What can make you lose money faster than the stock market?

It's -14C. You get up, and pull on the thick wool socks that you knit for a day just like today. Then, you snuggle into your favourite sweater, the one that's so long you can totally wrap yourself in it. You settle down to read the paper, put your feet up and ... what? Is that a hole in your sock? You look closer and... more holes. Lots of holes. Some big enough to stick your pinky through. In your socks and in your perfect sweater!

That, my friends, is how you discover you have moths.

If, like me, you have lots of wool -- knitted or not -- you suddenly have visions of dollar bills bursting into flames and flickering away.

Do you have any wool clothes? Blankets? Scarves and mitts? You too are at risk! So listen up.

1. Lavender. As in lavender sachets. Lavender dryer cloths. Lavender wool wash. Place the sachets or softening cloths every where you store woolen items. Quick, before you too get invaded.
2. The deep freeze. Place all new woolen purchases in the freezer for 24 hours before putting it away (with lavender). Freezing will kill any larvae that's already in the wool.
3. Wash. Make sure you've thoroughly washed your winter clothes before you put them away. If you have wool carpets, have them cleaned at least once a year.

I have now spent weeks going through all my closets and drawers, throwing out clothes that were perfectly good a few months ago, washing the rest in lavender wool soap and, yes, putting all woolen items in the freezer before putting them away again. Washing and lavender will not kill the monsters... only the deep freeze will.

Don't moth balls do the same thing? Yes, they do, but moth balls stink and the smell takes for ever to go away. Lavender smells nice, and it's got calming properties too!

I've lost a lot of sweaters and socks, and to add insult to injury, I have to shop to replace them. Double-whammy. Learn from my mistake. Lavender. Now. Today.