It's important to remember that a moths olifactory system is far more highly tuned than our own (experiments have shown that a male moth can track the pheromone scent of a female moth from many miles away), hence the popularity of moth pheromone traps. While it's entirely understandable that we judge whether a moth could smell something based on what own nose can detect, they can detect these essential oils at concentrations that would be undetectable for us.  Overtime, as the fragrance fades it can be a good indicator for us that it's time to agitate the sachets to get the fragrance flowing again or depending on when we purchased them to replace them.

While anecdotally in western europe lavender and cedar have been used for hundreds of years to discourage moths, citronella oil which is obtained from different species of cymbopogon (lemongrass) probably never featured in the moth fighting efforts of our ancestors as these primarily grow in tropical areas and are used to discourage mosquitos.  This historical association probably explains why the lavender colibri sachets and cedarwood sachets are so popular in the UK, even though the lemongrass product was the first natural anti moth product in the range when it was first launched around 25 years ago.

Finding a fragrance that you like, means you're more likely to replace them regularly and use them year round for maximum moth protection.   Fragrance will always be something very personal, you'll likely have your own preference for perfume or aftershave and finding something you like.  The colibri fragrances are formulated with great skill to be both effective and provide a pleasant fragrance to your wardrobes and drawers.

Moth Traps - These work on the principle of attracting male moths by recreating the female sex pheromone and attracting the males moths to a sticky pad which stops them reproducing.  They are marketed both as 'traps' and 'monitors' - in a sense both are true.  They do trap male moths but for the largest users of these products such as stately homes with priceless fabric collections they are also there to provide an alert to an increase in moths and/or a possible infestation.  

Natural Moth Repellents - The thought process behind any natural moth repellent from lavender bags to cedar blocks to products with more complicated formulations like Colibri - is that in nature there are some plants which work hard to discourage insect attack.  The use of products like Lavender and Cedar has continued because of observed experience combined with folklore - your grandparents would have put away woollens with fragrance sachets because that is something they may have been taught by her own grandparents.  So while your ancestors couldn't have offered many tips on using an iPhone they did wear clothes and as clothes were expensive they wanted to look after them.  Elizabeth I was reported to have put perfume, rose-water and cloves amongst the royal chests - whether this was an early attempt at a moth repellent or not, the earliest recorded 'recipes' on how to banish these pests are over 500 years old.  

Natural repellents try and recreate the same conditions which discourage insects with the use of products which are observed to discourage moths (such as cedar blocks) or a range of naturally derived essential oils from plants and trees which are unattractive to insects.  

The range of Colibri products are made with a range of 15 essential oils in addition to a primary fragrance (lavender, cedar or lemongrass) some people do wonder which is more effective.  Given that the olfactory systems of moths enable some species of male moths to smell a female from many miles away we are dealing with a sense of smell that is immeasurably more powerful than our own.  The combination of different essential oils is just as important in the products effectiveness as the exact proportions of each essential oil.  Consider that while you might not be able to detect the lavender oil because its masked by a far higher concentration of cedar oil the moth will be far more attuned to the various components.  So you should really choose a primary fragrance that you like as it will permeate your clothing, no one wants open their wardrobe and be overpowered by the pong of mothballs, equally some people don't like lavender so pick something you like.  Some people are unconvinced about the efficacy of something natural compared to a chemical repellent and I'm respectful of their view just as some people won't believe in the benefits of meditation or yoga for their health.   I first began selling Colibri based on feedback from customers at my parents dry cleaning business who had been very impressed with it - which helped me overcome my own lack of experience with the power of plants and their essential oils.  The wisest approach is to test and make your decision based on your own observations.

Chemical Moth Products 

Moth Balls - With a distinctive smell these were once made from napthalene (banned in the EU in 2008) and more recently PDCD (para-dichlorobenzene). They have been associated with cancer risk and organ damage.

The most popular synthetic repellents and moth killers in use today are chemicals such are pyrethrin, permethrin and transflurin.  These will work to kill the adult moth or to kill the larvae.  

They all come with various health warnings, dire warnings of damage to marine life and extensive safety data sheets.  While I don't doubt the effectiveness of some of these products, personally I choose not to sell them because of the potential for health risks.

I've often recommended a hanging sachet every 4-6 hangers as a guideline and either a large drawer sachet or perhaps a couple of mini sachets per drawer.  We do have clients who use considerably more and they often explain that it's because they've had a bad experience where they have lost many thousands of pounds of precious garments and they'd rather be over cautious.  As moth damage is excluded on household insurance policies it's a risk you need to manage yourself.  You should always consider the value of what you're trying to protect - be it a favourite cashmere jumper or entire wardrobes full of extremely expensive designer clothes.  As you are effectively self insuring the risk, you'd be wise to spend more when you have a lot to protect and to prioritise periodic checking of your clothes and fabrics.

We have a number of clients who use Colibri within stately homes - and they are often amongst the best organised in terms of replacing their sachets.  While we recommend a periodic check every few months and giving the sachets a good scrunch (the cotton paper which houses the powder which is suffused with essential oils is robust and can be agitated to move the contents around and get those protective essential oils whizzing around your wardrobe).  If you're using products like our cedar blocks then these will benefit from periodic sanding to release more of the essential oils held within the wood.

