question Moth balls

[thedawnpatrol]

I have a large collection of original WW2 uniforms, and though I keep them in reasonably sealed clear plastic zip up covers, I'm always concerned about cloths moth.

I used to be able to buy the old fashioned Moth Balls, very smelly but they worked well, trouble is now they are illegal, there are some poor quality lookalikes sold on eBay that smell like the originals when you open the packet but the smell disappears within days.

 

So I'm trying to gauge what other people use ?

 

You can get sprays but I'm not sure about spraying onto valuable uniforms ?

 

Jules

[rampant rivet]

Cedar wood seems to do the trick well so far !

[PetOp Pete]

I used to be a paper conservator and textiles are a little outside my expertise but this much I know: most chemicals (sprays, washes, etc) are not stable in the long term and will have some kind of negative effect on your collection. Moths and other creepy crawlies, such as silverfish, treat natural fibres such as silk, wool, and cotton as food. You can buy insect traps to help monitor the situation, but your best strategy is to keep the humidity level close to 50% and have a good physical barrier between the bugs and your collection.

 

Have a look at this site for some sound advice:

http://canada.pch.gc.ca/eng/1439925170741

 

Good luck.