Clothing Moth Traps vs. Mothballs: The Non-Toxic Alternative That Actually Works

By Harrison Lowell, Dr. Killigan's

That "cedar-scented" box of mothballs your grandmother swore by isn't cedar at all — most are paradichlorobenzene, an EPA-registered fumigant, scented to smell like cedar so it reads as natural. It's genuinely effective against clothes moths, and it's also a chemical fumigant you're storing inside closed containers next to the sweaters you'll wear against your skin. Here's what actually works instead — including the technology Dr. Killigan's built specifically because ordinary glue traps weren't enough.

At a glance

	Clothing Moth Trap (Dr. Killigan's)	Enoz Cedar Scented Moth Cakes	Trap a Pest (budget glue trap)
Price	$24.97 / 6 traps ($4.16/trap)	$21.50 / 3 units ($7.17/unit)	$9.88 / 8 traps ($1.24/trap)
Mechanism	Double-potent pheromone + glue	Chemical fumigant vapor	Pheromone + glue, less potent.
Non-toxic?	Yes	No — paradichlorobenzene	Yes
Rating	4.9★	4.3★	4.2★

Why this trap exists at all

Most pheromone-and-glue clothes moth traps on the market today work roughly the same way — Catchmaster, MaxGuard, Trap a Pest, BugMD, Professor Killamoth, over a dozen near-identical options at every price point from $1.24 to $13 per trap. Dr. Killigan's is the reason that mechanism exists as a mainstream category at all: it's the original double-potent pheromone glue trap, engineered because standard glue traps on the market simply weren't potent enough to work — the alternative at the time was fumigants like the one still sold today as "cedar scented" mothballs. Most of what's on the shelf now is downstream of that original formulation.

That's also the basis for the trust signal that's hardest for any newer competitor to claim: this isn't just a household product. Museums (including the Smithsonian), pest control companies, rug manufacturers, clothing retailers, and feed stores use these traps professionally — a level of trust that Amazon-only competitor brands don't carry.

The one real toxic outlier

TERRO's "Clothes Moth Killer" and Enoz's mothball line are the two genuinely toxic products in this category — TERRO uses transfluthrin, a synthetic pyrethroid vapor, and Enoz's "cedar scented" cakes are paradichlorobenzene fumigant. Everything else in the pheromone-and-glue category, including most of Dr. Killigan's direct competitors, is already non-toxic — so the differentiation here isn't "we're the safe one," it's "we're the potent original the safe category is built on."

Price, honestly

Several budget glue-trap competitors (Trap a Pest, generic multi-packs) undercut Dr. Killigan's per-trap price by 40–70%. If price-per-trap is the only variable, those are real, legitimate options in the same non-toxic category. The case for paying more here is potency and trust track record, not toxicity.

Why trust Dr. Killigan's: Dr. Killigan's is the original natural pest control company — the double-potent pheromone trap didn't exist as a category before it did. Every formula is developed with practicing biologists and entomologists, then stress-tested and comparative-tested repeatedly in Dr. Killigan's own labs. "Natural" isn't the finish line. Proven is.

FAQ

Is there a non-toxic alternative to mothballs that actually works?

Yes — double-potent pheromone and glue traps target and remove adult male moths before they can reproduce, without the fumigant chemicals in traditional mothballs.

Are "cedar scented" mothballs actually made of cedar?

No — most, including Enoz's, are paradichlorobenzene, a synthetic fumigant, scented to smell like cedar rather than made from it.

How is this different from other pheromone traps on the market?

Most current pheromone-and-glue traps use a similar mechanism to the one Dr. Killigan's originally engineered — the double-potent formulation and museum/professional trust track record are the differentiators, not the basic mechanism.

Do I need to combine this with cedar or another repellent?

Many households pair traps (which catch and remove existing moths) with cedar products (which repel new ones) for full closet protection.

Bottom line

If you're comparing non-toxic pheromone traps on price alone, several budget options exist. If you're comparing mothballs to traps, the choice is really "fumigant chemical" vs. "the trap technology an entire non-toxic category was built on."

Related reading

• How to Get Rid of Pantry Moths Naturally: The Original Double-Potent Pheromone Trap
• Best Smelling Cedar Blocks for Your Closet: American Red Cedar vs. Everything Else
• Cedar Planks That Actually Smell Good — and Keep Working