Pest Control - Silverfish eating my clothing

Author

Silverfish eating my clothing

thekatzim@gmail.com

2006-09-20, 9:25 am

I live in Southern CA and find multiple small holes in my clothes;
mostly woolen, but occasionally other fabrics. The closet has
sea-grass carpeting and is partly cedar lined, but you would never know
it by the smell. I think it's silverfish, but even with Dekko "cards"
in the drawers, there is occasional damage. I now have my seaters
hanging on padded hangers, but this isn't 100% effective. Are there
any silverfish-proof hanging bags for the closet? Can anyone help?

Lar

2006-09-20, 1:25 pm

In article <1158762034.999165.25780@i3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>,
thekatzim@gmail.com says...

I live in Southern CA and find multiple small holes in my clothes;

mostly woolen, but occasionally other fabrics. The closet has

sea-grass carpeting and is partly cedar lined, but you would never know

it by the smell. I think it's silverfish, but even with Dekko "cards"

in the drawers, there is occasional damage. I now have my seaters

hanging on padded hangers, but this isn't 100% effective. Are there

any silverfish-proof hanging bags for the closet? Can anyone help?

Chances are the damage is from carpet beetles rather than silverfish. In
my nineteenth year of pest control and have never seen fabric damage
identified as silverfish damage, including correspondence with a gal
whose field work was developing a silverfish bait and she stated in her
four years of silverfish research she had never seen clothing damage.
The only damage proofing of clothing is if you are sure they are insect
free store them in an air tight container, basically tupperware for
clothing. The zipper bags will not be air tight as well as plastic
containers that have the snap down handles. For the clothing in the
closets they probably need to be re cleaned either professionally or by
running the woolens on the highest temperature setting on the dryer that
won't damage the clothing, then going to the air tight containers.
Emptying the closet and having a thorough treatment along the baseboard
and up the corners will help with the carpet beetles. Closet fresheners
that contain the active ingredient Paradhiclorabenzine (PDCB) would be
the best alternative if you want to try the "moth ball" route. If you
are seeing a large number silverfish about they probably are originating
from the attic area, hanging a pest strip in the attic area above the
area where you are seeing silver fish will definitely help.
--
Lar

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