Dealing with bugs the old fashioned way

Anne here, and today I'm talking about creepy crawlies — no, not the nasty villains found in our novels, but the bugs and beetles that can sometimes invade our houses. Moths, silverfish — that kind of thing.

It started when a friend of mine's visiting grandmother spotted what she claimed was a silverfish fluttering in a dark corner! Naturally War was declared. The war, as wars are wont to do, inevitably spread — all members of the household (willing or not) were rallied to The Cause.

My friend refused to allow the use of poisons or other dangerous chemicals, so Grandma supervised operations the old-fashioned way — every cupboard and drawer was emptied, vacuumed, thoroughly washed out, the contents inspected minutely for holes or other signs of Evil, and everything washed, hung in the sun to dry, ironed, and repacked in plastic.

I fully sympathized. Last year I went to pull out a favorite dress from a drawer, and found to my great distress that moths had attacked it. I emptied the entire chest of drawers, and found no other damage — of all the many things those rotten little moths or silverfish could have eaten, the only thing they touched was my absolute favorite dress. This is what they did.

Luckily I found a place that did invisible mending and they were (for quite a price) able to repair the damage and make the dress wearable again.

But it got me thinking about how things used to be, when people had to protect their clothing without harsh chemicals. These days we tend to buy new things, tossing out anything that is damaged or that we're bored with. But people were more frugal and careful in the past, when new clothing wasn't so easily come by, and people simply didn't own so much. In those days people were raised to take care of their possessions much more than we do today.

One of my grandmothers stored her blankets and prized clothing in an old cedar chest. My parents owned a beautifully carved oriental camphorwood chest very much like the one in this picture. In both cases the wood is of a nature that repels insects. My other grandmother, Nana, had no such chest and her best sheets used to smell of mothballs or napthalene flakes, but the smell made Dad sneeze, so that wasn't a popular solution. Instead Nana tucked lavender bags and herbal sachets in every drawer and cupboard, and that did the trick.

I also don't want to use nasty chemicals, so I've returned to Nana's methods -- a variety, as I don't really know what works best. I did a bit of a web search and came up with the following solutions:

Lavender sachets:
It was my job as a child to refill the lavender bags every year. I'd pick the lavender, dry it, strip the flowers off the stems, unpick the old bags, empty them out and refill them with fresh scented lavender, and stitch up the seam again. At the top of this blog you can see one of my grandmother's lavender sachets — as you can see, she took a bit of trouble to make them pretty. That one has been in my mother's sewing box for years, and still retains a hint of fragrance. These days I'm a bit lazier, so I simply use draw string gauze bags that I buy ready made. If you wanted to be really lazy, you could simply wipe the drawers out with lavender oil, making sure it doesn't get on the clothes.

Cedar chips:
I'm lucky to have a friend who's a wood turner, so I got a bunch of cedar shavings from him and popped them in small muslin bags. He also made me some little cedar balls, and every now and then I sand them a little to release more of the fragrance. The smell is gorgeous, and apparently moths hate is as much as I love it. I believe sandalwood also works, as does camphor wood.

Herbal sachets:
I put together a collection of aromatic herbs, some of which are reputed to repel moths and other insects: my favorite mix contains cloves, lavender, mint and thyme and has such a fresh clean scent — cloves, especially is a favorite scent of mine, and they're great for repelling moths. The pic. above left is of one of my mixes on one of Nana's butter dishes, and a little gauze herbal bag beside it.

Pomanders:
When I was a kid I used to make pomanders of an orange or lemon studded with cloves. It's pretty easy — I put two thick rubber bands around the orange (to leave room for a ribbon later on) then stud the orange with the cloves-- just poke them into the skin -- then roll the whole thing in a mix of cinnamon, clove powder, nutmeg and other spices and orris root powder (powder made from the root of iris plants, which helps it last longer.) You need to let it dry a few weeks -- it will shrink -- and once it's dried, you tie ribbons around the space where the rubber bands were, and hang it in your wardrobe. It smells lovely and will last for a year or more if you've used the orris root powder. If you want to make one, you'll find instructions and a recipe here. The photo on your right is from here. 

And by the way, any of these would make lovely small gifts, and are very child-friendly. I adored making lavender sachets and pomanders as a kid, and they were always very well received as gifts. 

So that's the old-fashioned way. Do you have any handed-down tips and tricks for keeping the creepy-crawlies at bay? Do you remember lavender sachets? Does the smell of mothballs evoke any old memories for you? 

Comments

[Mel Scott]

My mum has my Nana's camphorwood chest in it. Nana used to keep very special things in there, old gowns and fabrics and lace she had saved or been given. For my yarn stash I resort to putting everything in resealable plastic bags. Last time I had an ant invasion, a mix of peppermint oil and water sprayed around all the places they were coming in seemed to stop them when they were ignoring all the chemical baits and other things I was trying. Disrupts their scent trails or something. I think it's also meant to deter spiders.

