Best way to Kill Moths and Moth Larvae in a old Car???

[34LaSalleClubSedan]

Hi guys, what's the best way to kill moths and their larvae that have already infested a old car from the 1930's. Any idea's appreciated. Thanks, Jim

[edinmass]

Place a few ponds of moth balls in a small industrial vac and run it with no filter in it. Clean it first. The exhaust will blast the interior of the car with an incredible wave of  poison. Do this OUTSIDE not in the garage. I did this once and the moths and larve were crawling and falling all around the inside of the car. Be sure to let the car air out and do not open the door and take a whiff, it will knock you over. Caution......if the car has real woodwork it will affect the finish if done for too long, but it will kill all the moths. Be sure to pull cushions so the fog can get behind the cushions. 

Edited October 22, 2016 by edinmass (see edit history)

[34LaSalleClubSedan]

 Thanks Eddy!!! Jim

[60FlatTop]

I  have had some concerns about climbing into a strange car and wondering what might crawl out of the seat or swing down from the headliner. That term "already infested" makes one squirm.

 

Just thinking about driving at night and feeling some moth larva crawling across my neck. That sounds worse than the time the spider egg case hatched in the seat.

Bernie

[West Peterson]

I got a canned insect "bomb" from Lowes or Home Depot, set it off with the doors and windows closed, and it worked perfectly for me. I have not had any sign of them returning.

[Phillip Cole]

The pyrethrin in a bug bomb will kill moths, but it is considered non toxic to humans. However, it will make your lungs burn and take your breath away. So be careful.

The two possible active ingredients in moth balls are toxic to humans, especially children. They actually attack your red blood cells.

In either case, be careful with use. Air the car out thoroughly.

[Guest Grumpy's Auto Shop]

This is an interesting problem for which I have no specific answer but can offer a bit of insight.

Moths and their larvae don't like to be anywhere near 'mothballs', but neither do people.  A traditional substitute which is far less offensive to human biological senses but somewhat less effective is cedar.  Some here might even still have Gramma's Cedar Chest, the one she kept the woolens in.

 

With mixed results I have used bags of bedding from the pet store (poke numerous small holes in the bags with your wife's favorite screwdriver) and stuff these as close to the food source as possible (meaning under the seats and in the seat backs).

 

The drawback is that mouse-critters LOVE the stuff and want to sleep and do other mousie things in it, which opens the door to a whole 'nother passel of problems.  However, I recently found that rodentae are not fond of mints, which explains their terrible breath.

 

I had good results using the cedar bedding laced with mothballs (MAN!  It's a lot of work getting those...  They're TINY!)  But I'm thinking Altoids could work as well.  Probably cheaper to get 'mousemagic' or Bigelow Tea though.

And, depending on how long your project might be, you could use the car as a greenhouse for Rosemary, Chrysanthemums and Mints.

 

Sustained temps below zero works as well.

 

The above are just my holistic recommendations.  Two 'Bug Bombs' will solve it quickly, and who knows when that extra appendage will come in handy, right?

[Restorer32]

A doctor is sitting in his living room late at night catching up on his paperwork. Suddenly there is a knock at the door. Doc opens the door and in confronted by a moth. "Doc, doc, you've got to help me". Doc tells him he can't help and suggests he find a vet. He then asks the moth "by the way, why did you pick my door?" Answers the moth " Well, your light was on".

[Guest Grumpy's Auto Shop]

55 minutes ago, Restorer32 said:

A doctor is sitting in his living room late at night catching up on his paperwork. Suddenly there is a knock at the door. Doc opens the door and in confronted by a moth. "Doc, doc, you've got to help me". Doc tells him he can't help and suggests he find a vet. He then asks the moth "by the way, why did you pick my door?" Answers the moth " Well, your light was on".

 

Wrong thread, but still funny as hell!

[Ivan Saxton]

There is another harmless material you could use for a closed space like that, but you may have to use it more than once for eggs that hatch.  (Insect eggs are very small, and likely have little requirement for oxygen in that state.)   Certainly in wartime and following that, Carbon Dioxide was the fill of most fire extinguishers.  It is probably still good for a lot of fires, and very cheap.    If you can fill the car interior effectively, the little "beeps" will not survive long deprived of oxygen in the normal concentration. Insects do not have lungs like we do, nor have specialised circulation system with an oxygen carrier.   Oxygen , with is about 23% in normal air, has to diffuse through pores in their surface, and they have to rid themselves of carbon dioxide in the same way.   The extinguisher bottles I wartime equipment were interesting and variable.  There were little portable ones that were quite tame, but the pair of big ones in the crew area clamped and coupled to a discharge system in the engine compartment of the Lee, Grant, and Sherman tanks.  If a fire started in the carburettor of the Wright Whirlwind radial petrol engine ( infrequent problem) you discharged one of the pair.  Someone was rash enough once to let one go on the floor of the engineers' shop of the family timber mill.  We were told it bounced a bit on the concrete, and then went through the wooden shingle roof.  I suppose if it had a semi-spherical base instead of concave, it would have been better aerodynamically and been a perfect aerial torpedo.  Another source used to be frozen Carbon Dioxide, or "dry ice".  I used it with ethanol to super-cool bronze branding irons to make white identity numbers on Hereford cattle on the research station.  The supplier used to send it to us 180 miles by train in a cardboard box lined with polystyrene foam, and there was little lost in transit. Carbon dioxide it heavier than air, so it will empty and disperse when you open the doors.  It should not upset the eco-Nazis either, because you are just making good use of a packaged pre-existing waste product that is an essential plant nutrient.

Edited October 26, 2016 by Ivan Saxton
minor typing error (see edit history)

[60FlatTop]

So I tried to help out a Vet who was a little down on his luck.

 

After a very heated discussion about the difference between naphtha and napalm I gave the job to my Wife.

 

She's ready. We got some practice in this summer sitting in lawn chairs and shooting bumble bees that tried to nest in the soffit.  I guess I better fix those holes when I make the repairs from taking home movies from the Allis-Chalmers bucket.

Bernie

[34LaSalleClubSedan]

Thanks John 123!!!! Great Info. Jimmy