Is there an alternative to moth balls?
About 10 yrs. ago my wife found moth damage to a couple of her wool sweaters and to the Jacket of one of my wool suits. Needless to say she was very upset. We spent much money having the cloths cleaned. Then the wife bought lots of mothballs. The smell was horrible. When I was stationed in Germany we rented a house that had Cedar lined closets. Once a year the landlord would come and sand the surface of the Cedar to refresh it. We never had moth problems. So, I had an ephifiny. I went to my local home supply store and bought Cedar planks and lined the walls of the closets. We have never had moth problems since. Today it much easier to do this. Home supply stores have Cedar panels specifically for this purpose. Many have a glue backing that allows you to simply peel the paper and stick the panels to the wall. Just be aware that the walls will need to be washed prior to applying the panels. Otherwise, they probably will not stay glued to the wall. The Home Supply store has wall cleaning
The chemicals in mothballs that you’re worried about are napthalene and paradichlorobenzene. As long as you avoid those, you’re good. (By the way, I think the worry about brain damage is only with infants and napthalene — the bigger concern for adults is the p-DCB, which is implicated in liver and kidney damage.) So you can try any of these several options (note that for all these, you should use “aromatic cedar”): • Cedar chest: Store your garments in a good, sturdy cedar chest. Sand the interior occasionally and apply a coat of cedar oil every other year. My personal, preferred solution. • Cedar blocks: Sand blocks of cedar, wrap them in cheesecloth and place them in a drawer with your garments. Or screw a hanging hook into the end and place the wrapped block directly on your closet rod. This last is more effective if combined with a garment bag to contain the cedar vapors. Similarly, you can get cedar balls for clothing drawers. • Cedar sachets: Use cedar shavings (either use pet b
