How to get rid of pantry moths

A pantry is a heavenly place for pretty much any pest on the planet. Getting rid of pests and infestations that occur in your pantry, however, is an arduous and challenging task. 

Pantry moths usually find their way into your pantry by grabbing a lift home after a trip to the grocery store. The most common food items that bring infestations home with them include rice, cereals, flour, beans, and generally any grains. It’s therefore important that you do the required checks and clean-ups to fully eradicate and prevent any pest infestation should you think that your groceries are tainted. 

By following the steps explained below, you’ll have a good chance of preventing and eliminating any pesky moths and other pests that might be living in your pantry. 

Keep your Eyes Peeled

Let’s start off with the easiest and most obvious practical tip that will help you to detect a moth or pest infestation. 

You should inspect your pantry carefully to detect any signs that might indicate a pest infestation. Look behind all of the foods, spices, and condiments stored in the room, and make sure that you look over all your shelves and cupboards properly. Doing this consistently, perhaps on a bi-weekly basis, could help greatly in detecting a problem before it gets out of hand. 

Catching an infestation early is much better than catching it at a later date when the breeding, nesting, and reproducing stage has already begun. In addition to checking the actual pantry, be sure to check inside any packaging that you bring home from the grocery store, as pantry moths are known to move from place to place discreetly.

Clean Up Well 

Another good practice, in terms of just general food hygiene, as well as getting rid of pantry moths, is to do a deep clean of your pantry every now and then. Add it to the routine of inspecting your pantry on a bi-weekly basis, as this will put you in a good position when dealing with a potential infestation. 

Doing a deep clean involves removing every item of food, all your spices and other condiments, and any empty containers. Once done, you can wash the shelves down with soap and disinfectant. Make sure that your shelves are spotless before placing the food and other items back on them. 

A good mixture to use to deter pests and insects from returning to your pantry is water and white wine vinegar. This mixture is best applied to surfaces after you have used soap and disinfectant. You can think of it as a deterrent method after a round of deep cleaning. 

If you happen to have any peppermint oil in your home, be sure to add that to the mixture as well. Peppermint oil has been shown to be extremely effective in getting rid of pantry moths and other pests.

Leave the Pantry Empty for a While 

After you’ve done your deep clean and are satisfied that the shelves are clean enough for repacking, take a minute. Open up the pantry doors and windows and let a bit of fresh air flow into the room. 

If possible, wait a day or two to really allow the moths to find their way out of the pantry. If after a few days of waiting, you still find moths in the room, repeat the process again. On the second attempt, try being even more thorough with your cleaning and ensure you get soap and disinfectant into every nook and cranny. 

Get Rid of Any Infested Food

After you have cleaned out your pantry and have all of the food items outside in the open, take some time to go through each and every package and inspect it for further infestations. Dark and dry food packaging makes the perfect nesting zone for pantry moths. Be sure to get rid of any boxes that have signs of an infestation. 

You do, however, have to be conscious and smart about the disposal of your infested packaging and boxes. Simply throwing them into your trash might cause further problems with breeding and reproducing. Instead, you should attempt to remove the packaging from your property completely by taking it to the local dump. 

If the tips and tricks above don’t get rid of your pantry moth problem, then you’ll need to recruit the help of trained professionals. Pest control companies like Twin-Boro can come out to your home and deal with the problem professionally. This will give you complete peace of mind and you won’t have to deal with pesky pantry moths yourself any longer.