What’s eating my clothes?
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There are a number of pests that cause damage to clothing, shoes, fabric items and paper around your home and office.
Carpet beetles, clothes moths, silverfish and psocids (booklice) can present serious pest problems when it comes to damaging clothes, household fabrics and paper items. Collectively these pests are called fabric pests.
Insects that eat clothing
Insects that cause damage to clothing tend to be small and secretive. Often you will only see the damage to the fabrics and not the culprit. However, each of these pests have different food preferences, so the type of material that is damaged will give a good indication of which pest is causing the problem.
To help you find the culprit, we put together the following table:
Moth holes in clothes
Although holes in clothes can be caused by a variety of pests, clothes moths are the most common culprit.
It is the clothes moth larvae which causes all the damage (the adults do not feed).
However, the generally prefer fabrics of animal origin (wool, silk and fur), rather than fabrics of plant origin, such as cotton.
More information on clothes moths and clothes moth control…
Carpet Beetle Damage
Although you may be forgiven for thinking carpet beetles only eat carpet, they will actually eat a wide range of animal materials – not just woollens, silks and furs, but also leather, hair and feathers. The will also eat dead animal carcasses – such as dead insects and rodents that may be in the roof void.
The will also sometimes eat seeds, grains and cereals so can also be a pantry pest.
It is the carpet beetle larvae that does all the damage, the adult beetles feed on pollen and nectar.
More information on carpet beetles and carpet beetle control…
Silverfish holes in clothes
Silverfish have a preference for plant materials, and in particular a preference for starchy materials. They tend target paper, cardboard and some starchy foods although cotton and linen are on the menu.
Young silverfish look like small versions of their parents and they all can cause damage.
More on silverfish and silverfish control…
Booklice holes in paper
Booklice eat starchy materials, although more accurately they eat the microscopic mould that grows on starching materials in humid environments.
This means they can be found causing damage to books, papers, documents, photos and cardboard boxes. But it also means they can be found on cereals in the pantry and so can also be classified as a stored product pest.
There is another common pest that will also damage clothing and fabrics, at the eat everything – cockroaches!
If you have an infestation of any of these pests there is no option but to do a complete inspection of all the suspected areas – especially stored goods and clothes, in both the house and sub-floor / roof void. It’s important to find all sources of infestation – it you find one, don’t stop, there could be others!
Once you’ve found all the sources of infestation, you will need to dispose or treat affected clothing or materials and carry out the appropriate treatment.
For the treatment options check out the following pages:
Silverfish control (also for psocids / booklice)
Recommended PestXpert Products
Author:
Gordon Reidy has over 30 years experience in Pest Control Product Development and Product Safety. As the lead formulator at PestXpert, he has helped develop some of Australia’s most trusted household pest solutions. With a PhD in Toxicology, Gordon is passionate about delivering effective, science-backed products that are safe for families and the environment.
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