Saturday, March 22, 2008

Operation Deathtrap: The Silence of the Moths

Progress Report

I have done the following things:

  1. Removed EVERYTHING from pantry
  2. Thrown out everything which is either moth-ridden or suspected to be so (4 shopping bags-worth... what a waste!)
  3. Repacked everything into glass or tupperware containers
  4. Scrubbed pantry shelves with hot soapy water
  5. Wiped down pantry with diluted vinegar
  6. Wiped down pantry again with teatree oil
  7. Made little cloth bags containing cloves and peppercorns, dipped in teatree oil
  8. Left said cloth bags in pantry corners
  9. Sprayed bug spray on any moth remaining
  10. Maintained a constant vigil.

So far, so good. No moths yet. I am fairly confident though that I have missed some of them, and they are still hiding in there somewhere, laughing at me. Go ahead and laugh, moths. Only people with OPPOSABLE THUMBS can use bug spray.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good luck! The thing that makes it so hard to stay pantry moth free is that so often they are in the flour/rice that we buy at the shops.

I read a tip somewhere to store a couple of bay leaves in your flour containers - seems to work for me so far.

Pinky said...

Yeah, I heard that too, except when I was cleaning out the pantry, I found a packet of dried bay leaves that was INFESTED with MOTH LARVAE. So maybe these moths have developed some sort of immunity. Or maybe my bay leaves are so ancient that they've lost all their power.