Moths and Dry Cleaning (the Vintager's Lament)

[Deacon211]

I was sporting my recently acquired 1941 M-422A and was feeling pretty pleased with myself, when I saw that there was a small hole in the fur.

Looking more closely, I discovered a bare spot in the mouton, perhaps a quarter inch round. Now, this jacket came to me recently restored by the previous owner via Aero in Scotland. The previous owner said that it was essentially unworn after the restoration and the collar, cuffs and lining certainly look that way. So, what I don't quite know is if the bare spot was just a defect in the piece of antique mouton that Aero used, had been evidence of moths in the past, or happened over the summer while the jacket was hanging in storage in my cedar closet with a veritable smorgasbord of other delicious wool items (two Irvins, a G-1, a B-6, and several tweed blazers.

So, the question. Should I dry clean the lot? It might be safer from the moth perspective, especially if this 422 brought moths into the closet (I had never had moth issues before). But how does a veg tanned G-1 or Irvin react to dry cleaning? I've had a nice leather collared canvas flight jacket virtually stripped of dye by some doofus before.

And I think turning my new Irvin white might be considered justifiable homicide in some states.

It's funny that I had never concerned myself overmuch with moths in the past. Last year I finally decided to protect the wool by keeping it all together in the cedar closet. And now I find what appears to be moth damage (of some indeterminate age). I hope I didn't Trojan Horse the moth army into my jacket collection in the process!


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[Flat Foot Floey]

Air them out and let them hang on a sunny place for a while. Moths don't like to get disturbed. Meanwhile clean the closet so there is no lint.

Another method which is used for suits and similar wool garments is freezing them for at least one or two days. Maybe the jackets are to big for the freezer though and I don't know if it is bad for the leather?

I also use anti moth papers in the closet but I don't know if they work if larvaes are already on the garments. I think they just keep the fluttering adult moths away or make them unfertile. The strips are odorless and have some kind of insecticide (Transfluthrin) on them. They are cheap too.

 

[Deacon211]

Thanks for the reply!

Yeah, I had heard of the freezing option. Unfortunately, I have a small freezer and big jackets.

The sun method seems like it's worth a shot. I'm just trying to figure out how to get the sun to all the hidden nooks of something like an Irvin.

I may be worrying about nothing in the end. I have only spotted that one area on this one jacket so far which means either it is an old injury to the mouton...or the dinner bell has just been rung! LOL.

I'm just hoping that I didn't accidentally infest the whole closet.


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[Big J]

Thanks for the reply!

Yeah, I had heard of the freezing option. Unfortunately, I have a small freezer and big jackets.

The sun method seems like it's worth a shot. I'm just trying to figure out how to get the sun to all the hidden nooks of something like an Irvin.

I may be worrying about nothing in the end. I have only spotted that one area on this one jacket so far which means either it is an old injury to the mouton...or the dinner bell has just been rung! LOL.

I'm just hoping that I didn't accidentally infest the whole closet.


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Direct sun is very good. I hang all my jackets out for the day, a couple of times every summer, never a problem. The freezer works for cockroaches (kills eggs, next insect decides this is not a good place, and takes off).

 

[Deacon211]

Thanks Big J.

Need to look at the rest of the collection, but a day in the sun seems like it will be my first step!


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[nick123]

What about non-knitted jackets? I assume hanging them out in the sun once in a while acts as good lovin'?

 

[Big J]

What about non-knitted jackets? I assume hanging them out in the sun once in a while acts as good lovin'?

All my leather jackets go out in direct sun a couple of times over the summer to prevent mold.

 

[nick123]

Smart.

 

[HeyMoe]

You can also place items in a black plastic garbage bag and set them in the direct sun for a day or two. Temps get quite high in the bag and kill anything on them. Not sure how leather would react.

 

[Deacon211]

Wish I knew a bit more about the effect of the heat on leather. Sounds like a good method.


