Buzz
Technically speaking, moths themselves don’t munch on fabric. It's their larvae, or caterpillars, that are responsible for eating your clothes, not the adult moths.
Only a small group of moths, specifically from the Tineidae family, show an interest in your clothing. In much of the United States, you’ll typically find just two species of Tineidae: the webbing clothes moth (Tineola bisselliella) and the casemaking clothes moth (Tinea pellionella). These moths don’t seek out your wardrobe for food, since the adults don’t eat and lack the mouthparts to do so. Instead, they choose your closet as the perfect spot to lay hundreds of eggs.
Once the eggs hatch into larvae, the real trouble begins. The larvae need a lot of protein to progress through the pupa and adult stages of their life cycle, so they’ve adapted to consuming keratin, a protein found in animal hair, skin, and nails. This means wool, fur, feathers, leather, and even lint are all fair game. Larvae have even been known to gnaw through cotton, acrylic, polyester, and other plant-based and synthetic fibers—though not for the purpose of eating them, but to create a path to their preferred food.
The Mothball Solution
When dealing with clothing moths, many people immediately reach for mothballs as their first line of defense. However, the National Pesticide Information Center advises against this, explaining that outside of a sealed container, mothball fumes aren't concentrated enough to effectively eliminate the pests, though they can still cause headaches in humans.
Experts suggest a more effective approach for handling an infestation: dry clean any wool or animal fiber garments, and wash the rest using the hot cycle on your washing machine. Afterward, thoroughly vacuum the floors, the tops and bottoms of shelves, and even the ceiling to ensure that any remaining eggs or larvae are removed.
