Non toxic, natural moth balls and moth repellents are easy to make yourself using cedar wood and essential oils. This mini tutorial will show you how to get started AND how to refresh your moth balls naturally.
Cedarwood has a natural aroma that deters moths, silverfish and other annoying critters from invading your drawers, cupboards and wardrobes and is a fabulous ecofriendly alternative to chemical moth balls.
If you have ever stored seasonal clothes and then opened them months later to discover moths, then you probably have a good idea of the damage they can cause to clothes and fabric that is often irreparable.
In my experience, this doesn't only happen to clothes in storage. Moths can be found in our everyday wardrobes and drawers and discovering them can make us want to head to the nearest shop to buy chemical laden solutions to irradiate them.
Being sensitive to fragrances and chemicals, I avoid them as much as possible, but I certainly don't want moths eating my winter woollies! I remember as a teenager, finding a mothball on the floor in my best friends bedroom and picking it up to have a giant sniff as I thought it was a lolly! Oh, how wrong I was, it was truly awful but it did give my friend a good giggle as she couldn't believe I didn't know what a moth ball was. We just didn't have them at our house and my mum used cedarwood and essential oils, while my grandma just resorted to sprinkling Epsom salts in the backs of cupboards and in storage boxes.
This post will explain exactly how to make your natural moth repellent using cedar balls or blocks and how to refresh them indefinitely.
First lets take a quick look at your options for Cedar Wood
I prefer using the cedar balls and cedar coathanger rings, but it really doesn't matter what you choose.
These Cedar Blocks are a fantastic option and come plastic free, unlike most cedar products, and are super handy for linen cupboards, under the bed and towel storage areas, along with wardrobes and drawers.
They also don't get lost or roll away like the tiny balls.
If you specifically want some for the wardrobe, I highly recommend something that is easy to hang like these which come with hooks.
Cedar is a natural deterrent and it will quickly soak up essential oils to effectively repel moths and other pests.
Recipe and Instructions
This recipe does 15-20 cedar balls easily, or 5 cedar blocks and you can adjust it to suit your own preferences too. I find this quantity gives a great aroma without being over powering, but add more drops if you need to.
4 drops of Cedarwood Essential Oil
4 drops of Cassia or Cinnamon Bark Essential Oil
5 drops of Lavender Essential Oil
3 drops of Clove Essential Oil
A Dash of fractionated coconut oil (or other carrier oil)
If you only have Cedarwood Essential Oil then this WILL do the trick just on its own, personally I prefer to blend it and the oils above give a beautiful scent and all listed above are known for repelling moths and pests. Always make sure you are buying good quality essential oils and not synthetic copies which don't have the required properties. If you want to know more about the oils I use, shoot me a message.
Step 1. Get your essential oils and cedar wood ready, plus you will need a ceramic or glass dish.
Step 2. Add your carrier oil plus the essential oils into your dish and swirl to mix.
(you might want to pick a bigger dish than I did as it was far too small!)
Step 3. If you're using cedar balls, roll them around in the oil blend. For cedar blocks, you can dip the in or drip the oil onto them.
Step 4. Now leave them to soak for several hours
I did mine at night at this is how they looked the next morning. As you can see, they have soaked up the oil really well and are now dry and ready to use. (Don't ever put them near, or on your clothing if they haven't dried yet as the last thing you want to do is cause oily marks).
Step 5. Start using them!
Place them in your drawers, closets, storage areas, linen cupboards, under the bed, or anywhere else you need them to keep your home free from moths and pesky insects.
Once a year, top them up with oil using the same method and you can rest easy knowing your favourite woollen jumper isn't going to be eaten up over summer.
Will you give it a try and swap to natural moth repellent now you know just how simple it is? (I hope so!)
If you have any questions or want to share your tips, add them in the comments section below.