How to get rid of moths in the kitchen forever in 5 steps

Moth in the kitchen is not only flying moths, but also their pupae, larvae and eggs.

• So, in order to remove pests forever, it is necessary to struggle with them in a complex way - to find and eliminate hearth, clean the furniture / ceiling, throw away everything that was infected and process potentially infected products.

Food moths can be of different types. Most often in the kitchen in a city apartment you can meet: a flour-brewer, slightly less - cocoa (it is very similar to a cloak of a moth) and a southern barn fire (the fight with it is given more complicated than with a others). Where do they come from, even in the cleanest kitchen cupboards?

• Tiny, almost invisible eggs fall into the kitchen in packages of cereals, cereals, gallets, dried fruits, flour, spices and other groceries. Then within a week of them hatch larvae of food moths, which subsequently pupate and turn into moths.
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In this material you will find step by step instructions on how to get rid of food moths, what measures prevention to take in order to avoid its reappearance and how to save products if they feel sorry for throwing away.

Step 1. We search for the center and the infected products

Eggs moths look like small white stuck together grains, similar to a manga. The larvae initially look like small whitish worms, and then they grow to 7 cm and have black or brown heads. Another clear sign of food contamination is spiders as in the photo below.

To get rid of food moles, the first thing to do is:

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1. Inspection of kitchen cabinets and products.Examine all the supplies that are stored in the kitchen cabinets - you need to find not only the source, but also the products already infected with larvae and eggs.

• Do not forget to check and not unpacked groceries, because the moth easily eats cardboard, foil and polyethylene.
• Pay special attention to the edges of the lids of the cans - they can be a spider's net of moths.
• Remember that the infected can be not only groceries, but also animal feed, seeds for birds, bait for fishing, that is, almost everything that is stored not in the refrigerator.

1. Inspection of the ceiling.Ceiling, ceiling skirting boards, wallpaper edges and chandelier base. Mole likes to hide in dark crevices and corners.
2. Inspection of the tops of cabinets.Here you can also see cocoons of moths.

By the way, if you doubt whether there is a moth in your kitchen at all, or, say, whether it was possible to withdraw it after stripping, then inspect the room at night - adults will gather around the burning chandelier.

Step 2. We spend a total sweep

1. Eliminate the source and products with obvious signs of infection. Once you find out which product has become the source of the spread of insects, tightly wrap it in a plastic bag and immediately discard it, and better and completely burn it.
2. Carry out a thorough cleaning. Empty out the kitchen cabinets and take out the shelves, and then vacuum them and the inside walls of the cabinet, paying special attention to the corners and slits.

• The vacuum cleaner (without a nozzle or with a small nozzle) will tighten the hiding moth and will not let the unobtrusive eggs stay in the closet. This method is very effective, so if you do not have a vacuum cleaner, it should be asked from friends. The main thing after the procedure is to throw out the bag or to freeze it in the freezer for 3-4 days.

Next, wipe the furniture with a solution of vinegar, household soap and / or a special remedy for food moths, for example, Antimol or Raptor.

1. Wash all containers and jars. You can do it with vinegar or household soap. The container in which the infected products were located should be frozen for 3-4 days or warmed in the microwave for 5 minutes.
2. Vacuum the ceiling. If you find a moth settlement on the ceiling, ceiling skirting boards, the tops of the cupboards, near the chandelier, and also under the edges of the wallpaper that's gone off, then vacuum these places.

Step 3. We kill adults and paste traps

How do you catch the adults who have already scattered around the corners of the cabinets and the kitchen? Males (by the way, innocuous, but fertilizing females) can be caught with the help of a glue trap (photo below). The principle of its action is simple: a trap, trapped by a female pheromone, attracts males and "catches" them, and without males, the moth can not reproduce, of course. Thus, pheromone traps will help prevent the re-emergence of insects.

• You can buy such a trap for 200-300 rubles in online stores and household chemical shops.

The women themselves will have to be killed by traditional methods - a fly swatter or a folded newspaper, since they fly badly and slowly, then it is not so difficult.

Step 4. We process potentially contaminated products

So, you threw out the source product and products with obvious signs of infection, and what to do with the rest of the supplies that appear to be clean or seem to be slightly infected?

The easiest way is to throw them away, but if you want potentially contaminated food, you can save in two ways:

• Before sifting and sorting the croup, flour or other product, keep it in the freezer or on the balcony (in the winter time) for at least 3-4 days.
• After pouring the product on a baking tray, warm it in the oven at a temperature of 60 degrees for at least 40 minutes. Before heating it, of course, you need to clean it.

Keep in mind that the first method of processing, although longer, but retains all vitamins and nutritional properties of food.

Step 5. We carry out prophylaxis and protect products

1. New or cold / warm foods (including animal feeds) should be poured into glass, thick plastic or metal containers / cans with tightly closed lids. This will protect supplies from the penetration of moths and prevent it from escaping from the packaging. Recall that cardboard, paper, foil and cellophane bags are easily eaten by it.

1. In the fight against moths in the kitchen, a national recipe is also useful - storage of products with natural repellents:

• With a couple of leaves of laurel leaves;
• With peeled, but not cut garlic (enough pair of heads);
• With orange peels.

1. On the shelves you can also decompose one of the following, either: twigs of lavender, birch leaves, geranium, wormwood, rosemary, laundry soap or strong-smelling essential oils. For example, fir oil, which can be moistened with a cotton wool disc and leave it in a closet, will do.

Remember that these folk remedies are frightened off by an adult moth, not allowing her to lay eggs in food and shelves, but they will not affect the larvae. Moreover, if you suddenly put a package of infected cereal on the shelf with lavender, the larvae of moths will not perish in it, and the butterflies that appear later will no longer be afraid of the smell of lavender. This is why it is necessary to deal with domestic pests in a comprehensive manner.

And a little more about prevention

The following tips will help you avoid the re-emergence of moths:

• Try to ensure that the products do not lie for more than 2-4 months and, of course, do not store supplies that have expired.
• Products that you rarely use, store in the refrigerator.
• Buy dry foods in small quantities to manage to eat them for a couple of months.
• Buy groceries only from well-known manufacturers and, if possible, check the quality of the goods in the store. For fidelity freshly bought cereals, grains, flour, nuts, dried fruits and other products freeze for 3-4 days (in dry form).
• Forage for animals, for example, seeds for birds or, say, bait for fishing, store not in the kitchen.

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