I don't usually like scents, the exception is harvest smells like spiced pumpkin or apple cinnamon. However Kirkland's Home sell cachet pouches that have some of the nicest smells. Some are very faint and perfect for what you're looking for. Do you have a Kirkland in your area? if so you may want to go check them out.

I have these hanging cedar wood pieces that are sold just for the closet to give it that wonderful cedar smell and keep the bugs away. I got mine at bed bath and beyond.

These are like the ones I have but they also have a lavender scent which might be nice.

Cedar planks hanger

Are cloves no longer favored?

cedar for two reasons -

The natural aroma of cedar keeps moths away and clothes smelling fresh.

I have 2 kirklands close by.

racen on the planks, how long do they last?

pillog how would u use cloves? Sounds wonderful

Traditionally, cloves are put either in a sachet or a pomander (basically, a hard sided sachet or other kind of fragrant ornament). Tie it to the rail or put it on a shelf. I just wondered if they weren't considered safe nowadays, maybe for pets who eat the sachet or something. A common Christmas-time craft used to be making a pomander out of an orange by poking holes in it, then pushing in cloves so that just the ball end showed. These must have been for cold climates, however, because they'd rot here. :)

You can put any kind of fragrance that you like in a sachet. Rose petals. Lily petals. Frangipani (plumeria blossoms) Dried fruits and spices. Pot pourri. Eucalyptus leaves. Myrtle leaves. Etc. The thing is, to make sure they don't attract bugs, and replace them as they dry out.

You can buy little sachet bags at craft stores or on line. Fill with cloves, dried orange peel, anise seed, cinnamon sticks, cedar shavings or chips, lavender buds, juniper berries, etc. Your choice.

My favorite combination, without the lavender, and it smells so fresh for a long time.

I made some sachets with Lavender, and hang them in my closet, have them on my lingerie shelf etc. My clothes smell soooo good! :)

Cedar

To the OP, who asked how long the cedar planks last --- whether your closet is cedar lined or you use the cedar planks, you should lightly sand them once a year to refresh them. Brings out that cedar aroma again.

Our master closet is over 100 sq.ft., and hubby lined it with cedar years ago. Cedar is HARD and not easy to nail through (unless you're using a nail gun, which Hubs wasn't). It was a pain in his patoot to do, but it looks great and smells great. He even put cedar boards down on all of the shelves. Our sweaters are all in cedar boxes, too. It smells so good when we open the door to the closet!

If you decide to make your own hanging sachets, you should do a test of whatever dried herbs, flower petals, etc., you use to make sure any hidden oils don't soil shelves or clothing. Many years ago, lavender in a small envelope package (which the manufacturer used) left a stain in one of my dresser drawers. An alternative is a jar candle that has a mild fragrance, like white linen or cotton or fresh air (a jar candle being one that has a lid you can put back on if the fragrance gets to be a little too much).

Lavender or cedar are perfect now to find somebody that sells good quality products. I've bought loose lavender and lavender sachets that looked good but in a couple of weeks frag were gone. I have tried sanding the cedar planks that you hang and there's no improvement afterwards

You can refresh the lavender with lavender essential oil as it dries out, but then be extra careful that it doesn't seep. Plant some lavender in your garden, too (or a pot), so you can refill whenever you want.

I use cedar too to keep bugs away but not enough that its scent lingers on my clothes. Since I wear perfume/cologne, I don't like other fragrances on my body, hair or clothes to clash with its scent.

Maybe I'm the only person who does this, but I leave my closet door open to air things out once a week (usually on Friday when I clean the house while I'm working in the master bath and bedroom).

We've recently been looking at homes and we've run into several older homes that had an airing-out room in the bedrooms with large windows, or small windows in the closets. It was common to air-out your bedding and some clothing - especially suits and wool items that were worn many times - this was before dry cleaning I suspect. Even when I was a girl we would brush our wool skirts and hang them briefly on the clothes line or the screened-in porch to "freshen" them after each wear.

We also spray the inside of our shoes with a "natural" spray containing baking soda and anti-bacteria essential oils, and let them air-out overnight before placing them back in the closet. I wipe off my flip-flops after each wear with it, too.

-Grainlady

One of the pluses in my house is that, the prior owners lined every closed with cedar planks. I can't believe what a difference cedar in closets makes.

I definitely want cedar with my winter woolies! Otherwise, I don't bother. When possible (ie, weather permitting) I dry my clothing outdoors and this does pick up the nice outdoorsy atmosphere.

I DO like grainlady's concept of airing out closets once weekly! This I plan to adapt!

I ultimately went for cedar. Closet is pretty, organized and sweet smelling.

grainlady is there a name of the spray you use or is this something you make? Thanks.