Many years ago, clothing chests and amoires were lined or made with cedar to deter moths. My wife just inherited a cedar lined chest that on the refinish list this winter. Won't hurt but not sure about the effectiveness of the pucks; keep the inside as raw cedar wood.

 

She's used "pucks" before. But you'd need a ton of them for this cabinet (~20 square feet of space). I had the same idea about leaving the inner side of the doors "raw". Think I'll start by not finishing them at all. As it actually may contrast nicely with the rest of the cabinet.

I'd also grown up in a house with a large cedar blanket chest. So I'd always thought it had some repellant type property. Worst case, it ends up doing nothing, but she at least thinks it's doing something. 😆

 

When you are talking about cedar that may or may not repel insects you are referring to Eastern Cedar. It if the aromatic oils evaporating that create the odor and to keep it fresh you need to either add cedar oil occasionally (you can buy it) or sand the wood to bring fresh oil to the surface. When people wore more wool clothing they had problems with moths and their larva eating the wool so they stored them in cedar lined chests.....and usually added moth balls.

I did line a closet with it once mostly to cover the ugly walls and it looked nice but I didn't have a bug problem to begin with so who knows?

Actually I think the electronic ultrasonic insect repellers work better; especially for spiders. My mother swore she never had a bugs (especially spiders) in the house after she started using them. No personal experience.

Western Red cedar resists insect damage to itself but there is no indication it repells insects by it's presence with the possible exception of pet beds that are filled with WRC shavings, and there are some who think it if toxic to the pet. I have a number of WRC on my property the there are insects on and around them all the time.

 

When you are talking about cedar that may or may not repel insects you are referring to Eastern Cedar. It if the aromatic oils evaporating that create the odor and to keep it fresh you need to either add cedar oil occasionally (you can buy it) or sand the wood to bring fresh oil to the surface. When people wore more wool clothing they had problems with moths and their larva eating the wool so they stored them in cedar lined chests.....and usually added moth balls.

I did line a closet with it once mostly to cover the ugly walls and it looked nice but I didn't have a bug problem to begin with so who knows?

Actually I think the electronic ultrasonic insect repellers work better; especially for spiders. My mother swore she never had a bugs (especially spiders) in the house after she started using them. No personal experience.

Western Red cedar resists insect damage to itself but there is no indication it repells insects by it's presence with the possible exception of pet beds that are filled with WRC shavings, and there are some who think it if toxic to the pet. I have a number of WRC on my property the there are insects on and around them all the time.

This distinction between aromatic and wester red cedar clears things up. And I think explains why there's some truth about it helping or not helping.

Funny story about the ultrasonic insect things. Worked with a guy who's wife absolutely hated spiders (which I can understand). They had some pretty big wolf/grass spiders that would hang out in their basement. She ended up getting in a standoff with one, trying to do laundry. Went out and bought a bunch of the ultrasonic things to deal with the 8-legged monsters once and for all. Put them all over the basement. Good news is they did work to repel the spiders. Bad news is that they repelled all the spiders from the basement to their first floor.

 

As far as absorbing moisture goes, the pucks will do that, but once the moisture is equal to that of the house, they won't absorb more, same as with any desiccant. As for the moths, cedar may deter them, but most modern houses don't have moth infestations. Also, I think the original reason was related to moths eating natural wool, which is not a concern in your case. I'm old enough to have experienced the rise and fall of dial-up internet, and I've never seen a moth in a closet in my lifetime.

 

As far as absorbing moisture goes, the pucks will do that, but once the moisture is equal to that of the house, they won't absorb more, same as with any desiccant. As for the moths, cedar may deter them, but most modern houses don't have moth infestations. Also, I think the original reason was related to moths eating natural wool, which is not a concern in your case. I'm old enough to have experienced the rise and fall of dial-up internet, and I've never seen a moth in a closet in my lifetime.

I'm probably around the same age, and you raise a very valid point.

 

We have two eastern red cedar closets and a cedar trunk. The smell is temporary without resanding. The nice appearance is forever. A clear finish when new will keep the look but cover the smell. Coating unfinished wood with cedar oil may help the look and the smell. We do have several all wool sweaters in the closet, and no moths. But I don't think the cedar has anything to do with it.