Instead of grains, flour, pasta, and cereal, clothes moths

feed on animal fibers containing keratin. This includes wool, fur, silk, feathers, and leather. For the most part, clothes moths do not feed on cotton or synthetic fabrics unless they are blended with animal fibers or are heavily soiled.

What kind of moths eat wool?

Only two moth species will damage your clothes: The casemaking clothes moth (Tinea pellionella) and the webbing clothes moth (Tineola bisselliella) most commonly infest clothing (PDF).

Do all types of moths eat clothes?

In fact, there are only a small selection of species (collectively known as 'clothes moths') which hunt out animal fibres in your clothing. The most common species of moth we can hold accountable for this behaviour is Tineola bisselliella, more simply known as 'the webbing clothes moth' or the 'common clothes moth'.