All spring and summer our family dog, a year-old black Lab named Kate, has chased small white moths around our back deck. Kate seems to enjoy this sport, and it's great fun for us humans watching her jump and snap her jaws at the elusive insects, only to collide with the railing and land flat on her back. However, when I opened my closet doors the other day and a couple of the those little moths flitted past, the amusement ended.
As everyone knows, moths can cause considerable damage to unprotected clothing, and the best safeguard is cedar wood.Giles & Kendall of Huntsville, Ala., has introduced a new cedar product to make clothing protection easier: Cedarline panels. Measuring 4 feet by 8 feet, the panels are constructed of steam-pressed, 100-percent Eastern aromatic red cedar flakes, giving them a pleasing, "outdoorsy" scent. They not only keep clothes and linens smelling fresh, but also act as a built-in pest control.
Effortlessly installed over studs or existing walls, the panels are lightweight and highly flexible. Also, Cedarline panels are cost-effective and installation is time-efficient: 50 percent less expensive than cedar boards per square foot, the panels can be installed in one-third the time. Perfect for small or unusually sized spaces, the boards can be cut with any standard saw used to cut plywood, and no finishing is needed.
Instead of using the standard, heavy bonding resin and excess sanding technique to create its panels - which seal in the cedar aroma and greatly limit insect repellence - Giles & Kendall chips the debarked cedar into large flakes that are sprayed with minimal amounts of adhesive and wax. This process, the company says, allows the cedar to retain all of its natural insect-repellent properties and wonderful fragrance.
Over time, cedar oil can crystalize on a panel's surface. A light sanding with fine sandpaper will remove the crystallization and rejuvenate the cedar.
A closet outfitted with Cedarline will help solve the moth problem as well as keep other pesky insects away from clothing.
As for my dog Kate . . . maybe therapy.