Restoring an old trunk for storage use

[Barbara]

Restoring a Victorian trunk, keeping out moths

Not sure where to post this, but I'll start here. We bought a wood Victorian trunk at a charity shop. A great deal and we'd like to use it to store our clothes that are most vulnerable to moths. Our house gets infested at times, but moth balls are out of the question as we have a small child.

My husband plans to sand the inside of the trunk, paint it and then we're hoping to store all those clothes in this trunk and load it up with lavendar and cedar wood. The problem is, the trunk isn't airtight, and there are gaps in the wood, given its age. My husband thought heavy duty tape might help, but the tape actually smells and we don't want that scent lingering on our clothes.

Anyone BTDT or have suggestions? We'd like to know if the moths will stay out of the trunk even if it's not airtight. And if anyone has had experience restoring an old trunk.

 

[Sweet Leilani]

Hi Barbara- I'm a museum curator; I deal with this quite a bit.
Moths (or their eggs) are probably more likely to already be inside the trunk or on your clothes than to get in from the outside. Sanding & painting the trunk might help, but I think it would lose a lot of its charm that way.

What about storing the clothes in clear plastic storage bins that fit inside the trunk? At least that way, if a garment is infested, it won't spread beyond the box, and you'll see the evidence of moths in the bin without even having to open it.

A note to all vintage clothing collectors: Moth balls, cedar and lavender will not protect your clothing and can in fact cause more damage. Moth balls contain camphor which has been shown to damage certain fibers and do nothing to repel infestation. Moths in their larval stage are what do the damage- not the flying adults which mothballs claim to repel.

Cedar and lavender, while fine to smell, both contain cellulose which can stain fibers if in direct contact with clothing. There is no evidence that either of these repel moths, and they may attract other pests which eat cellulose.

Your best bet is to place anything you suspect may have been exposed to moths (and I would say that is about 99% of vintage clothes) in a plastic bag in the freezer for a few days. I like the zippered bags that come with blankets. Take the bag out of the freezer and leave it sit unopened for another 48 hrs. This will signal any moth eggs on the garment to come out of dormancy & hatch. Place the bag back in the freezer for another 48 hrs to kill any newly hatched larvae. Remove garment from freezer and open the bag. If the clothing can hold up to it, vacuum it with light suction (place a nylon stocking around the vacuum hose) to ensure that everything is gone.

 

[Lauren]

Wow! Awesome tips, Sweet Leilani!

Barbara, I wish I knew about trunks, but I really don't know anything about restoring furniture. I'm not sure if you talk to them, but Paul (Amber's husband) may know, I know he does a lot with furniture.

Thank you so much for the congrats! I'm having a good time and I love the new job.

I hope I can see you soon and hope you're doing good

 

[Barbara]

THANKS

Hi Leilani

My goodness. Those are really invaluable tips. I had no idea that cedar and lavendar aren't effective as moth repellants. I also always thought that plastic bags were the worst things to keep moths out, as they always get inside the plastic in my cupboards.

So I understand what you're saying on the trunk, but if you're hanging dresses in a closet and want to keep the moths away (my closet is open) what do you do? Because we have had major problems in our house. And the cedar hanging bars and lavendar seem to be helping.

Great to hear from you Lauren!!! I hope to post on the site in a couple of months the skirt I'm making (won't look half as good as anything you produce).

Thanks, Barb

 

[CanadaDoll]

Leilani, I am so glad you joined the Lounge , I had always been told to use cedar wood to protect fabric things from moths and such, I don't have the problem now, but who knows what the future holds[huh]
This little tid bit is going into my homemaking notebook, along with LizzieMaine's laundry soap recipe!
For the vaccuuming tip after you kill any larvae, would gently shaking the garment out, and/or going over it with a lintroller work the same? I have one that I am a little worried about taking the vaccuum to.

 

[Martina]

Borax for what?

Hello! Althouth I have never restored an old trunk, I do know of one trick to keep moths out of things: Borax!!
I recently inherited my Grandmother's hats that she had stored from the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s and NONE of them had moth holes and many of them were wool!!!

The hats were in hat boxes, some of the boxes were in terrible shape, and inside each one there were one to two hats, sprinkled heavily with borax! When we took the hats out we vaccumed lightly, then shook out the rest outside. No odors at all and NO moth holes!!

