What Are the Best Natural Moth Repellents?

What Do Clothes Moths Look Like?

Adults: Unremarkable Little Moths

The adult clothes moth is a tiny moth with a wingspan of just over a centimeter. It's pale yellow or grayish-brown. It avoids light and prefers to crawl around in dark corners, flying only short distances. Many people may never even notice them, dismissing them as small moths that flew in from outside.

Larvae: The Real Culprits

The larvae do the actual damage. They have soft, whitish bodies with darker heads and live inside a flat, tube-shaped silk case they spin themselves. This case is their mobile home — they drag it along as they chew through your clothes. Larvae move slowly, looking like tiny grains of rice crawling along.

How to Identify Each Stage

• Adult: Pale yellow moth, wingspan about 1cm. Crawls or flutters weakly near the wardrobe.
• Larva: White grub carrying a tube-shaped silk case, about 3-5mm long.
• Cocoon: Rice-grain-sized silk tube, stuck to walls or wardrobe corners.
• Eggs: Extremely small (about 0.5mm), creamy white, laid in fabric fiber gaps — nearly impossible to spot with the naked eye.
• Damage signs: Irregular small holes in clothing, silk webbing on the surface.