Thursday, October 8, 2009

Get rid of moths

We receive hundreds of telephone calls on our helpline with customers complaining that their clothes are being damaged by Moths & seeking our advice. You may find the following information very useful.
The dreaded clothes moth comes in a number of formats but the most commonly found in UK homes are Webbing Clothes Moth(Tineola biselliella) and Case Bearing Clothes Moth (Tinea pellionella) . Others that may be encountered are the White Shouldered and Brown House Moths.

The Webbing Clothes Moth is found in many a wardrobe and chest of drawers and will usually attack the very best natural materials, such as cashmere! Damage is usually just small holes but an attack can be very expensive as one hole can render a £200 garment unwearable!!!.
Webbing Clothes Moth as so named because they leave trails of silken thread where they are active. Life cycle can take up to three years. Average female lays 40-50 eggs.

The Case Bearing Clothes Moth is more commonly found attacking carpets and soft furnishing and can cause very significant damage. Having a life cycle at least twice per year and laying around 60+ eggs at a time, the Case Bearing Moth is a destructive beast. This moth is easier to locate than the webbing model! It lives its larval stage in a pupal case and these cases can be found littering the infested area. Sometimes they take on the colour of the fabric being eaten but most commonly are whitish and look like pieces of cooked rice! You can see the brown head of the larvae at one end if they are active.

Control :
As with most pests, hygiene is the key to control. Vac the insides of wardrobes, storage areas and hidden floor areas regularly and try not to store soiled clothes as these are much more readily attacked by moth.
Move clothes regularly, check for moth activity, take outside and shake or brush. The Roller Clothes Brush is useful for removing moth eggs from close knitted and woven clothing. Keeping clothes in proper covers can reduce the risk of attack significantly and installing deterrents into wardrobes and drawers, such as Cedar Balls and Aromatics, will deter moth moth from setting up home and destroying your clothes.
If clothes are found to be infested, then, if not too damaged, they can be placed in polybags (squeeze air out) seal and freeze for 72 hours. This will kill larvae and eggs. There are no insecticides that you can safely apply to clothes but it would certainly help to spray the insides of storage cupboards and drawers with insecticide.

Little can be done to protect carpets other than regular vaccuuming of hidden areas.
Infestation in carpets will almost certainly need chemical application to remedy. Some natural fibre carpets are pre-treated with insecticide in production but this is not a guarantee that the carpet will not still be attacked. Our extensive range of Moth Deterrents will help you protect your favourite garments. The items shown below are from our wide selection of products: Orphea Strips, Cedar hang-Ups, Clothes Moth Trap , Wooden Cedar Balls, Wooden Cedar Rings, Colibri Lavender Sachets & Hanging Cedar Wood Sachet






In our experience Clothes Moths are tenacious creatures & we recommend as many types of clothes protection as possible - Suit & Dress Covers, Sweater Bags, Blanket Bags, Duvet Bags, Vacuum Storage Bags.
Remember that the Clothes Moth loves the same natural fibres that we do - Silk, Cashmere, Cotton & Wool. They do not like man-made materials












If you need further advise contact www.caraselledirect.com














Sunday, May 17, 2009

Ironing clothes: What is a ‘must-know’

[caption id="attachment_159" align="aligncenter" width="388" caption="Iron Covers, Ironing Cloth"]Iron Covers, Ironing Cloth[/caption]

Ironing one’s clothes is one of the most important household tasks that needs to be mastered. Following is a guide for the facts you need to know before you go about doing this everyday.

Being self dependent is essentially a necessity in today’s times. One needs to understand that learning how to do little chores at home is not only beneficial in terms of keeping one active, it also saves a substantial amount of money. For instance, instead of giving clothes for laundry, if one knows how to wash them at home, a very high amount of savings can be done. A similar chore in this aspect is the art of ironing.

Although a very small task if considered as an individual, ironing is a time-taking procedure, plus being an expensive one if taking external help. The advantage of learning how to iron is more than the cost factor, since it also makes sure that you are not dependent on anybody for your day to day needs, and that in case that person does not make it or leaves you high and dry in the middle of nowhere one fine day, you can at least take care of your important attire related problems easily.

The first thing one needs to know about ironing is how to adjust temperatures. There are different settings for different types of clothes, with the sensitive ones requiring lower temperatures and the stronger ones like jeans requiring hotter ironing to make sure all creases are taken care of properly.

Another strong issue one faces very often is that of leaving the iron in standing position after ironing all the clothes because of the heat, since it can’t be kept horizontal or inside a box due to the heat that is still there on the plate. An ideal solution for this is an iron cover, which is a kind of a case in which you can place the iron after the task is over so as to prevent heat transfer to any other object.

