If this is done
carefully and speedily, you may rely with comparative certainty that
your goods are beyond reach of the small destroyer. The best moth-
proof chests are those made of red cedar, to the odor of which the
insect has an unconquerable aversion, and the camphor-wood chests
which seamen bring from the East Indies. Cedar packing trunks are
made like the ordinary packing trunk, lined with a thin veneering of
cedar, which, though less than the eighth of an inch thick, fits closely
in every crack and corner, and renders the trunk at once moth-proof
and air-tight. No camphor is needed in such a chest ; only be careful
to see that no traces of moths are in the garments before packing ;
and lay away smoothly with newspaper layers between each stratum
20i HOUSE-KEEPING.
of clothes as an additional precaution. Paper barrels with close-
fitting heads form another effectually moth-proof case. The paper
of which these are made is thoroughly impregnated with coal tar,
and whatever is put into them is practically safe from the incur-
sion of the moth miller. Tar paper is sold by the sheet as a moth
preventive, and any one may make for herself a moth-proof chest
by lining an ordinary packing-box with this paper, putting a layer
also under the lid. The odor is overpowering, and no right-minded
moth will crawl over it in search of a place to deposit her eggs. No
matter how many cracks and nail holes there may be in the box, if the
tar paper lines them all its contents are safe. But inside of the lining
of tar paper there should be one of newspapers of several sheets thick,
since in warm weather especially the black tar paper stains badly. Com-
mon newspaper is also a valuable moth preventive. The moth miller
is said to dislike printer's ink, and while the paper opposes no obstruc-
tion to the ravages of moths already in the garment, it will if unbroken
and pasted at the edges, effectually keep them out. For additional
security it is wiser to lay the parcel away in a closed trunk, but where
packing chests run short, it is generally safe to put them on shelves in a
mouse-proof closet, the danger being that the mice may cut the paper,
and the moth miller thus affect an entrance. In the case of valuable
furs about which there is cause for uneasiness, examine them three
weeks after storing. The eggs of the moth miller hatch out in from
fifteen to twenty days, and the moth at once begins its destructive work.
Therefore, by this second inspection, assurance may be made doubly
sure.
Carpets keep best on the floors with crash over them and bits of
camphor under the edges. It is where the carpet \% folded under, where
the foot does not tread, and under heavy pieces of furniture that the
moth usually makes its nest, and where it must be looked for. A hot
flat-iron and a wet cloth is sufficient to destroy them in an ingrain and
Brussels carpet, pressing the carpet with the iron through the wet
cloth ; but for a Wilton or Axminster, the one safe and speedy method
is to send it to the steam-cleaner, whose process will effectually destroy
the moths. Next to this is the use of the hot iron and wet cloth, which
must be applied on the wrong side of the carpet, since the thick pile on
the right side is not easily penetrated by the heat.
Page 181
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
If this is done carefully and speedily, you may rely with comparative certainty that your goods are beyond reach of the small destroyer. The best mothproof chests are those made of red cedar, to the odor of which the insect has an unconquerable aversion, and the camphor-wood chests which seamen bring from the East Indies. Cedar packing trunks are made like the ordinary packing trunk, lined with a thin veneering of cedar, which, though less than the eighth of an inch thick, fits closely in every crack and corner, and renders the trunk at once moth-proof and air-tight. No camphor is needed in such a chest ; only be careful to see that no traces of moths are in the garments before packing ; and lay away smoothly with newspaper layers between each stratum
of clothes as an additional precaution. Paper barrels with closefitting heads form another effectually moth-proof case. The paper of which these are made is thoroughly impregnated with coal tar, and whatever is put into them is practically safe from the incursion of the moth miller. Tar paper is sold by the sheet as a moth preventive, and any one may make for herself a moth-proof chest by lining an ordinary packing-box with this paper, putting a layer also under the lid. The odor is overpowering, and no right-minded moth will crawl over it in search of a place to deposit her eggs. No matter how many cracks and nail holes there may be in the box, if the tar paper lines them all its contents are safe. But inside of the lining of tar paper there should be one of newspapers of several sheets thick, since in warm weather especially the black tar paper stains badly. Common newspaper is also a valuable moth preventive. The moth miller is said to dislike printer's ink, and while the paper opposes no obstruction to the ravages of moths already in the garment, it will if unbroken and pasted at the edges, effectually keep them out. For additional security it is wiser to lay the parcel away in a closed trunk, but where packing chests run short, it is generally safe to put them on shelves in a mouse-proof closet, the danger being that the mice may cut the paper, and the moth miller thus affect an entrance. In the case of valuable furs about which there is cause for uneasiness, examine them three weeks after storing. The eggs of the moth miller hatch out in from fifteen to twenty days, and the moth at once begins its destructive work. Therefore, by this second inspection, assurance may be made doubly sure.
Carpets keep best on the floors with crash over them and bits of camphor under the edges. It is where the carpet \% folded under, where the foot does not tread, and under heavy pieces of furniture that the moth usually makes its nest, and where it must be looked for. A hot flat-iron and a wet cloth is sufficient to destroy them in an ingrain and Brussels carpet, pressing the carpet with the iron through the wet cloth ; but for a Wilton or Axminster, the one safe and speedy method is to send it to the steam-cleaner, whose process will effectually destroy the moths. Next to this is the use of the hot iron and wet cloth, which must be applied on the wrong side of the carpet, since the thick pile on the right side is not easily penetrated by the heat.