Cause of Holes in Merino?

Probably moths.

http://voices.yahoo.com/are-bugs-eating-holes-clothes-clothes-moths-790141.html?cat=6

If the clothes were forgotten about last season, any residual salt from sweat definitely attracts moths.

Paul nailed it.

I had this problem in Costa Rica where our house was only slightly inside. Looks like it's time for a MYOG cedar closet.

Only reason I know is because I had a similar problem with a wool/acrylic blend polyester hat and some merino wool long johns last year. :O

Experience is a great teacher but the tuition is high! ;)

As a precaution, I now put all my wool and wool blend outdoor clothes in the freezer at the end of the season. Leave in for the night. Knock on wood..no holes this year.

My experience with IB 150 wt clothing is that its very easy to wear a hole into them. I now always make sure my clothes drape over my hip belt instead of under it.

MOTHS!

BEST SOLUTION: Store your "woolies" in a plastic Ziploc bag 365 days, at ambient temperature AFTER you thoroughly inspect & clean the area you previously stored your items at.

ADULT MOTH

LARVA OF MOTH (WHAT EATS THE WOOL!)

1: moths
2: with 150 pulling them on in a hurry i've torn holes into them with my thumbs and toes
3: washing with clothes that have zippersand not zipping the zippers up. spin cycle seems to tear holes into 150 merino shirts.

hth

Thanks for all the responses. Good info!

They were stored in a drawer made from cedar, so I doubt it was moths. The zipper damage in the wash is the likely culprit.

Merino in the thinner weights tends not to be durable

I would hand wash em, or wash em in a wash bag

Once you get to 200 wt and above it tends to be a bit better

Theres a reason why rab and patagucci are moving toward synth/merino blends

;)

I've given up on super thin merino bottoms, they just rip and get holey too easily. The midweight stuff isn't that much heavier and 10 times more durable.

150 g/m Merino Wool is just always going to have this issue. Just not a viable weight of fabric, except maybe for tshirts – but even my Icebreaker 150 g/m tshirt has holes.

A very common problem with this is from washing them with regular house detergent… that should just not be done, it eats right through the fabric. Best thing, wash them by hand.

Also, don't go tugging and pulling them up your legs… 150 g/m cannot handle thread pulling.

Approach 150 g/m merino the same way that you would with a 20d fabric, rather than a 70d fabric, or the same way you would 0.34 cuben fiber vs 0.75 cuben fiber.

I wouldn't rule out moths just because the clothes were stored in a cedar drawer.

I've never seen a moth in our house, my lightweight merino gets pinholes that grow, and that happens from washing in a washing machine. When I hand wash, never had a problem. Commercial washer, even on delicates setting, and I get holes.

If you wanted to post a picture of the holes, we may be able to get a better idea of what caused them.

I have never seen a moth in our house. Not one.

We KNOW we have a few silverfish.

I have all kinds of old cotton t-shirts with holes in them, one looks like I was hit by a shotgun blast. I wear it just to irritate my wife sometimes.

I know silverfish do the cotton damage.

I pulled out a pair of old expensive wool dress pants from my closet to see if they fit my son a few months back. They had been in back of my closet at least 10 yrs. They were literally eaten up. Holes everywhere.

I have read silverfish dont eat wool. Im not sure I believe that.

Not sure if it applies to Merino or not as well, but i've heard that there is a mite that likes to eat cashmere.

In any case, i occasionally spray my various woolen shirts (merino, alpaca, wool-angora blend, cashmere) with a essential oil blend in water spray (peppermint is usually the main one). I figure it will keep most things off it.

I have some really nice natural hair clothing. I store them in large zip locks and wash them by hand in a cashmere soap. This includes my alpaca socks which I just love and depend upon especially this time of year when I'm hunting in sub zero temps at a still stand and cannot move much for warmth. I also own several Eskandar sweater dresses made of cashmere and I dam well better take good care of them they are expensive. But they get the same care as my smartwool hiking long johns and all have survived for many years with no holes or aftereffects from storing or washing. You simply MUST store the natural clothing in a completely protective bag or box. Year round. I also use acid free tissue paper to layer between my clothing I wish to protect in airtight bags. I used to make silk wedding dresses for a living. You want this stuff to last so they can be handed down and preserved so you just have to make the effort to do it right. Why invest in good clothing if you are not going to take proper care of it?