moth repellent

[dolphingirl]

Hi there

I was wondering if anyone knows of anything that smells better than moth balls to put in closet to keep moths away. I have been using Citrinella essetial oil and it seems to be working. I also know Cedar is supposed to work but I don't have any right now

Soooo what essential oils work for bug repellent?

Thanks for any help you can give me

[Umbrae]

Cedar works wonderful!

you can buy cedar hangers, cedar blocks...you can reline your closet in cedar...works wonderfully!.

I also keep a cedar block with my working decks to keep insects out...

[lunalafey]

Cedar is about the best- but as far as essential oils go, there are several things that are used as repellents and "pest control"
Tea Tree Oil or Eucalyptus, as well as rosemary and peppermint.

[Majecot]

Cedar definately!.. and smells much better than moth balls

[darwinia]

This information comes from the book "Heirloom Machine Quilting" by Harriet Hargrave, and I have found it to be sound.

Do NOT!!!! use Napthalene moth balls--these are the ones that smell so awful. I get nauseated when I even get a whiff of them.

The chemical you DO want is called PDCB (paradichlorobenzene) which is almost odourless and does the trick. Do not allow the chemical to come into direct contact with fabric.

I can't even stand the smell of cedar in concentrate, so for me this was a good solution. It is a chemical though, so you might not fancy it. I've bought several boxes of this at the drugstore--it can be a little harder to find than regular moth balls, but it's worth it.

[rabble]

I'm not sure if these were entirely cosmetic, but I think they'd have to have some value, or they wouldn't have ever caught on, but when I was little I used to love to make pomander balls, out of an orange with cloves stuck in all over it, and lavender sticks, they were both to hang in the wardrobe to keep away moths and things.

[punchinella]

Reviving this thread in utter distress . . .

I am a spinner trying to start a cottage business (i.e. sell handspun wool & alpaca hats & scarves on etsy . . . )

I have never before had a problem with moths. But, last night I noticed one flitting through the hallway. I tried to kill it, but couldn't; it vanished into thin air. I mentioned it to my boyfriend, in the morning, and he went to check the sweaters in his closet. The first one he pulled out had two giant holes dead center . . .

A couple hours & several websites later, he informed me that all the cedar blocks, balls, and lavender sachets I've been strategically placing throughout the apartment do absolutely nothing, according to agricultural researchers in Kansas. Diffusing cedar & lavender oil in my diffuser will do nothing either, according to his source. What will work? --Dry cleaning, or alternatively washing in hot water and hanging to dry in the sun. Oh, and vacuming like crazy.

I currently have four absolutely gorgeous, & valuable, alpaca fleeces, a heap of hand-spun yarn, and some finished hats & scarves to protect . . . and of these, only the finished garments can be washed. The hand-spun . . . well, the hand-spun left in skeins could be washed (again) but most of it has been wound into balls, which don't lend themselves to washing or hanging, and, well, I guess I could undo my rolling work, but it wouldn't be fun.

The fleeces will not be as nice for spinning if I wash them. And, they cannot be hung; which (I understand) makes the washing less effective.

And, in my opinion, none of these items should be exposed to HOT water, which is what the specialists in Kansas recommend.

I forgot to mention that in inspecting the goods just now, I noticed a very small moth flying up from underneath my leg. I tried to smash him, but didn't succeed. He too vanished.

This is a nightmare.

In another small open bag, with some lower-quality, and mistakenly scoured in hot water several months ago, alpaca fleece, I found a very small dead moth with one wing broken off.

Does anybody have experience with anything like this? If it were just an infestation in clothing, I could take it to the drycleaner. But this . . . just leaves me speechless.

I guess what I want to hear is of positive experience with cedar and lavender--or with some other "magical" herbs (or, at this point, chemicals ) post infestation, since it appears that in my case the infestation already exists

[Milfoil]

Found these links for you:

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/cus...repellent.html

http://www.aromatherapypoint.com/aro...oth-repellent/

http://www.wildroots.com/insect.htm

Hope it helps.

[tabbycat]

Just a thought - freezing kills moths and their larvae. For things that you can't wash, you might try wrapping them in plastic and putting them in the freezer overnight.

[punchinella]

Originally Posted by tabbycat

Just a thought - freezing kills moths and their larvae. For things that you can't wash, you might try wrapping them in plastic and putting them in the freezer overnight.

GREAT SOLUTION, wow tabbycat--thank you so much for this idea!!! Not to speak too soon, but it could be that this solves my "unsolvable" problem

And Milfoil, I do like the look of the recipe in your second link, because it has a bunch of other things (e.g. eucalyptus & bassilicum, which I've never even heard of) in addition to cedar & lavender. Hmmn. Might spend the afternoon sourcing this stuff. If I could get whatever is in there now killed, then a deterrent might be enough to prevent this sort of problem in the future.

I might consider freezing, as a matter of routine, all fleece that enters the apartment . . . This would be a smart approach