Page 32 - Mothmageddon

“What’s Eating You 2?” Mothmageddon
A National Trust spokesperson told the BBC the moths were breeding three times a year instead of just once, something that was attributed to warmer temperatures.11
Shelley Tobin, Costume Curator at Killerton House, said: “Clothes moths love nothing better than a bit of luxury fabric to gorge on, such as fur or cashmere, and we have all that in abundance within the costume collection.”
Charlotte Eddington, the Assistant Curator at Killerton House, told The Times, “Every year we monitor for moths... They can cause irreparable damage to vintage and costume clothing. We had a pair of 1920s Harris Tweed plus fours that were completely eaten away in the crotch area and ruined.”12
Staff, volunteers and members of the public were asked to be on ‘moth alert’ at the property. When moths are detected on the fabrics, the items are put into the freezer to kill off the moths.
French Tapestry Put In the Deep Freeze to Ward Off Moths
Conservationists at Anglesey Abbey in Cambridgeshire, another National Trust property, have also resorted to deep-freezing precious fabrics to kill off moths.13
Anglesey Abbey (see page 80 for full credit)
11 ‘Moth alert for National Trust’, BBC, www.bbc.co.uk, July 25, 2007
12 ‘Public enemy No 1’, The Times, www.thetimes.co.uk, August 10, 2007
13 'Moth-eaten Anglesey Abbey tapestry saved by deep-freeze’, BBC, www.bbc.co.uk, February
22, 2011
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