27 Oct Piss off the pantry moths
Piss off a pantry moth with a Pantry Moth Trap
Out of the corner of my eye I see it. The flutter of tiny wings. I freeze. My heart starts racing. Bloody pantry moths, they’re back.
Kitchen’s, cooking and cleaning drive me batty at the best of times but pantry moths do my head in.
A little while ago, Nicole Avery of Planning with kids, wrote this post. It took me back to my days in the northern Illawarra where pantry moths reigned.Way worse than any Queensland invasion. I don’t know whether it was the cold climate or what, so I’ve researched it.
Apparently, the perfect conditions for pesky pantry moths are warm and wet weather. Lots of rain provides a nice moist environment for them to lay their eggs and the warm weather? Well that will have those eggs hatching in no time.
Hatch they did, almost every week in Thirroul, New South Wales. My little boys became vigilant pantry moth detectives for me.
“Mum, quick moth!”
“Where, Where?” I’d reply and off I’d go on a mission to kill the latest one.
It must have looked hillarious, the three of us up on stools with fly swats and paper towel to kill those deadlies.
How can you piss those pantry moths off?? Read on…
7 ways to piss off pantry moths
- Hot, soapy water – take the containers out of the pantry and wipe them out, making sure you get right into the corners of each shelf. The corners are where the 30o or so eggs that an adult moth can lay in it’s lifetime will be hiding. Don’t stress about it or make it a massive job, just do a shelf every week or so till the job’s done. Or if you’re like me I kind of lift everything up and wipe under it and into the corners.
- Eucalyptus oil – Get a soft cloth, dab some Eucalyptus oil on it and wipe it into the corners of the pantry shelves. Same with your pantry tupperware. When you find moths in a container or under the edges of the lid, you’re seeing the tell tale signs. Empty the ingredients into the bin. The eggs will be all through your dry stuff and their might be the fine spider webs that moths leave. Wash down the Tupperware lids with hot water and then wipe over the tops of lids (obviously, don’t wipe any part of the container that will have contact with the dry goods) with your eucalyptus cloth.
- Pantry moth sticky traps. These things are as gross as they are amazing. Put them together as per the instructions and sit them on the shelves of your pantry. I put one on every second shelf. They contain a pheromone and as it starts to work every one of those moths, full from their pantry feed, fly straight to it, they get stuck and die.
- Tupperware, Sistema or Decor containers. Yeh, I know you don’t believe in supporting the establishments and buying containers. They’re expensive and you’re loving your plastic chinese container and I don’t care what you say, they just won’t cut it against these pantry moths. Pantry moth’s, like cockroaches, could survive a nuclear holocaust. Stop being stingy and buy some containers and then use them! Put that new packet of flour straight into a container.
- Freezer. If you don’t like they idea of putting your flour into Tupperware you can always put it in the freezer. Rumour has it that kills any moth eggs that might have been packaged into the flour or the other ingredient that you’re using.
- Hire a cleaner and/or a pest control expert. Yes, I’m pissing myself laughing too. Who can afford that especially when you have pantry moths every other day. There are some people who do though I guarantee you.
- Eat all meals out. See number six. Who can afford this? but I love the idea of it and besides I’m sitting here giggling as I write it. Definitely worth adding.
I’m starting to twitch as I write this, because they’ve found me.
They’re here on the Cap coast and so the killing season will begin. Max and Ruben have their fly swats at the ready!
What’s your living kitchen hell??