Dang it! There are moths in my pantry...AGAIN!

14 years ago

To make a long story short, about 6 months ago we had a couple of moths set up housekeeping in our pantry. I think that the original moths were stowaways in a bag of "rustic" type rice that came in a paper bag. Unfortunately, Their population exploded rapidly. Anyhoo, I wound up taking everything out of the pantry, wiping down all of the wire shelving, killing the larvae, throwing away contaminated foods, cleaning off cans, blah blah blah...It must have taken me 4-5 days to do all of this--I was VERY thorough! I thought they were gone.

After a couple of months w/o any moths, they're baaaccckkkk! The pantry is a walk-in, and I have it packed to the gills--I do not want to take it all back out again--waaahhh!! But, since it's where we keep our FOOD, I can't just go in and napalm the little buggers with Raid either. Does anyone know of any kind of bait, or some other method that might work? I've NEVER encountered this problem before, and it just baffles me...it's a little gross too. Any ideas?

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User

14 years ago

Awe, that is a bummer. Nasty nasty. I have 2 birds and have had that problem before. I've even had it happen with dry cat food. I don't freeze our people edibles because if there's bugs in it that wouldn't be good, but freezing animal grains for a week before opening them works too.

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Comments (17)

lkplatow
14 years ago
I don't think you really have any other choice other than to unload everything, toss what's infested, and wipe everything down. You can get pantry moth traps (ace hardware sells them) but they're more of an "alert system" - they will catch some of the moths but the larvae will still be eating their way through your food.

We had pantry moths infest our coat closet a couple years ago - they were hiding in a bag of bird seed. By the time we found them, they were everywhere - in our coats, gloves, everywhere. We took everything out of the coat closet (including the shelving) and repainted it (we had been wanting to build some new shelving and this was our impetus!). But the amazing thing was that we found those buggers up inside the light fixture, behind the light switch plate, behind the brackets that held up the wire shelving and under the baseboards. You really need to look EVERYWHERE, because if you leave even one or two larvae alive, they'll be back in no time.

We have since instituted a no more bird seed rule, and we also now keep all our grains, cereals, sugar, flour, crackers-- pretty much everything in plastic containers -- I went to walmart and spent about $300 on tupperware and similar type storage containers during our "moth invasion." It seems to be working -- knock on wood, so far, we have not had a reinfestation.

Good luck!
nanny2a
14 years ago
lkplatow is right about how clever they are at infestation, they will get into everything! We've had them before, and used the traps from Ace Hardware to catch some, put a total clean out of the infested area is necessary. I had to throw away anything that wasn't in a can or plastic sealed container. Even bags of chips that hadn't been opened were infested with those buggers. I've done the same as the above poster, now keep everything that has grains or sugar in plastic containers. We haven't seen any in a couple years - knock on wood!

Be prepared to throw out plenty of good food, and invest in plastic containers so you don't have the same problem in the future. It's an expense, but worth it in the long run.

Here is a link that might be useful: moth traps
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terezosa / terriks
14 years ago
We had them years ago. They don't like bay leaves. I made little bay leaf "sachets" with nylon netting and placed them around the pantry and kitchen. Never had a problem again.
squirrelheaven
14 years ago
My mother has always had problems with moths, and they can be difficult to rid. I'm surprised they didn't just move along with me. She does keep birdseed around but I think one of the problems she had was storing grains, crackers, and things in a cabinet over the oven where it would get warm in there. I'm not sure what she did back then, other than to manually remove them. I wouldn't skip that part. I did hear her talk of the yellow sticky strips, to hang back at the house. Maybe try hanging them when you're done cleaning everything out again : (
amylville
14 years ago
Make sure you don't keep flour and other grains too long. It is "normal" to have some eggs in flour when you buy it (yuck)and they will hatch eventually. I have a friend who freezes her flour for a few days when she buys it. She swears this kills the eggs.
work_in_progress_08
14 years ago
Have you considered having a professional exterminator come out? I have a friend who does exterminating and he uses "earth friendly" products for clients who do not want to use potentially hazardous/poisonous chemicals to control seasonal infestations of ants and the like. Perhaps someone you know could make a recommendation if you don't already use an exterminator.

I would definitely invest in some good airtight containers to store your food. I never bring paper bags or boxes into the house from the grocery/produce stores. I know the plastic bags are not "green", but I've heard horror stories from friends and family who have found themselves infested with different critters from bringing in a box from a produce supplier or paper bags from the grocery store. I have a number of cloth bags I take with me to the grocery. They go into the washer & dryer with no problem.

We usually buy a month's supply of pet food. Dog food is stored in a plastic lidded trash can that sits inside the wooden feed bin. Same with dry cat food. Rolling lidded bins are also handy for pet food storage. Sadly, I don't see how you can really clean and rid your pantry of the moths and still salvage your food. Although I've never had a problem, I have always stored my flour, sugar and items of that sort in airtight containers in my cabinets. I transfer them as soon a I bring them in from the grocery store. Any type of airtight container will work and are available in all shapes and sizes to fit your particular food storage area.