Another important accessory to own is an ironing cloth, which is a sheet that is available to be spread on top of the surface on which you are ironing to ensure smooth ironing and prevent damage to the surface. For instance, if you are ironing on a steel base, the heat that is transferred from the iron can easily damage the base over a period of time, besides giving you an uneven iron on your clothes. The presence of an ironing cloth ensures that you get an even ironing throughout your clothes, and protecting your base in the process.

And lastly, the fact that steam irons are more effective than their traditional counterparts is always a truth, particularly when it comes to more sensitive fabric. The usage of moisture can never be denied, and even if you do have a steam iron, it might be necessary to sprinkle a few drops of water to get an even better ironing experience. Further, if the plate gets too hot, one can also sprinkle water to lower the temperature, although this is not a sure-shot measure and is only a quickfire remedy, in case you are in a hurry.

Caraselledirect.com is one of the most famous UK shopping portals that offers the most competitive prices on products related to day to day activities from leading brands.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Organising the wardrobe : The hardest ‘how-to’ guide

[caption id="attachment_153" align="aligncenter" width="306" caption="Clothes Hangers"]Clothes Hangers[/caption]

Organizing one’s wardrobe can be quite a task in itself, and although any kind of organizing seems to be very cumbersome at first, organizing wardrobes is something else altogether, since it always seems that hardly 3-4 days after you have put everything to place, it always seems to get disorganized automatically. However, personal experience showed me that there is nothing wrong with the almirah or the fact that you are organizing too infrequently, it is actually the manner of organizing that is the main issue. Often the way most wardrobes are kept is by stacking all types of clothing one on top of other in separate stacks. The more organized ones might at best stack clothes by categories like shirts, trousers, skirts, and so on. However, this is where the fault lies, since there are many times when we are confused regarding what outfit to wear and end up upsetting the whole wardrobe in order to find the perfect dress. In such cases, a skirt or trouser hangers come out to be most handy.

The most important advantage of having hangers is that you can easily organize your clothing with the maximum utilization of space, even if you don’t have much of a vertical space (though it is advisable that you should). Further, you can easily browse through the collection of clothes you are having without disturbing the entire setup, since everything is hanging and all you need to do is just flip. Other advantages include that you can figure out combinations without actually trying them, there are no crease marks due to the folds you would have made in case there were no hangers, and the fact that you have plenty of other free space to use according to however you might see fit. Further, there are also hangers for specific purposes like coat hangers to hang suits, and children’s hangers, that come in a special size according to the size of children’s clothing. All in all, there’s one hanger for every kind of garment, and you can benefit from them in more ways than one.

Caraselledirect.com is a UK based shopping portal that has the best brands at the most reasonable prices for its audiences. They also provide wardrobe related equipment with the biggest variety and the least expenses.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Wardrobe organizers ; How to make the process easy

[caption id="attachment_147" align="aligncenter" width="383" caption="Clothes Rails"]

Clothes Rails[/caption]

Life in many aspects becomes a lot more easy when you are the organizing types and know how to manage your resources best when it comes to keeping things at a place in a systematic manner so that they can be found later. However, many of us do not often follow this practice since it seems to be a very time-taking procedure at first, and we feel that since it’s our own house, we would obviously figure out ultimately as to what is kept where. But this does not happen always, does it? And it is then that we feel the need to reorganize everything, but later obviously, because right now, there’s an important meeting, going to work, the date you have been waiting for, and so and so forth. And hence, the work you had intended to do never gets done, and the organizing task always stays pending, and continues to create problems. However, it is not possible to organize everything at one’s place, but few essential aspects must always be kept so that they can be useful when the need is there. One of these elements is clothes. The definition of our personality, one is immediately judged on the basis of the kind of clothes he or she is wearing. Hence, keeping them organized is an extremely important task to undertake on a regular basis.

 

Picture this, you have to go on a meeting on an urgent basis, and suddenly find that there is no proper outfit that would suit the occasion, and to top it all, there is no such thing as an organized wardrobe in your house. This is one situation that is bound to create problems. However, if the almirah or closet is kept organized in due time, this problem can be solved quite easily. One of the foremost tools in this aspect is a clothes rail, that is the first thing you need in any wardrobe. Although there are other options like you stacking your shirts and trousers on top of each other, this is an issue when you consider the fact that this practice can leave creases on clothes, shirts in particular. However, if you have a clothes rail and hangers, you can easily organize your clothes and keep them in proper shape. These days, there are cloth rails available in many shapes and sizes, such as 3ft clothes rail, 6 ft. clothes rail and so on.

Caraselledirect.com is a leading shopping portal in the UK that has the least prices for the best products from brands that have made their mark across the country with years of experience in retailing.