The Idea has been Mothballed

Uh, wrong mothballs, duh!

Ever thought about the origin of that saying?

It means: Put into storage, or not used.

Mothballs… I remember mothballs, my grandmother’s house smelled of them, my Aunt Louie’s house reeked of them. The smell of mothballs was an integral part of my childhood.

My mother had mothballs in the linen cupboard and in the chest where she kept winter clothes in the summer and vice versa.

As a budding chemist I knew that mothballs were naphthalene at the age of 13; I had a jar of naphthalene flakes in my laboratory, although I never figured out a use for them, but I had a lot of chemicals like that. I never became a chemist, I dropped out of high school and was considered too dumb because I didn’t pass the end of year exam. Geez, four lousy points is the difference between being dumb and being smart, but that’s another story.

Naphthalene aka Mothballs are poison. Did you know that? I did, but used frugally in the home they don’t present a problem; used to excess, they are.

You want to find out more information on mothballs, try here and here.

Did you know there was a safe natural alternative to mothballs?

There is you know…

Aromatic Cedar Chips

Cedar chips. You can get cedar chips cheaply, they are often used as ground cover in gardens.

Simply make a small muslin bag to hold small cedar chips and hang in your closet, or wherever.

If you want a variation, add a couple of sprigs of lavender for extra pong.

Much safer for the family and pets.

You can buy aesthetically pleasing cedar balls and blocks commercially, but why the extra expense?

Note: A link to this post is in the Apothecary