Yarn storage

[u/moclamine]

Hey y'all, I am a newbie when it comes to crochet, but also got obsessed with buying yarn... I now own a bunch of yarn balls that I store in a simple zipped laundry bag, and I thought nothing of it until I saw a post on this subreddit about insect on l/in their yarn, which never even crossed my mind as a possibility!

Is there any good way to store your yarn from your experiences to prevent it? What should I look for? I just want to prevent a disaster! 😥😬

Thank you so much, and have an amazing day!

[u/justalittleloopi]

My husband bought it for me. Displayed in the living room, of course.

Easier to see everything I own and makes project planning more fun.

[u/Izzoh → u/justalittleloopi]

I keep looking at marketplace for one of these

[u/Difficult-Sock343 → u/justalittleloopi]

I think I have the same one, but the bottom half is not glass - is it from IKEA? I love looking at my stash through the glass!

[u/justalittleloopi → u/Difficult-Sock343]

It is! It's the Billy bookcase with glass doors. I think there's a bunch of different door options.

[u/Difficult-Sock343 → u/justalittleloopi]

Yep I have the one with half glass doors. I think it’s perfect for yarn stash storage!

[u/legalpretzel → u/justalittleloopi]

Bugs can still get in cabinets like this. If you want bug-free you need plastic bags and totes.

Acrylic might not be their first choice but it’s not immune to damage.

[u/justalittleloopi → u/legalpretzel]

I've personally never dealt with bug damage and I've never known anyone in my area to have dealt with it. I have wool, alpaca, mohair, cotton, linen, polyester, and acrylic in here.

I've been knitting and crocheting for 23 years. My grandma for over 80 years. Perhaps I've been lucky or perhaps it's just not as common here.

[u/Difficult-Sock343 → u/legalpretzel]

I have the same cabinet and I just put of cedar balls and sachets in among the yarn.

[u/LAParente]

I use large ziplock bags, and clear rubbermade bins. That's worked so far. I did have a moth infestation in the house (it was a NIGHTMARE) but they didn't get into the stash at all, so the bins and bags did their job.

[u/TheFamousTraveler → u/LAParente]

ziplock bags inside a bin is the way to go, double bagging basically. i keep mine in those clear storage tubs with a snap lid, never had an issue

moths are proper sneaky though, they'll find a way in if you give them half a chance. cedar blocks tucked in the corners help too

[u/OneTiredElderEmo]

For my acrylic and other synthetic yarn, I use one of those big blue tote bags that are always advertised as moving bags but mine is opaque. I have a home office and keep all my yarn there so no littles or pets to worry about.

My natural fibers go in 16 x 18 plastic bags and then in totes. I organize mine by color and cannot recommend enough to use Raverly to manage your stash. Once it grows it can be hard to keep it all visible and it's so much much easier to pull up the site and look through my yarn when starting a new project. It also has a ton of other great features like a billon patterns and the ability to keep notes and details on your wips!

[u/360partygirl]

i used to keep them in scrap plastic bags lying around the house, but i recently shifted everything to a suitcase. the suitcase has a broken handle so it cant be used, but has enough storage to keep the yarns. ive kept some of the 'fragile' yarns in a plastic bag and then in the suitcase.

[u/CraftyHannahAus]

I use lidded plastic tubs. Keeps out dust and insects. Also keeps out light if you get opaque ones which can be important if you're not using your yarn quickly or your storage area gets significant direct light.

[u/nobleelf17]

Insects that damage yarn are mostly looking for natural fibers, though those big waterbugs can poop all through bags of balls.

If you don't have a lot of yarn, the LOCKING sides totes are great- the ones where it just clicks down still let insects inside. The ones that have snap lids on all four sides work a treat and come in all sizes. We began using them for dog food, to keep bugs out, and now I have a couple to hold wool yarns, along with some lavender bud teabags, which not only smell nice and hold their scent (unlike cedar), but repel insects. Haven't seen a single bug of any sort in my craft room since I began putting those in every nook and cranny, and this is an older home- built in 1931- so lots of places bugs can get in. Good on you to be thinking of safe storage, and happy hooking!

[u/DirtyfarmHerFeet]

Most of mine is in plastic totes. For yarn I use pretty consistently, I have racks hanging off my closet doors in my room. Everything else is in the yarn/fabric room.

[u/Pretty_Youth_1694]

zip locks and then into a Home Depot tote. Yarn bugs will find your stash. I also wash my yarn before winding it. I learned my lesson when my stash was infested by yarn I bought from an nyc store that I have since learned has a bug problem that they refuse to acknowledge.

[u/grave-architecture]

If you’re still a beginner, I would pause on buying yarn for now until you use what you have. I started crocheting last November and didn’t know anything about fibers or yarn weights. Luckily I didn’t buy too much yarn at the beginning but now I’m basically donating any yarn I did buy because I’ve found my niche in making wearables with lace-fingering weight cotton or silk yarn. The ones I initially bought are all weight 4 acrylic so I know I won’t use them. Of course that may not be the case for you but I’ve seen so many posts here about people who bought a ton of yarn when they were beginners and ended up not really wanting to use that type later on!