Kaitain's Profile

Agree with TomJV.

I had a grain moth infestation that began (I estimate) four or five months ago. It was probably from a few eggs brought home accidentally from loose flour bought at a local food store. (Not doing that again.) But it was defeated fairly easily, through being systematic.

Your most potent weapon is large ziplock bags. Go out and buy 50-100 of them.

You must set up a system of quarantine on almost all of your foodstuffs. Things that are in cans are safe. Be paranoid about pretty much everything else. Do not assume that the moths don't like X, and don't assume that they can't get into any given container. Ziplock bags are the exception. They will not be able to break into them, and (just as importantly) they will not be able to break OUT of them.

Pull all foods out of your cupboard. Everything. Place everything into a pile in the middle of the kitchen. Vacuum and wash the cupboards, but don't expect to get everything in them; you probably won't. There are most likely some eggs and grubs in cracks and crannies in the cupboard. Don't stress too much about that. You're not trying to defeat them using open warfare; this is a siege that will take place across several breeding cycles.

Systematically inspect every item of food, and either chuck it in the trash if it looks infected/compromised (preferably inside a sealed bag), or place it inside a ziplock bag and return it to the cupboard. You don't have to throw all your food away just out of paranoia; you can keep it and see if anything seems to be happening inside it after several weeks. Again, do not make assumptions; bag up EVERYTHING that is not a tin can.

Over the course of the next few weeks, it's likely that you'll see moths flying around the kitchen. This is to be expected. Already-fed grubs from before the quarantine period will eventually develop into moths. You may also discover grubs or nymphs crawling around. Kill any of these whenever you see them. But it isn't vital that you kill anything on the loose. The key thing is to shut off the possibility that NEW eggs are laid close to an accessible source of food for the moths.

In short: if they can't feed, they can't breed.

Continue to use your food; every time you go to use any given item, perform a quick inspection to see if anything is alive in there. If it is, reseal and chuck out the infected food, inside the ziplock bag. If not, use the food, but make darned sure you seal it up well again afterwards. In addition, blow any grains or crumbs off the seal after closing the bag.

Over the course of the next six to eight weeks, unless you've missed something, the frequency of moths seen in your house will fall away and eventually be at zero. When you've seen nothing at all for a couple of months, you have most likely won the siege.