Hi Lynne-

Save your money!

The cedar closet will not prevent moths from eating your garments.

"The dark-colored heartwood of red cedar contains natural oils that help kill clothes-moth larvae, but this alone won't protect clothing. It's not effective against carpet beetles, and, with moths, it kills only young larvae, not older ones or eggs. The effect also fades as the scent does. You can replenish the scent of boards, closets, and chests by sanding the wood lightly or dabbing on cedar oil, but there is no way to know if you've added enough. If you have a cedar chest, it's best to think of it as a reasonably airtight storage container-and only keep clean fabric inside it. Again, wrap items in clean cotton before storing them. "

Please read the entire article here .

https://www.marthastewart.com/264609/the-basics-of-mothproofing

For sure, fur coats are best stored at the furrier during the warmer months. If the skins dry out, that ruins not only the appearance of the coat, but its longevity. A furrier has a strictly climate- controlled room for the furs. You can detach fur collars and cuffs, or ask the furrier to do it, and bring him your fur hats, too.

I use moth balls.

Love 'em, love that nasty scent, takes me right back to childhood.

I buy those big, big cakes, they are sold in hardware stores, and Walmart too.

Now they have these fenestrated plastic holders with a large hook on the top so you can just hang them on your closet rod.

The problem with that idea is you don't want a garment to actually touch the substance (paradichlorobenzene) so if you use the hanger, affix a Command hook to the wall of your closet and hang it from there, or suspend it from the closet ceiling.

Just make sure you keep your closet door closed because it works by emitting fumes, and if you leave your closet door open, out go the fumes, and the moth balls do nothing.

However when you go into your closet to select your clothing, keep the door open so you don't inhale the fumes.

If you can't find the big cake but only the little moth balls, take a knee high nylon hose and pour a bunch in and tie a knot over the bunch and then with the end tie another knot around the wall hook.

The problem with the little moth balls is that they evaporate too quickly (greater surface area to mass ratio.)

You know what I do like to do with cedar-

Make a shoe stuffer that keeps them smelling fresh.

Buy some fine cedar shavings- A 4 quart bag is $9 online, or you can get them in a pet store, because they are used to line the bottom of hamster cages,

and buy a bunch of pretty mesh drawstring gift bags at the dollar store that are approximately 3" x 3" to 6" x 6". The size isn't key. Depends on the size of the front of your shoe.

Fill the little bag with the cedar shavings and bull the little drawstring ribbon tight and tuck a bag in the front of your shoe and voila, you have a shoe deodorizer with that lovely cedar scent and it helps the shoe keep its shape as well.

When the cedar starts to lose its scent, just gently squeeze the bag between your fingers to release more scent.

Or you can add cedar oil.

You can also purchase balls of cedar wood that are approximately one inch in diameter and put those in the little mesh drawstring gift bags.

When their scent wears off you can rub them with sand paper, or dab with cedar oil. They can be purchased online, or at Bed Bath and Beyond.

(I hate the smell of lavender, it reminds me of after shave.)

Thanks! Cedar shavings...what a creative solution!

Why do you think that you need cedar? Most of our modern homes are much more accommodating than were those old houses from a time when people had seasonal things that were make of wool. Do you really have that much wool and are you really that concerned about it? I have had wool fabrics in my house for decades and have had some moths get in to only one thing over many decades.

For what you could store in that small closet you could store in tightly sealed plastic if it were a problem.

I never understood just why people use moth balls. Once something has the smell in it, it never goes away and becomes unusable, in my opinion. Nothing is worth storing in moth balls.

I have a lot of wool clothing and have never had an issue with moths . I don’t really know what I do other than change the layout of my walk-in for the different times of year. I do store my fur at the furriers. I am allergic to cedar so have never thought of it and the smell of moth balls is horrible.

OK, these tips sound simplistic, but in the past we have had problems with moths and those awful stink bugs—that is, until my contractor told me to NOT open the windows in our bedroom (our screens were not that close fitting—and we do have a/c as a fall back) and to keep our closet door closed at all times and our drawers shut. (We were a little careless about shutting the closet door.) Keeping the windows closed tight has cut down on the moth damage and those invasive stink bugs and there is the extra bonus that dust accumulation has been cut way back.

The second thing is to make sure the clothes are clean before putting away—no crumbs or dribbles on the sweaters. We keep our wool blankets in those plastic storage bags when out of season And our good wool clothes in garment bags. Simple but effective remedies.

Cedar and fur don’t go together. Keep cedar far away from furs.

It would never occur to me to look to a contractor for advise about dealing with insect critters.

Of course closed doors and windows will keep the stink bugs from coming in. I opt to open my house up and get some fresh air, stink bugs be dammed! They are not that big of a problem. They try to come in and find a place to winter, it seems. Sitting right here at my desk the other day a stink bug came walking across the desk. I just scoop them up with a napkin and let them loose outside to survive somewhere that is not my house. There was a time a couple of years ago that we had a proliferation of them for some reason. It was not just us, it was region wide.

Now I don't see very many anymore. That is the only one that I have seen this winter in my house.

I have no idea where moths live or what they do when they are not eating our wool items. That is something that I will google when I have some other random free time. I wonder...........they must eat something else and live somewhere else and lay eggs somewhere else. I, personally, have ever had very little experience with moths anywhere that I have lived. I have unprotected wool that has been in my sewing room for a very long time and, as of this past year, is still unfound by any critters. I will bet that people don''t have as much wool in the house as they use to. Very few use wool blankets anymore. But, given the cost of a real wool blanket in today's market, I can see why you would want to protect it.

There are not a lot of garments anymore that are made with wool other than hand knits. Synthetic fibers and tech fibers dominate today. Too bad that there are not moths that eat these fibers because most of these fibers do not decompose.