Natural ways to store wool clothing

I am packing away the tiniest of woolly baby clothes and not sure when I'll next be unpacking them. Some kind of wool eating creatures have damaged our wool clothes in the past when they haven't been stored properly, and I want to keep these in the best condition possible without toxic stuff so I am wondering what would be the best way of doing this?

I read somewhere that using extra borax in the wash might help - would packing them in with dry borax sprinkled in damage them at all? Or is the borax washing the best strategy? How much borax would I put into a laundry sink full of washing?

I usually put a little bit of cedarwood oil in when I'm washing woolly clothes to store in the hope that it will deter the pests - is this something that actually works?

In the past I had blocks of cedar wood that I put in clothes drawers, but I have still seen damage with these. It might be that they need to be sanded to let the smell get out again.

Getting clothes really clean I think helps a lot- the worst damage I've seen is in the parts of baby clothes that get food spilled on them - it's hard to get all of this out and it seems to attract the wool eating insects. I've been careful since then to soak the baby clothes and carefully wash them myself.

I think keeping clothes packed away in tight-lidded boxes or drawers that the wool eaters can't get into probably helps a lot - the worst damage I've seen is in clothes that I had in an open cardboard box.

Is there anything else I can do to protect these clothes naturally?

We've lost both garments and yarn to moths that were stored with cedar blocks and balls.

Our current protocol includes washing garments, and then drying either garments or skeins of yarn on the stationary rack in a hot drier for 30 minutes. That's supposed to kill all lifecycle stages of wool moths. Then those things get put into the best gasket-sealing plastic tubs we can get for storage. We still put cedar bits in, but understand that they are pretty minor deterrents in this form-factor. (I think a cedar chest entirely surrounding the wool must work better, but we don't have that.)

When we have fleeces (greasy or not), we don't want that in the dryer, so we put it in bags and freeze it, allow it to thaw for two weeks, freeze it again, and then put it in those same sealing bins and seal it up with dry ice. The buns burp for a couple of days as the air is displaced by CO2 and they're not anywhere near actually air-tight, so no risk of exploding.

This is all designed to combat the one kind of bug we know about that attacks wool where we live, but I don't know if there are other dangers elsewhere. And I don't know if all this use of plastic counts as "natural" for your purposes, but it's what we're doing currently.

Back in Oklahoma when I was a kid, folks had closets lined with cedar.

As I got older it was a tradition that every young bride had a cedar chest.

I have never been a fan of wool so I think in my lifetime I had two skirts, one dress and maybe a few sweaters.

I have never had a problem with that kind of moths.

I've had one potential moth infestation in the past (never saw any moths, but two garments were full of holes) so I started keeping my most precious wool garments in the deep freezer continuously. I don't have too many wool garments (essentially just one dress and a  suit) so it wasn't too much trouble to guarantee that we were really cutting the food source off and getting rid of the moths.

The best thing you can do to protect your woolens is seal them up!

Firstly, they should be clean. I'm not familiar with borax as a moth deterrent. My concern would be that it is fairly alkali, and wool likes to be acid. If you use borax or soda ash to make sure the garments are super clean do a rinse in white vinegar afterwards.

I seal things in zipper bags and then put those in plastic totes. As pointed out, that may not be the most 'natural' way, but it's effective! To be extra sure, freezer treating before storage is great. One week in, one week out, and another week in the freezer should do the trick! (the eggs survive freezing, so the week out should be in a warm place to encourage them to hatch before going back into the killing frost). Alternatively, very high heat also kills the larva, so placing things in black trash bags in the sun, or in a parked car out in the sun can work. Use a compost thermometer to check that the center of bags is getting hot enough (I go for 180F, not sure if there's science to that)

As for scented things, they help deter moths by being stinkier than the food, sweat, and human residues that the moths feed on. NOT FUN FACT  - wool moths do not care about eating totally clean wool, they are feeding on food particles and skin/sweat from humans or sheep. I've seen munching happen on cotton and synthetic yarns as desperate moths were looking for foods (I rather uncharitably hope they choked on the plastic and died). So, lavender, peppermint, clove, and cedar oils are all recommended. Cedar does have a component that disrupts their nervous system, but it must be extremely concentrated to work. Cedar chests work because they are well made and seal completely, the smell is secondary. Sachets and the like are best for short term storage of clothes that get work regularly. That said, a few drops of an essential oil on a piece of cloth tucked in with precious baby clothes will mean they are a little less old and musty smelling when recovered years down the line.

I only have cardboard boxes available for storage.  And a problem with mice. Help!

I found an old carved cedar chest that I use for long-term storage of more delicate fabrics.

They were very popular here for a young woman to store her enxoval of hand-made linens ready for marriage and they, and the linens, crop up regularly for sale as old houses are cleared out.

This one is from Macao and has dragons and phoenixes carved into it. How could I resist?

Not sure exactly how old it is, but it still smells very cedary when you open it.

Burra, that is a real treasure. How envious I am of your find.

I have lost so many favorite garments to wool moths. Even sheepskins and a buffalo hide. SO SAD!
Now my strategy is to store woolies and other tempting materials in vacuum seal bags. The moths shouldn't be able to survive without oxygen. And I'm using those sticky glue traps around, too.
Hope this helps!

When I cleaned out my mother's house we had several cedar chests, all of which got sold. I would have loved them, but just thinking about how much it would have cost to ship one here is enough to make me faint, so not happening....
I just took my sweaters down from the attic. In the past I've lost wool to moths (and it's extremely hard to find here, Brazil is not known for its wool production) PLUS we've had a really crazy increase in pantry moths, which seems like a bad sign for moths in general so I'm taking extra measures to protect them. I double vaccum bagged the woolens along with a cotton pad with lavender oil (I also have cedar and other oils, but lavender was closest to hand). When I pulled the clothes down they were still sealed and very fresh smelling, and as I wear them I'm putting them back in one sealed bag inside the closet just in case (my closet doesn't seal very well and there are a lot of moths around).

Excellent ideas above on the pre-treatment - freeze/thaw/re-freeze kills grubs and then kills any hatchlings that were 'missed'.  Then my suggestion is well zippered, tightly woven cotton cloth bags. Maybe add a zipper to a pillow case? Otherwise, zip-lock bags, but I'm guessing that might be off the cards.  Twigs of dried wormwood are a traditional deterrent, and could be placed the the drawers, but I think it's better to try to exclude the little pests.  Good Luck - it's a difficult problem.

I use to live in a so called third world county apartment. For storing clothes and food I sealed them in a plastic shopping bag, then added layers upon layers of plastic shopping bags. Then put few drops of peppermint oil over the outer layer. Helped keep ants and bugs away from food and clothes.