amitymamaThe Attachment Parenting Community

annsni · 09-02-2004, 06:09 PM

I'm so sick of these danged things!!! I just cleaned out my pantry AGAIN and threw out a ton of stuff. I'm going to bleach the entire pantry (harsh, I know but I want this thing clean), then I'm going to leave it empty for a week. I'm wiping down all the cans that were in there with a weak bleach solution and, after the week, I'll wipe it all down with vinegar, let it dry then restock it.

Now to my question......I know that I can freeze things for 48 hours to help kill the larva in any of the grains and then store them in airtight containers but what constitutes an airtight container???? I have some things in canning jars and that works great but I can't get a jar big enough to store cereal or something like that and they've made it into my Tupperware, Rubbermade and Snapware containers! I DO store my flour and rice in canisters I purchased from King Arthur Flour and they don't get into that so maybe I need to look there. Other than that, what do you all use? Is there anything that's guaranteed to keep these demons from hell out of my food???/

Ann (who's SOOO disgusted!!)

tara · 09-02-2004, 06:15 PM

I have not had a problem with pantry moths...just wool moths.

But I do freeze all grains and flours for 2-3 days right after purchasing and before they go into the pantry. I use glass cannisters for storage. I'm not sure where to find the larger ones. Maybe post on Super Crunch - I know Val is the queen of pantry storage. Didn't she get her containers from a deli?

Tara

Tap dancin mama · 09-02-2004, 06:41 PM

Yuck! Pantry moths a real pain in the butt. I think what helped the most was, sealing our panty with silicone caulk. I thought maybe they were living in teeny tiny crevaces in the pantry and that was why they kept coming back. It worked, haven't had trouble sine I sealed it.

thrrrnbush · 09-02-2004, 08:34 PM

After about six months of up and down, ewww gross, I guess we won't be having THAT for dinner, two things seem to have been our salvation. We stopped buying mixed nuts in bulk and we bought a vacuum sealer. We used the vacuum sealer to excess. You have no idea how many crisp little pockets one box of bisquick can make. Sigh. I'm a lot more casual since we've moved, but I still have lots of bags should the nasty creatures find us here. Good luck, you have my heartfelt sympathy.

Sincerely,
Crystal

emilytoys · 09-02-2004, 10:46 PM

in the commercial/bulk food sections of Wal MArt, Costco etc., but first you have to EAT the gallon of pickles or whatever (and be comfortable shopping at WM).

Or, any pizza place or Deli will put 'em out for recycling or trash -- just ask.

when I was a SM at Mazzios, our peppers and some sald bar stuff came in glass gallon jugs.

lovebugsmama · 09-02-2004, 11:49 PM

I haven't had problems for a number of years. I have everything in glass jars with seals on the lids. I looked through some of my pictures and found this one. If you look back at the pantry, you can see many of my containers.

bubbles · 09-04-2004, 10:25 AM

I have had terrible problems in the past too. The best thing I have found is to immediately transfer all dry goods to tight sealing glass jars. I buy them at Cost Plus/World Market for pretty cheap. They have a metal clasp to close them. Every two years or so I have to replace the seals (buy them at the same place). I never completely got rid of them until we moved and I chucked the food. When I started over here I went right to the jars. If I buy too much of something in bulk (flour, nuts, etc.)I put the bag in the freezer to store until I can fit it in the jar in the cupboard.
Good luck.

MamaWolf · 09-04-2004, 10:31 AM

May not be an option for you, but I keep all my sugar, flour, etc in my deepfreeze, and whenever I need to to use some, I scoop out what I need and let it come to room temp first.

annsni · 09-04-2004, 11:12 AM

Thanks everyone!! I've cleaned out the pantry, ditched anything that may be infested and wiped down all the rest of the food with a light bleach solution. I took apart the pantry and found lots of old dead moths and larva as well as something I think was eggs. I caulked any crevice there was and I'm going to paint the whole thing today. I need to finish this up since we're having people over on Tuesday so I'll put it all together either tomorrow or Monday, depending on when the paint is fully dry.

I've repurchased a few things (cereal, oatmeal) and bought some air-tight containers to put them in (from Target but this is what I got: http://store.heritagemint.com/escala...0&rangeNum= 6 and everything that I put in there will be put into containers that will keep the buggies out. I also ordered those Pantry Pest traps (found them for a great price) and should get them next week and I read that bay leaves can be put into food to help keep bugs at bay so I picked up 2 jars of them. I'll also lay them on the shelves to help out. I'm going to freeze anything that can be frozen (I have brownie mix in there now) so that I can kill off anything that may be IN the food already.

HOPEFULLY, with all of this, I can get rid of these buggers!! I hate this but I kind of feel good since I'll be going into winter with a newly cleaned, painted and organized pantry! :0) No more old food in there - LOL!!

Thanks so much for all of your help everyone! As you can see, I definately picked up some advice and ran with it!!

Ann