The Smart Trick Martha Stewart Swears By When Storing Clothes In Dresser Drawers

Countless people around the world rely on Martha Stewart's best practices for keeping an organized home. So, too, do folks turn to Martha Stewart for cleaning hacks, entertaining tips, recipes and even clothing care. And her sweater storing tip not only keeps your wardrobe's coziest tops tidy, it's said to keep those knit-hungry moths at bay.

In a clip from one of her older shows posted to Instagram, Stewart, after giving a quick tour of her velvet-lined jewelry and decorative scarf drawers, turns to a heartier lining: cedar wood. Stewart uses quarter-inch thick lumber yard-sourced plywood sections, to be precise, custom cut to fit the bottom of her sweater drawer. If a trip to the lumber yard isn't in the GPS, Cedar Space cedar blocks are similar to Stewart's bespoke solution. If wood and fabric together conjures images in your mind of snags and trips to the tailor, Cedar Space's promise a polished finish. (Give them a good inspection before use just to be sure.)

Stewart explains in the video that the smell of the cedar wood repels moths, but is this true? We investigated the science behind the hack, and there's scattered credible agreement to that effect.

The reason some find cedar wood's presence to be effective is due to the oils that you might recognize as its signature scent. That scent comes from a compound called cedrol, which is believed to scare pests away. But neither the oils in cedar wood, nor their telling aroma, will last forever.

The New York Times was touting cedar closets as moth repellers all the way back in 1938. A little more recently, in 2010, the paper quoted an expert as saying that cedar fumes are only toxic to moths at a high concentration. Ergo, as that concentration fades, the pieces of cedar wood would need to be replaced or reactivated (the expert recommends sanding) at a higher frequency than most would likely desire for any results.

As we imagine Martha Stewart would agree, cleaning and organizing will also help to ward off pesky moths. Keeping your drawers and closets clean, not just organized, will help to eradicate potentially camouflaged pests. That means giving those sometimes-neglected surfaces a good wipe down with your preferred household cleaner from time to time. It's also a good idea to wash new fabrics that come into your home before storing. Those lovely thrift and even department store finds might otherwise come with more than you bargained for. And if they're elsewhere in your home, the secret to keeping moths out of the kitchen is with an easy ammonia application.