Best of luck to you.
tomorrowisanotherday
Original Author
14 years ago
Many thanks to everybody! I am off to Walmart/Target to find some appropriate containers and look for baits. I am resigned to just pitching all of the drygoods that the critters could be in. Sadly, that is a lot of food.

I did a little investigating yesterday and got totally grossed out. I had transferred some rice to a tupperware container when this first happened. So I opened it to check on the rice--there must have been 25 dead moths sitting on the top layer--ewwww! Now I'm finding them INSIDE cake mixes, cracker bags, cereal, and the list goes on. I can't believe they have gotten INSIDE sealed bags! I suppose they are chewers. This also explains how I missed them when I cleaned out previously.

I'm also going to check with the exterminator--thanks for the idea, Works. I guess I'd forgotten about that option, duh!

Now I understand why my mom always sealed up EVERYTHING. I always thought she was just being OCD about her pantry...now I get it! It's funny, I do remember having bird seed in the pantry too, and it was thrown away with the first batch of bad stuff--but I never considered that it could be the source. Hmmm...maybe it wasn't the rice after all.

And I AM going to start freezing my flour, maybe even my rice. Thanks again for all of your suggestions!
nanny2a
14 years ago
Tomorrow, it may not have been the birdseed. It could have just as easily been some flour or other grained product you bought and brought home that already had the larvae in it. I went through all our stuff when we were first infected and was appalled at some of the places the moths had gotten into. Sealed, unopened bags and all! Freezing the rice and flour sounds like a good idea. I think I'll try that myself. We keep a lot of flour, cornmeal and different grains in the pantry, but it's all in sealed plastic containers. If I freeze them first, it will help to eliminate any problems in the future.
amysrq
14 years ago
Tupperware Modular Mates and a giant container of bay leaves have worked for me for about eight years now. The mod mates are an investment, but I have had the same ones for at least a dozen years and have only ever had one lid that needed to be replaced. They do get brittle if you put them in the freezer, so be a little extra careful.
polly929
14 years ago
I read this thread yesterday.... then last night dh went into the pantry to get the dog food, and uggghhhh we found larvae in the bag of dog food, which was kept inside a plastic container. He pulled the big bag out and on the outside found a huge, furry catepillar! I am so grossed out, I have never seen one quite so big, and in my pantry no less. I just threw out ALL my pasta in the boxes. Everything else was in jars and cans, we stayed up till 11pm last night cleaning it out. I can't even believe I read this, and only hours later found them in my own pantry.
tomorrowisanotherday
Original Author
14 years ago
Polly, I'm so sorry to hear that you found some tool! As you saw in the dog food, the larvae for the moths are quite small...the caterpillar on the outside of the bag was probably not a pantry moth larva...but I agree--GROSS :) Oh, one more thing, don't forget to check the bottoms of those jars and cans!

Amysrq--I'm going to make some bay leaf sachets to hang in all of the closets--I worry some will migrate when I start the clearing-out process. Thanks for the tip! Googling Modular Mates next :)
polly929
14 years ago
I keep almost everything in the pantry in OXO pop containers, they are modular also, and you can buy a set at BBB w/ a coupon. My house is 100+ yrs old, and we had a problem w/ field mice when we first moved here, and they got in the pantry and ate through bags of ramen noodles. That's why I started using the containers. I never knew about pantry moths, until yesterday. While we were cleaning it out, we found larvae and web like things on the back of shelves and under jars. This Sunday, we are planning on painting the whole thing and sealing it up.
polly929
14 years ago
I keep almost everything in the pantry in OXO pop containers, they are modular also, and you can buy a set at BBB w/ a coupon. My house is 100+ yrs old, and we had a problem w/ field mice when we first moved here, and they got in the pantry and ate through bags of ramen noodles. That's why I started using the containers. I never knew about pantry moths, until yesterday. While we were cleaning it out, we found larvae and web like things on the back of shelves and under jars. This Sunday, we are planning on painting the whole thing and sealing it up.
arleneb
14 years ago
I've gone through this in the past -- the pantry moth traps shown by an earlier poster really work. I now keep everything in Tupperware or OXO pop containers; birdseed in the garage. The moths are a true pain in the "ahem" -- I absolutely HATE them!

I also keep whole wheat flour and brown rice, used less frequently, in the freezer.
tomorrowisanotherday
Original Author
14 years ago
Well, I've spent about $150 at Walmart on containers thus far, and will go back to BB&B to get more tomorrow (I forgot to take my !@#@#$ coupon with me tonight...grrr). They have a nice set of the OXO containers I plan to get.

At least the ewwww-factor is not so high for me now. Don't get me wrong--it is definitely nasty--but I'm not so grossed out now. I'm actually having some fun picking out pretty containers :)

I ran into a friend today...they have some, errrr, RODENT issues...so my problem does not seem so dire, LOL!
gracie01 zone5 SW of Chicago
14 years ago
I've never actually seen moths in my cupboards, but I would find the little webby things inside cake mix boxes, etc. I now put bay leaves on the shelves; replacing them once a year, and have never had that problem since.

Dang it! There are moths in my pantry...AGAIN!

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Dang it! There are moths in my pantry...AGAIN!

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