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[nick123]

I think guys do it to accelerate the age or distressing of their jackets.
I'd be curious to get a definite "will the sun harm the leather?" yes/no, but I think it's been tried enough times to believe it's relatively safe.
I'd still approach it with caution, as it's my nature.

 

[bn1966]

Kill all moths!!! I'm on a constant state of alert for them. One little swine took out a merino scarf in an afternoon & his cousins did for my pin striped suit (my only suit). Moth balls, moth cassettes, cedar wood & moth strips abound in this household now. My nylon collecting fetish has cost me $$$$$ on top of purchase price with trips to the seamstress for replacement jacket knits & copious darning thanks to those little devils.

 

[Deacon211]

Agreed! Those little rug munchers ate two holes in vintage mouton!

And that's all I know of so far!

It seems like half of the anti-moth stuff doesn't even work according to the interweb.

I'm sorely vexed.


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[handymike]

I keep all my sweaters in Big Ziplock bags.
Then they go into a drawer with cedar balls

 

[Big J]

I think it depends most on the climate where you live.
I always have to worry about the humidity more than insect damage in Japan, so putting clothes in closets is out for me- dark and damp.
Direct sunlight, airflow, that's the key.

 

[Vespizzare]

I guess I'm lucky on that score. I live in Southern California and have never concerned myself with moths and their destruction of clothes. Am I living in a dream world?

 

[handymike]

My moths came from Trader Joes in some rice or grain. Now they seem to be all over the house.

 

[Deacon211]

My moths came from Trader Joes in some rice or grain. Now they seem to be all over the house.

Yikes!


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[bn1966]

Very bad man! Sounds like you have an infestation.......not cool!!!

 

[Deacon211]

Just got what I think is an important update.

John from Goodwear really saved my bacon by sending me an alternative possibility for the holes in my mouton. It was such a significant piece of information, that I asked if I could paraphrase it here. He graciously consented.

Originally, I was just going to sum this up, but I don't think I could do the explanation justice. So here's the meat of the message:




"It's actually common that whatever the tanning method was to the sheepskin, that tanning method eventually rots the outer dermis of some formats of mouton. The rot leads to a cracking of the top layer that holds the fur, and you get patches of fur missing, eventually.

This is extremely hard to tell when handling vintage mouton. I've taken apart about 25 mouton coats, all of vintage age, and most of them are just fine. But, a few of them would have the fur or even the whole skin crack, just from age. I'm sure the skins were perfectly fine when new in the 1940s-1950s, but time takes it's toll on this kind of leather."



"The worst is when making a collar for a Navy jacket, poking out the front points of the collar and damage happens. The whole mouton piece needs to be replaced with better a skin source.

So, it has nothing to do with moths, as the tanning method makes the mouton totally undesirable for them to eat or play with. It's the condition of the skins used in the collar. It takes a seasoned hand to figure out of the skins will do this fur loss.

For your jacket, there are some ways to treat it. One is to cut a little bit of mouton from some area near the lining, and then get the tiniest amount of brown matching acrylic paint, put the paint into the off-white skin, and then stuff the fur over the paint. This makes a very solid fill of the missing fur. Once the area is dry, brush your fingers over to get the excess fur off.

Or, you can just get some matching paint in the area with missing fur. If it's the right color, no one will notice that some is missing. The bummer is that you'll most likely have more spots begin to show little fur patches come off, but probably not much.

This is why you see so many originals with the tips of the collar with missing fur. It's the most stressed part of the skins, and the most friction happens there. I've had so many Navy jackets that do this, and I usually just apply some brown matching paint over the missing area. Looks great afterward."




This bit of mouton wisdom just saved me from trying to dry clean, fumigate, and God knows what else as a preventative measure to save my other jackets...none of which have even a hint of damage. I also looked closely at the pics of the jacket when it was for sale and I pretty clearly see the faint dent where the hole was as I examined it more closely.

Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone for their tips, most of which I am going to incorporate into my jacket storage and upkeep regimen, and I'd like to especially thank Mr Chapman for allowing me to secure from General Quarters Battle Stations: Moth.