Moth balls

[Gene L 0]

A couple of days ago, I found a moth in my fly tying room.  The bad news is that it looked like a small moth, like one descended from a large moth in my feathers.   So I doubled the mothballs and I'm hoping for the best.  Moths, I hate the little bastards. 

 

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

That's a problem we all have to deal with... Imagine a wholesaler with a barrel of feathers to process (with all that entails...), package and sell -only that container has "bugs"....  and so it goes

[DFoster 0]

I keep all of my materials sealed up in the zip lock bags they came in.  Feathers and furs that are given to me by hunters are stored in sealed bags with Borax powder. Thankfully after 15 years of tying I haven't had a problem with moths or any other bugs. 

[flytire 0]

moth balls would make my house smell like grandma's attic

i use whole cloves in all of my zip lock bags containing feathers

and i put individual cedar scented packets in all of my plastic shoe boxes of feathers

[DrLogik 0]

When I was in Roscoe New York years ago I stopped by the old Dette shop and Mary was behind her Dyna-King Pro and I asked her what they use.  She said "moth crystals".  She went in the back and brought out Enoz Moth Crystals.  Made with paradichlorobenzene.  I"ve been using that ever since and have never had a problem with bugs.  This stuff doesn't hang on to the "moth ball" smell for very long like regular moth balls do.

This stuff:

https://www.amazon.com/Enoz-Moth-Ice-Crystals-3/dp/B00XNN72PC?ref_=ast_sto_dp

 

 

[niveker 0]

14 hours ago, DrLogik said:

Enoz Moth Crystals

Interesting.  I always thought moth balls and moth crystals were the same thing, but they're not.  Moth balls active ingredient is Naphthalene, moth crystals have Paradichlorobenzene as the active ingredient.  

As per the National Institute of Pesticides:

Target Organisms

- Paradichlorobenzene vapor is toxic to insects, molds, mildews, and it acts as a deodorizer.2,3 No information was found on the precise mode of action of paradichlorobenzene on target organisms.

- Naphthalene is used for the control of clothes moths. In this application, the naphthalene vapors fill the airtight container and kill the insects. No information was found on the mode of action of naphthalene in insects.  Naphthalene is registered for use as a wildlife repellent in some products. In this application, it is meant to be effective via inhalation and subsequent avoidance of the odor in the treated area.

[DrLogik 0]

niveker,

Yep, Para-D kills bugs, it doesn't just repel them.  I pour those crystals into stainless steel tea infusers that I got at the grocery store for cheap.  I put one in each plastic box with materials.  Like moth balls, the crystals evaporate also but in the closed plastic box I think it still has a residual/lingering effect even when they evaporate completely.

Like these:

https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Infuser-Filter-Handles/dp/B085HYT7VD/ref=sr_1_45?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.4LzLQuhdV90DJW2yUcNtmzDW0DM95kRt_dRTfJS3Xhlx2c2jTrgq_YkeDcedKf5KIJj_wGsUvsrEBoOOQ7__uMJ6Ov-lmtdm8l1FA43qoJUwQZXLY57taliJkg7KRe_J6E12Ympk1LusHFIguEJUqd0FS0Hi82Aa1MFXjn8uLQwaTX3QhTilmzG5phOwOSmb_8e3F2DTK2ldkOGsfnidZIKSJHiOdG8Lc-W6SuniMPc9yvm3ybkUMTQ4S3ysSS-E8TueuW3uKGZdnJga33gaAdYiSyiEsvXYbklYjeDEiCA.E7ykoPCAyDa4WRM6uJshz_MpMtrH-JzQEb2Uxxu2PF8&dib_tag=se&keywords=stainless+steel+tea+infuser&qid=1716224584&sr=8-45

[flyflinger 0]

Many decades ago, my first mentor Tom Lentz (in Florida) told me to put cedar chunks in all the drawers where I kept fur and feathers, and to leave them in their original packaging (usually zip lock bags).  Over 45 years of storage in Florida, California, and mostly Colorado, I've only discarded one starling skin which I suspect was pretty infected when I bought it.  I also believe that living at 7,000 feet of elevation in Colorado doesn't provide a many critters as a more temperate or humid sea-level climate.  I also once heard that camphor wood had a similarly deterrent effect on insects, and also was a rust preventative.  Has anyone used woods in this way?  

Regards,

     

[Gene L 0]

I think camphor and red cedar can work to deter insects, but mothballs release a gas that kills the little bastards.

[Trouttramp 0]

I had a bug problem a few years back. Little devils that turned my feathers into dust. A bird hunting friend gave me some skins and loose feathers that infected my entire feather stock. The bugs were very tiny, almost microscopic, but very very destructive.
 

My solution to get rid of them was:

1, put a few moth crystals ( USE CRYSTALS) in a zip lock bag with a couple necks , fur patches or skins in each.

2, TRIPPLE  zip lock  ( a bag inside a bag inside a bag, inside another bag ), those bags tight to keep the smell down.

3, put all the triple zip lock bags with feathers in large garbage bags tied shut tight with zip ties.

4, put the garbage bags into large totes and duct tape them shut.

5, store totes out in the garage for 30 days minimum.

6, clean fly tying area surfaces and drawers with a bleach/water solution, 

7, we flea bombed the house on a Friday, and spent a long weekend at the beach.

8, put cedar balls in the drawers where I keep my feathers 

Even with all that, the garage still had a slight moth ball smell. It worked though. Haven’t had a problem since. That was 8 or 10 years ago.

Good luck.
 

[Gene L 0]

I don't worry about the smell.  Mothballs smell better than moth poop.

[niveker 0]

2 minutes ago, Gene L said:

I don't worry about the smell.

For whatever reason, a faint mothball smell has good connotations for me. 

[rscconrad 0]

Find an old cedar chest.  I store all my feathers and furs in one.  Stood it up and put coasters under it to make it more like a cabinet

[Bruce Derington 0]

Those yellow pest strips ( in a plastic cage), work as well

[flytire 0]

11 hours ago, Gene L said:

Mothballs smell better than moth poop.

wait, you sniff moth poop? weird