As a safe alternative to mothballs, you can make your own herbal sachets to fend off clothes moths. (Commercial mothballs have an unpleasant odor and can discolor the very clothing they protect. Even worse, they contain some very potent — and potentially poisonous — chemicals, naphthalene and paradichlorobenzene.)

Toss these sachets into your storage chest or drawers and hang them on ribbons from your clothes hangers:

Sashay Away Moth "Balls"

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Yield: 8 moth repellent sachets

1/4 cup dried lavender flowers

10 drops lavender oil

10 drops cedarwood oil

8 fabric squares, each about 6 inches square

8 pieces of string (or ribbon), 8 inches long

1. Add the essential oils to the lavender flowers.

2. Place the scented lavender in a glass jar for a day or so to give the scents from the essential oils time to permeate them.

3. Lay out the 6 fabric squares with the design (or outside) facing down.

4. Place a heaping teaspoon of the scented lavender on each piece.

5. Bring the edges of the fabric together and tie with the string.

6. Place your "moth balls" in with your woolens.