Are you having trouble with pantry moths? Don’t feel bad, it’s nothing to do with poor housekeeping. Most of the moth eggs come into your house in bags of flour, oats etc. My recent infestation was from a bag of rye flour and the little critters had also eaten through the plastic on a bag of chia seeds and a bag of oat based cereal.

They can be a bother to get rid of – these natural methods will ensure they don’t come back and cause havoc.

When you get your rice, flour etc before you put it in the pantry place it in the freezer for 24 hours to kill any tiny eggs. We actually eat them all the time without realising and they do us no harm but they do hatch in your cupboard and that’s when we get the little larvae and moths that then lay more eggs and so the cycle repeats.

If you can see them in your bags of carbohydrates throw them out in a sealed rubbish bag that is outside of your house and start again. If you have hens they love the extra protein!

Take everything out of your pantry and wash with warm soapy water, I use our Hemp & Eucalyptus Cleaning & Dish Wash Liquid.  Make a spray by mixing 1/4 tsp each eucalyptus, lemon and peppermint essential oils with 110ml Premium White Vinegar. Shake and spray directly onto clean shelves and the inside of cupboards.

You can also add a few drops lemon and peppermint essential oil to cotton wool balls and leave them strategically around your pantry.

Or try distributing Bay Leaves around your pantry, this seems to work for some but not for others, perhaps this depends on the quality and freshness of the leaves, worth a try though.

I use the essential oil option in my pantry and have also bought pheromone traps from our local dairy in the past when we had a larger infestation.

You can also make this pantry moth spray to deter them.