I did a quick search on the internet to find out how safe Borax was, since I myself have issues in this old house with moths (and mice).
Here's what I found:
Borax is best known as a laundry booster; it helps soften hard water to leave help brighten and clean clothes. In the home borax is used as a natural laundry booster, multipurpose cleaner, fungicide, preservative, insecticide, herbicide, disinfectant, dessicant, and ingredient in making 'slime'. Borax crystals are odorless.

What Is Borax?
Borax, or sodium borate, is a naturally occurring alkaline mineral first discovered over 4000 years ago

Where Can I Buy Borax?
Borax is usually found in the cleaning aisle of your grocery store next to the powdered laundry soaps. The most common brand is 20 Mule Team Borax.

How Safe is Borax
Borax has no toxic fumes and is safe for the environment. Borax can irritate skin and should not be ingested.

Let me repeat that BORAX IS TOXIC if certain amounts are ingested. You would need obviously to try to keep your children out of the trunk but at least if they are away from it, there are no fumes that will make them sick, as in moth balls.

I would fold up whatever clothes you wanted to put in there, then sprinkle in the center and over the top with Borax. Next wrap lightly in tissue paper, then put in the box and place your next item right over top. OR you could put each piece of clothing into a separte garment box (The ones you get at the Dollar Store around Christmas would be fine) and then sprinkle the box and garment with Borax and THEN pile up box upon box in your chest.

Well, that's not too difficult and hopefully it will help you. I've found that the mice don't much care for Borax either.... so it serves us double duty! Hope it will do the same for you!

 

[tonyb]

Just a little off topic here, but I can add that Borax is also an effective flea killer. Pets bring fleas inside, where they take up residence in the carpets and bite human ankles. A sprinkle of 20 Mule Team Borax across the rugs, left there for a coupla-three hours and then vacuumed up, has always done the trick for me.

 

[tonyb]

And, Barbara, are you sure you want to paint the trunk's interior? I don't know that you shouldn't, but I question if you should.

 

[ITG]

Housekeeping Note: Thread moved from PR to Golden Era since it's a topic that both genders can benefit and give input on.

 

[The Wingnut]

Most trunks of that era were paper or fabric lined. Paint is a bad idea for a number of reasons.

 

[Sweet Leilani]

Hi everyone- I have heard about the Borax thing, but I can't vouch for it either way. I would be very careful with the Borax if you have any humidity issues where you live (and being inside a trunk would only exacerbate them). Anything containing mineral salts (sodium) can "melt" in humid conditions and leave a stain on fabric- akin to a sweat-stained hatband.

The only tried and true method (and what museums do) is the freezing/vaccuming technique. If you are concerned about fragile fabrics, you can try wrapping the vac hose in something more substantial to cut down on the suction (like an old T-shirt) or skip that step altogether.

 

[John in Covina]

Those vaccuum bags seem to be increadible. Freezing for a few days tends to insure dead bugs. Another thing is to take a piece of DRY ICE wrapped in paper and stick it in the bottom of a bag or sealable container still open a tiny bit. As the dry ice sublimates to the CO2 gas, it displaces the oxygen and kills the bugs, eggs,and larva. You could do this with liquid nitrogen.

You should use caution handling the dry ice with gloves etc,

 

[ShooShooBaby]

i have an old trunk that was my great-grandma's that i use to store my vintage. the paper lining is starting to deteriorate a bit. but i'm not sure where to get new paper lining that would be acid-free. i've thought about piecing together 12x12" sheets of archival quality scrapbook paper, but i'm also unsure how to attach it to the sides of the trunk, since it's made of thin metal. so what should i use, and how should i attach it? thanks for ideas!

 

[jamespowers]

Wouldn't simply dry cleaning the clothes before you put them in the trunk kill whatever is in the cloth? Dry cleaning fluid kills everything.
Then you could place them in the plastic bags or pillow cases to keep them safe.
Personally, I still use cedar scented moth balls. I never see or experience any damage to hats or clothes. [huh]

Regards,

J

 

[Shimmy Sally]

I'd never thought of dry ice, I'll try that too.