Wardrobes, Storage and Fabric Pests in a Humid Climate
People arriving from a temperate country pack their clothes the way they always have: fold, box, store, forget. Twelve months later a wool jacket has small irregular holes, a cotton shirt has rusty spots along a fold, and a leather bag has a green bloom on it. None of these are the same problem, but all of them come from the same underlying condition.
Ho Chi Minh City sits above 70 per cent relative humidity for most of the year and above 80 per cent through the rainy months. A closed wardrobe does not dry out; it holds that moisture, and everything that damages stored fabric here depends on it.
The three things that damage stored clothing here
- Mould. Not an insect at all, but the most common cause of ruined clothing in this city. It appears as spots or a bloom, smells musty, and needs only humidity and still air.
- Silverfish. They eat starch and cellulose rather than wool, so they damage cotton, linen, paper and the starch in a pressed shirt. The damage is a grazed, thinned patch rather than a clean hole.
- Carpet beetle larvae. These do eat wool, silk, felt and animal hair, and they leave irregular holes plus tiny shed skins. Much less common here than in Europe, but not absent.
Clothes moths, which are what most people assume, are relatively rare in southern Vietnam. If you have holes in wool, carpet beetle is the more likely culprit, and the treatment is different.
Why airflow beats every product
A wardrobe packed solid has no air movement inside it. That is the condition mould needs and it is also the undisturbed darkness silverfish prefer. Leaving a hand-width of space between hanging items, not stacking folded clothes to the top of a shelf, and opening the doors for an hour on a dry day does more than any sachet you can buy.
If a wardrobe is on an external wall, particularly a west-facing one, the back panel will be cooler than the room and condensation will form there. Pulling the unit 3 cm off the wall changes that completely, and it is free.
What to use, and what is theatre
Silica gel or a rechargeable dehumidifier box genuinely works in an enclosed wardrobe, and the indicator changes colour so you can see it working. A small electric dehumidifier in a walk-in wardrobe works better still. Camphor and naphthalene balls have some effect on insects in a sealed container and none at all in a wardrobe with a gap under the door, which is every wardrobe.
Cedar and lavender are pleasant and will not stop anything. Vacuum storage bags are excellent, on one condition: whatever you seal in must be clean and dry, because a sealed bag preserves a problem as effectively as it prevents one.
Storing things properly before a long absence
- Wash everything first. Insects are drawn to sweat, food traces and skin oils, not to clean fabric.
- Store dry, and store hard. Sealed plastic boxes, not cardboard — cardboard absorbs moisture and is itself food for silverfish.
- Off the floor. A box on a tiled floor collects condensation underneath it.
- Leather and bags need air, not a sealed bag. Cloth dust covers with a silica pack nearby.
The suitcase problem
A suitcase stored under a bed or on top of a wardrobe for six months is a dark, still, fabric-lined box, and it is also the single most likely object in your home to have brought something back from a hotel. Storing suitcases empty, open, and somewhere you will see them is worth doing for that reason alone.
When it is worth calling someone
Fabric damage is one of the few household pest problems where a treatment is often unnecessary. If the cause is humidity, a dehumidifier fixes it. If it is silverfish, addressing the moisture source and clearing stored paper usually fixes it. It is worth a professional inspection when damage continues after those changes, when you find larvae or shed skins rather than just holes, or when the same room also has a musty smell that will not go — that last combination usually points to a leak inside a wall rather than anything living.
Related reading
For the room itself see spare rooms and storerooms and laundry rooms and utility areas. If you are packing up, read leaving a home empty for a month. For second-hand items, buying second-hand furniture safely, and the household programme is our apartment programme. Our parent company handles the same work in Vietnamese through its residential programme.
Global Pest Control is the English-language arm of Khử Trùng Toàn Cầu, based in Thu Duc City.
Common questions
Are the holes in my wool jumper moths or beetles?
Look for what was left behind. Clothes moths leave silk webbing and small tubular cases; carpet beetle larvae leave brown shed skins that look like tiny hairy husks. In southern Vietnam the shed skins are the more common finding. Either way the response is the same: wash or freeze the affected items, vacuum the wardrobe thoroughly including the corners, and remove the source item.
Does freezing clothes work?
Yes, for insects, and it is a genuinely useful method for a single valuable garment. It needs to be a proper freeze — sealed in a bag, at minus 18 °C, for at least four days. A domestic freezer that is opened often does not hold temperature well enough for a shorter period to be reliable.
Should I use camphor balls the way our neighbours do?
They work in a sealed trunk and are close to useless in an ordinary wardrobe, because the vapour needs to build up to a concentration a ventilated space never reaches. They also carry a strong odour that transfers to fabric permanently. A dehumidifier box is more effective and does not scent your clothes.
