AND LAVENDAR WILL NOT PROTECT YOUR WOOL
But before we do that, we need to dispell a common myth, which is that lavendar or cedar can protect your woolens. THEY WILL NOT. Here's why: moths are attracted to lanolin, which is a waxy secretion made by the sebaceous glands of wool-producing animals, like sheep and goats. Lanolin exists in wool and moths are attracted to the scent of it. The reason why lavendar and cedar are commonly (wrongly) marketed as a solution to your moth problem is because they mildly mask the scent of lanolin; cedar and lavendar don't actually repel or kill moths. Furthermore, aside from barely masking the scent of lanolin, you'll have to continually spray your cedar/lavendar chips and sachets with cedar and or lavendar oil to maintain a continuous concentration of scent. This introduces new problems--if the cedar or lavendar oil touches your clothing, it will deposit onto your clothes and introduce stains. You can keep your cedar and lavendar if you like the scent but just know that it's not doing anything to protect yoru clothing.
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR WOOL CLOTHING FROM MOTHS
- Launder your clothing before putting them away for the season. Laundering is important not only to keep your garments clean, but to remove your oils from the piece, as moths are attracted to human skin oils. Handwash and air dry any pieces that are known to be free of moths. To hand wash, first ensure color-fastness of any dyes by rubbing a wet paper towel or white rag on any dyed parts of the garment; if dye transers to the paper towel or rag, that means it is not colorfast and will require drycleaning. If your garment is colorfast, then fill your kitchen sink or bathtub with a mild detergent and tepid water and wash gently. Dry by laying a towel flat and rolling the sweater in the towel, pressing gently on the roll. Do not wring or twist your wool. If you don't want to handwash your wool, or if you suspect moths have gotten to your wool, then drycleaning is recomended.
- Put your laundered wool clothes and coats in vacuum-seal storage bags. I know, I know--they're ugly, they're loud, they're plastic! But in my many years of anti-clothing moth vigilance, vacuum-seal storage bags have been the best at protecting my wool garments from moths. Moths are incredibly small and can find their way into storage bins but they can't get into these vacuum-seal bags if they're properly sealed. Bite the bullet and get them. Your clothing will thank you. I even purchased hanging ones for my wool coats.
- Get moth traps and vacuum like crazy. Moth traps and vacuum work in tandem to disrupt the life cycle of clothing moths. The moth you see flying in your home is not the moth that's eating your wool garments; that moth doesn't even have a mouth! It's job is to lay eggs--one moth can lay up to 140 eggs in it's lifetime! The eggs then hatch tiny white larvae and those larvae are the ones that are eating your garments. And they don't only eat your garments--they'll eat anyting wool, including your wool rugs, furniture upholstery, wool slippers, or lining of shearling boots like Uggs. You'll want to get the moth traps in order to catch the flying moths before they can lay eggs. And you need to vacuum at least weekly to remove the eggs that have been laid before they can hatch into larvae, hence disrupting the moth life cycle. Vacuum the inside of your closets, shelves, dresser drawers, under your dresses, and under your bed too! These are all places moths like to lay eggs. And while you're catching moths and vacuuming up their eggs, your precious wool garments are safe in the inpenetrable vacuum-seal storage bags.
CAN YOU JUST CALL AN EXTERMINATOR?
Your probably wondering if you can just call your local exterminator and pay them to get rid of your moths. Sure, you can--but you'll be paying them at least $1,000 or more to have them come lay moth traps and vacuum for you. There is no type of fumigation that exists for clothing moths. Disappointing, I know! But it's great to know that you're not powerless against these moths! With a very small investment in proper storage bags and moth traps, and a little time invested in vacuuming, you on the road to a moth-free home!
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