[Anne Gracie]

Yes, Mel, those lovely old chests are perfect for the things people want to save for precious arent they? Im sure many a wedding dress and christening gown has been saved for posterity by a cedar or camphorwood chest.As for your ant solution, I havent tried peppermint, but if it works, and smells so good, as well, why use anything else?

Mum always used to say if ants came in the house, a storm was coming. . .

[kay]

Lavender gives me a headache. Peppermint is also good for the tummy. Eucalyptus oil is good for the sinuses, just a little dab under the nose. Now, for the bugs - peppermint oil does work on ants and spiders, you just have to use a lot of it and know their paths. I love the smell of cloves, think I'll go home tonight and dump a bunch in my clothing drawers.

[Donna]

I used to make pomanders for Christmas. Would make several and stack them in a bowl. Last year, when I was getting out my Christmas decorations, I came across a wad of tissue paper that smelled really good. Couldn't remember what I had wrapped the paper around, but had a good laugh when I unwrapped 3 walnut-sized balls covered with cloves. My pomanders of old had continued to shrink over the years. I just popped them in a bowl with my freshly made pomanders.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Very interesting, Anne. I know of some of those older ways, but I didn't know much of anyone that used them. Cedar lined closets were popular, but moth balls probably more so. I agree that avoiding poisons is good, but if invaded by bugs, I think my reaction would be something like, "KILL THEM ALL NOW, WHATEVER IT TAKES!!!!" Not fond of creepy crawlies!

[Anne Gracie]

Kay, what a shame that lavender gives you a headache. So annoying.I hope you enjoy the cloves solution.

[Anne Gracie]

Dpnna, I remember that happening, too -- they shrink and get hard and brown, but they still smell good and do the job of repelling bugs.

Its why you need to me careful to leave space for the ribbon to tie around it, so you can hang it up.

Im thinking I might make some for this Christmas.

[Anne Gracie]

LOL, Mary Jo -- yes thats certainly the instinct I have too. But worse than bugs, I hate the thought of poisons lingering in the things I wear, so I cant bring myself to spray. The damage to my dress is the only example of bug damage Ive had in years, and why they chose that one dress out of all the other clothes, is a mystery. Id washed it and put it away, like everything else. And luckily the invisible mending people repaired it.

[Tempest]

Ahh the joys of grad student living . . . Boric acid lightly dusted (very lightly -- use a make-up brush) in cracks and edges works. (Don't do this if you have pets.) However, I guess that could fall under the poison category. You can also create a bug spray of essential oils in salt water. This has the benefit of smelling nice as well. The mixture of oils depends on what creepy crawlies are around.

[Reina]

Thanks for sharing! I didn't know about using cloves this way--we used to only make pomanders for Christmas. I use sachets and have cedar block hangers in my closet, but I think I'll try some cloves, as I also love the scent. I've used "natural" orange bug spray in the past, but so far in my new place, we haven't had bug problems. We just use a bugzooka. Glad you were able to get your favorite dress repaired. :)

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Reina. Id never thought of pomanders for Christmas -- freshly made theyd look pretty and smell delicious, but I always rolled them in spices and orris-root powder and packed them away in tissue paper in a box to dry out, so never saw the decorating potential. I also like the look of those ornaments that are a slice of orange, dried, and then decorated. http://www.twohotpotatoes.com/diy-foodie-christmas-ornaments/

[Elizabeth Rolls]

You might have put your dress away with a moth, Anne. I usually give clothes a serious flap when I take them off the clothes line in case there's a.oth or other bug on them. Pennyroyal is supposed to repel bugs especially fleas.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Elizabeth.

Id only just washed it, so that moth was a clever little sneak!

[Karin]

I've got lavender sachets in my linen closet, but it's more for the smell than anything else. Lavender is also supposed to have a soporific effect, so it's a good scent to have on your pillowcases. I think you can get it in spray bottles for your pillows, as a sleep aid.
I also scatter bay leaves in my kitchen cabinets where flour, baking mixes, and other grains are stored. It's supposed to discourage those little weevils that get in the flour and other foodstuffs. But I mostly store everything in metal tins or glass jars, to be on the safe side.

[Julie Poorman]

When I lived in Iowa my house was two blocks from a river. My outdoor trash cans were set in a wooden frame to keep them from flying when the winds blew. So, whole families of raccoons would come up visit and sit on wooden frame, open the lid to the trash can like a waiter showing off the entree'. I stood at my kitchen window and watched them at night. Then I would clean up what they discarded in the morning. Putting a light over the frame didn't worry them, getting a different model of trash can didn't worry them... putting moth balls at the bottom of the trash barrel was the only thing that forced them to find another dining location.

I use lavender in the house, moth balls for outside!
cheers,
Julie