Anyone here use them? We bought a box of them, which contained two bags of mothballs with vent holes in the bags. There's a lot of balls in each bag. We cut one bag in half. Taped the cut end with scotch tape and put each bag into two different closets (on a shelf). However, I read online that mothballs, due to the pesticides in each ball, should only be used in a plastic storage container that clothes are stored in OR a plastic clothes bag. The pesticide odor can/will escape from the closet whenever the door is opened and the pesticide is a health hazard for humans and/or house pets. So, took both cut bags out of each closet and put them into a closet on our patio. Will, most likely, take the mothballs back to store for a refund. Then again, are there any folks on this forum that store winter or summer clothes into a plastic bin, with mothballs in the bin? Guess, to make space for other things, this could be done and the bins stored in the garage. Mothballs are pretty strong smell to them. We had a box of mothballs that we bought, but never used, in Florida. When we were packing things, I threw the box out. And, BTW, we do have moths outside here and sometimes, when we open patio or front door, one will fly in. Patio has a screen door to it, but we will sometimes forget to close it. Can not put a screen door on the front door and sometimes forget to close it as well (for a very short period of time). Any suggestions/adice.........PLEASE!
Never had moths; I just keep our seasonal clothes in regular chest of drawers. Moth balls smell horrible -- an "old people" smell. I think the plastic bins would be your best solution. Also, I think it would be very poor form to open a package of something and then return it for a refund.
Well, Beth, that is exactly what we plan on doing.......returning for a refund and Walmart is excellent with that. This isn't the first thing we've opened and returned for a refund.
I have great memories of going into an old attic or basement and smelling the moth balls. Yup, I too enjoy the smell.
Both of my grandmothers' closets smelled of mothballs. As I loved going to my grandmothers' houses and digging in the closets for wonderful things like dress-up clothes to play with and presents and anything else I could find, the smell of mothballs brings back fond memories. I think it always will. The only thing I've used mothballs for was to discourage some pesky squirrels from taking up residence in my eaves. I had to drive them out before I could seal up the opening. It eventually worked.
The large moths that you see flying around at night are not the ones that are a problem with clothing, and it is mainly an issue with older style clothing, which was often made from wool. You might have a problem with cotton clothing also, but not likely with anything synthetic. I can remember seeing them when I was little, and my mom used to call them “millers”, or “miller moth”. They are a tiny little moth not a lot larger than a big mosquito, and they would live in the clothing boxes and eat the clothes. I have seen them in outdated packages of cereal/oatmeal, or corn meal, stuff like that, occasionally, too. Unless you have these little moths in your closets, you probably do not even need to have mothballs.
Believe it or not, I seen a moth flying around, and it landed on the floor then took off again, at the Self-Check Out at Walmart. One of them I got rid of in our apartment, was pretty big. Definitely not a small one! And, as far as returning something that has been opened up, plenty of people do this. Anyone have any idea what a person home would look like filled with things that were bought-opened-but decided, not needed and kept anyway. This is why there is a "Returns" area at stores.