It’s jumper season, and many of us are rediscovering our woollies after months in storage, hoping we won’t find that our favourite sweater has been munched through by moths just as the weather turns crisp.
Ireland is home to around 1,500 species of moth, but only two are known to feast on our clothes: the aptly named common clothes moth, and the case-bearing clothes moth. The latter gets its name from the small case its larvae spin from silk and fibres stolen from hats and jumpers, creating a multi-coloured protective shell.
The larvae are after keratin, a protein found in natural fibres. Wool, silk, and other animal-derived materials are a rich source.
In the wild, moths are nature’s recyclers, helping to break down animal remains, bird nests, fur in mammal dens, and even Barn Owl pellets, which contain regurgitated remains. They are also part of the food web: larvae are a valuable food source for birds, spiders and other insects, while adult moths provide protein for bats.
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We have helped clothes moths along by making our homes so cosy, with central heating, wall-to-wall carpets and overflowing wardrobes. We provide the perfect environment for them to thrive. Eggs are laid and hatch in spring or summer, when our jumpers are tucked away. By the time we pull them out in autumn, the damage has been done. The larvae have long since matured into adult moths, who have no interest in eating clothes. They don’t even have mouths.
Delicate silver and gold wisps, they would usually have a single annual life cycle in the wild, but milder winters, combined with well-insulated homes, allow multiple generations each year.
There was a decline in clothes moth numbers in the 1980s, when synthetic fabrics such as polyester, acrylic, nylon, spandex, and PVC became widespread, leaving less natural material for moths to eat. Dry cleaning also reduced numbers, and chemical treatments like permethrin-based sprays and fumigants disrupted moths’ nervous systems.
While effective, these chemicals carried health risks, including respiratory irritation and, in the case of naphthalene, potential liver and kidney damage.
In recent years, pest controllers have reported a marked increase in callouts. But what can you do yourself?
Cleaning clothes before summer and storing them in airtight containers helps, as do natural repellents such as cedar and lavender. Some people freeze items to kill larvae, but textile designer Kim O’Driscoll of Project Prolong in Dublin has found that putting 100 per cent wool or cashmere jumpers in the oven on the lowest temperature for about 30 minutes works even better.
“Just not anything containing plastic or polyester: it might melt,” she warns. Another tip: store knitwear in cotton tote bags. “I never vacuum-pack wool,” she says. “It loses shape, and moths can still get in.”
[ How to be better at keeping your clothes alive for longerOpens in new window ]
O’Driscoll, from Cork, founded Project Prolong in 2022 after completing a master’s in design for sustainability and circular economics. “I wanted to use visible mending as a feature, to reduce the stigma around second-hand clothes and celebrate the act of caring and repairing,” she says.
She began posting pictures on Instagram of jumpers she had repaired for friends, and the business grew from there. Clients now come from near and far, including the owner of a cashmere store in America who brought in 12 jumpers because she couldn’t find anyone locally in the US with the skill to do invisible repairs. Others have travelled down from Belfast or shipped items from abroad.
All repairs, starting at around €10, are done by hand with a darning needle. Small cashmere holes might require 50 stitches, while chunky knits can be faster. “Wool is warm, repairable and biodegradable,” says O’Driscoll. “I’ve never had a wool garment I couldn’t repair.”
[ Revive, repair, reimagine: How to make the most of the clothes in your wardrobeOpens in new window ]
Many of the pieces she revives carry sentimental weight: a cardigan full of holes worn by someone who passed away, or a cashmere hoodie cut in half during a medical emergency, which she carefully repaired for the family. “It’s rewarding to preserve memories through repairs,” she says.
Some people bring her garments and apologise for how worn they are, but she only sees the love in them. “I never think of it as being neglected. It’s well-loved. It’s not that you’ve taken bad care of it; it’s that you’ve loved it so much it’s started to disappear. But it’s something that can always be fixed,” she says.
O’Driscoll runs workshops in darning, upcycling and sewing to help people mend and transform their own clothing, and recently moved into a new studio at Dublin’s Digital Hub in the Liberties, where items can be dropped off and collected.
Historically, moth damage was something to be avoided at all costs, especially in high-quality textiles. Today, the idea of intentional holes and wear has inspired cutting-edge sportswear, turning decay into luxury.
For €120, you can own one of cult running-brand Satisfy’s signature MothTech™ organic cotton T-shirts. The shirt features dozens of moth-like holes, inspired by founder Brice Partouche’s vintage metal band T-shirts. The holes are precision-cut using lasers and hand-opened to provide airflow. The design even caught the attention of sportswear giant Nike, which released a running T-shirt with a similar distressed look late last year (the product attracted online criticism for its resemblance to Satisfy’s MothTech line, and is no longer available).
The ultimate irony is that, because MothTech is organic cotton, real clothes moths would not touch it.
