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Protect your handmade and precious woolen clothes with these easy to make herbal moth repellent sachets.
These simple to make bags skip all the smell of moth balls and instead protect your clothing with aromatic and easy to find herbs.
Make yourself a bunch with this easy project and be sure to share them with family and friends,too!
Cedar has long been a natural moth repellent and while it does smell good and works, it only works for as long as the smell stays fresh and is something I have to buy as I don’t have it growing on my homestead.
Several years ago, I spent some time researching herbs that repel moths and found that I have many already growing in my herb garden and I bet you do too.
Herbs for Moth Repellent
For this easy project I went for what grows easily and naturally in my gardens.
Lavender
If you grow and dry your own lavender, feel free to use both the buds and the stems. Simply give the the stems a bit of crumble before mixing into the rest of the herbs.
Rose Petals
The more fragrant, the better for this particular use. I often use wild rose petals but their scent doesn’t always last as long as the more domesticated rose types.
If you have whole dried rose buds, just give those a crumble or crush a bit with a mortar and pestle.
Rosemary
Again, feel free to use the leaves and the stems here by simply giving it all a good crumble.
Mix & Match
Feel free to use more of one herb, less of another. This is more about method than it is exact science. Simply use aromatic herbs and toss into a bag.
Also, make big batches all in one sitting for easy. The recipe below is a guideline not a hard rule.
What to Use for Sachets
You could sew together simple pillows to hold your herbs, like I do when I make dream pillows.
Or you could just toss the herbs into cloth reusable drawstring bags. These drawstring bags are nice because you can simply re-use them every year.
One Season and Done
After one season, the herbs will likely loose their smell and power in repelling moths. Simply compost the dried herbs and refill the sachets.
About Essential Oils
You could likely use essential oils to refresh the scents and make the sachets last longer. I personally skip the essential oils here not wanting the oil to leave any kind of stains on my clothing but it could work in a pinch.
Also, I’m trying to use what I have on hand rather than purchasing something expensive and generally not as necessary for other things in my daily use.
Other Uses
These do smell quite lovely, feel free to tuck them into shoes, put into drawers of any kind. Tuck them into the corners of drawers and closets for their smell alone even if you don’t need the moth repelling in that particular area.
Use as a Gift
These simple little sachets make a great gift too. Think about giving one along with a homemade hat or scarf so that your recipient can protect their treasure.
They make great housewarming gifts and more.
Herbal Moth Repellant Sachets
Use aromatic herbs to protect woolen clothes from moth damage with this quick and easy project.
Materials
Tools
- Mixing Bowl
- Wooden Spoon
Instructions
- Combine the herbs in the mixing bowl, giving it a good stir.
- Spoon the herbs into drawstring bags and pull tight.
When I read the title I thought it said “mosquito”. It took ma moment to figure out why mosquitoes were getting in your woolens! ;-) We don’t have woolens to pack away but I wonder if this would work with pantry moths?
I’m not sure if it would work with pantry moths or not, but it’d be easy enough to try. If you do give it a whirl, let me know if it works, please.
Bay leaves work for pantry moths. I would add patchouli and cedarwood or sandalwood to these. Both repel moths well.
I frequently toss a section of freshly clipped cedar bough into the box, So far so good. Apparently woolens attract the moths because they smell like the animal they came from… so meat/flesh. The greenery, any strong scented plant material, overpowers that and confuses the moths and they go elsewhere.
Tansy works well too, as a moth repellent. Would be good to use in the sachets.
i’m tickled that someone else knows what a sachet is. sounds like a nice blend that you have. i like all of those. i’ve been making popourri. with orange oil, dehydrated citrus peels, slices and my own spice blend. that has been recommended for bug repellent, and air freshner