The Plan For Evicting Our Uninvited Guests

Whew! It has been a rollercoaster ride since we closed the shop on Monday October 5th! A plan is in place and well under way to evict the Uninvited Guests also known as clothes or wool moths. 

Before we tell you the plan, we want to thank all of our lovely customers who have reached out to support us in this process. Your kind words mean so very much to us all. Our community always comes through for us and we appreciate you all! If you are looking for another way to support us, you can purchase gift cards for yourself or your friends. They never expire and are fully transferable. It would really help us get through this time.

The Plan

We found a warehouse space we could move everything into. And, we do mean everything! What we left in the shop was shelving, furniture, and mannequins. This has been a daunting task that took two weeks and many, many, many van loads! Maia will never tease her husband about wanting a large minivan again (it can hold a full 4 foot by 8 foot sheet of plywood between the wheel wells).

We actually got two spaces close to each other. In one space we are heat treating the yarn to kill any life stage of clothes moth that may be on it. Once it is treated we move it immediately into another space to cool and be put into clean bins to return to a clean shop. The yarn that was out on the retail floor is being treated first and then we will move on to the back stock.

While the big move began, we started working out the best way to clean the shop. The entire shop will be vacuumed to remove dust and lint starting from the exposed pipes at the ceiling and working down to the floor. Dust and lint are attractive to moths and their larvae. Then pest management will come in and use a spray that kills on contact. The final step is to have the space steam cleaned. A highly targeted stream of hot steam is used on the fixtures, furniture, floors, walls, and ceiling to ensure no uninvited guests remain. As I write this the cleaning crew is working on the vacuuming step.

Meanwhile a team of staff members, lead by Michelle, are treating every skein of yarn and bit of fluff by heating it to kill any moth eggs, larva, or adult moths. We are using commercial warming carts used by food service to keep food hot. We load the yarn onto trays bring it up to temperature and hold it there for  at least 20 minutes. Then immediately move it to the adjacent space to cool and get packed into clean bins to return to the shop.

So when do we return to the shop?

If all goes to plan, the shop will be clean by the end of this week and we will start to put it back together. As the yarn is treated, it will be moved back to the professionally cleaned and treated shop for sale. It will take a bit for us to get everything sorted for online sales, so we will start with in person sales only while working on getting the online store up and running as soon as possible.

We will reopen with our regular shop hours with as much product as we have treated. It will take a while to treat everything and fully restock the shop. Product will continue to return as it is treated.

Ah, but we haven't told you when yet. We are not certain. Hopefully this coming weekend. Stay tuned for more information; we will send out a newsletter as soon as we know our reopening date. Sign up for our newsletter on the front page if you don't already receive it.

A bit of further good news. It is normal to see more moths as they get disturbed, like by moving yarn around and out of the shop. During that we have only seen three more moths. Why is seeing more moths good news? The low number tells us that we have had a minor exposure. 

Next steps

The next piece of the puzzle is how to prevent this from happening again. That plan is still forming and I promise to tell you about it.

Is there anything else you want to know about the process? We are committed to being transparent.