Changing the sachets every 6 months is recommended - but use your nose.  While moths have an olfactory system which is far more powerful than humans - if you can still detect the fragrance then they certainly will.  I also find that some clients will move from one fragrance (cedar, lavender or lemongrass) to another each time they change their sachets to ensure they are changing the all products on time and this provides a useful visual checklist.  The value of checking periodically is to alert yourself to issues - over the years we've had many an unfortunate client who has added a vintage piece of clothing to their wardrobe only to find out they have introduced some unwanted guest (always a wise move to dry clean vintage garments before mixing them in with your other clothing).

In 2020 they’d caught around 15 moths on each of the 10 traps and had recently replaced them.More recently they’d noticed them in other parts of the house as well as evidence of the larvae and eggs.

They now wonder if they have reached the end of the road and must embark on using a pest controller with the associated toxic chemicals.

The tineids are a family of moths who have adapted to feast on keratin (the protein in fabrics such as wool and cashmere).  Tinelola bisselliella (common clothes moth) and Tinea pellionella (case bearing moth).  These moths have generally benefited from the introduction of central heating creating a warm, dry environment for them to live in - whereas the once common tapestry moth has not enjoyed these modern conditions and is far less common now.

Generally speaking, female moths use their perfume to attract male moths.  The effect of pheromones on moths has been studied since the 1950’s and recent studies have shown some species of moths that can detect these pheromones from many miles away.  So their olfactory senses are extraordinary and we believe that they are able to distinguish between different pheromones that may be floating in the air.  However, it is possible that pheromones from different types of moth have some similarity so of course the traps may inadvertently catch a different type of moth.  With the knowledge of these incredible olfactory powers, we can now begin to understand how scents like lavender and cedar have been observed over generations to discourage moths.  Perhaps they smell like old socks to moths?

The pheromone moth traps we sell work by emitting a scent similar to the female common clothes moth.  Their purpose is to disrupt the mating cycle and also monitor moth populations.   By taking male moths out of the breeding cycle you prevent female moths laying their eggs and stop the larvae feasting on your cherished cashmere.

I occasionally get complaints that the clothes moth traps haven’t caught any moths.  Customers quite reasonably imagine that this is because they don’t work - you may have seen a moth flying around and wonder why the traps are not catching them.  However, given the specificity of the pheromones it is entirely understandable that you might see moths around your home (of another type) and in this case the traps works as an effective monitor for the clothes moth.  You’ll often see them dotted around in stately homes where they work to offer an early warning signal of trouble.

If you are catching a large number of moths with the traps then it may be wise to become slightly more strategic about their placement.  It’s worth placing traps at floor level (counter intuitive perhaps, as we imagine that moths are constantly in flight) but we find they work well here too.  Your trap placement and monitoring may indicate parts of your home that may be experiencing moth trouble.   At that point you can redouble your efforts to clean any areas where they may be hiding and deal with any localised infestation.  Wardrobes are more challenging to deal with than other household fabrics such as carpets as there are so many more fabric surfaces to check for damage and visitors.  I continue to emphasise that vigilance is key to success - whether you have a problem or are trying to prevent one.  An undisturbed moth is a happy moth!  Once you have things back under control you can scale back operations and use them as monitors to indicate if the problem flares up again and consider the use of non-chemical moth repellents to protect your clothing.It’s often the dark corners, areas under furniture,

Like this customer, I too would consider the pest controller to be the last resort.  I’ve spoken to pest controllers before who talk about using ‘a bomb’ to kill moths, which presumably wipes out any signs of life.  I believe you need to vacate your home for a day after the treatment.  I personally would be very uncomfortable having such strong chemicals used in my home and would worry about unintended consequences to my health and for my children.  With that in mind, I’d rather see if I could control the problem myself with a more strategic approach using traps and repellents. 

Over time the value of our wardrobe adds up and we quickly realised we have many thousands of pounds invested in our clothes. Generally speaking the fabrics of most interest to clothes moths are natural fabric, quite often the finest and most expensive natural fabrics such as wool, angora and of course cashmere (cashmere is like a Michelin starred meal for a hungry moth).

Given the possibility of thousands of pounds worth of damage due to a moth infestation we strongly recommend you periodically check all is well in your wardrobes and drawers. Our moth bags are a great way to store out of season clothes, providing both a barrier to entry and just as importantly a breathable fabric lined with Tyvek which is used for museum grade fabric conservation to prevent mould growth while you are storing fabrics out of season.

A small investment of time periodically checking there is no moth trouble and some simple precautions such as using moth trap monitors (to indicate if there are moths around) and some old fashioned natural moth repellents could save you thousands of pounds in clothes damage. A wise investment we're sure you'll agree.

Historically when people stored clothes between seasons they used mothballs made of chemicals such as napthalene.  It has emerged over time that many of these products are toxic and harmful to humans.  Notwithstanding the danger of using such products they have another pretty nasty side effect - the smell.  Sadly the smell of mothballs impregnates clothes like a baby koala clings to it's mother.  If someone walks past you in a shop or supermarket the fug of mothballs is unmistakeable.  Surprising given this rather unfortunate characteristic that they proved to be so popular for so long.  While there continue to be a wide range of toxic chemicals on the market for dealing with moths there are also alternative treatments like Colibri anti moth as well as a moth trap monitors which help you to detect and get early warning of moths.

Thankfully looks like the word will outlive the product.