All you need to know about red cedar

Red cedar wood has many fantastic properties, such as good moisture absorption, deodorising and antiseptic effects, prevent pests, lightweight and durable, and more. In addition, it's a type of wood that is abundant in the world and where the harvesting that takes place is mainly of naturally grown forest, so red cedar is a sustainable and environmentally friendly. Below everything that is worth knowing about this kind of wood.

Red cedar, which has the Latin name Juniperus virginiana, also known as Eastern redcedar, Eastern juniper, pencil cedar and aromatic cedar, is a species of juniper which grows mainly in the eastern parts of the United States. It's conservation status is graded as least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is the highest rating a plant can have, which means that there is a lot of trees from the species. It's grown in some parts of the world, but the red cedar that we at Skolyx use in our products comes exclusively from the USA and from harvesting of naturally grown forests. Red cedar wood is therefore considered a good environmental choice.



The fact that cedar and specifically red cedar are so popular for many different purposes is thanks to its many excellent properties. Below is a review of the cedar's naturally positive aspects:

Moisture absorption

All types of wood absorb moisture to some extent, and red cedar wood is one of the best types of wood on this regard. Excellent feature for a material used for, for example, shoe trees or for something you have in your exercise bag.

The scent

We humans find that cedar has a very pleasant scent, which it spreads wherever you have products in the material.

Prevents pests

Others, however, do not appreciate the scent of the cedar as much as we do, including various types of pests. For example, moths and varied carpet beetle are kept away if you have products of red cedar such as hangers or cedar blocks in the wardrobe.

Lightweight

Red cedar is a light, low-density wood type (one of the reasons for its good moisture absorption). The light weight makes products in the material easy to handle.

Durable

Despite the low weight and the fact that it is relatively soft, it's a durable wood type. That's why it's often used as, for example, building materials or for bows and similar, which is subjected to severe stress.

Deodorising and antiseptic

Cedar wood has natural deodorising and antiseptic properties, it fights bad odour and bacterial or fungal growth, such as mold.

Cedar wood against pests

As mentioned above, one of the major benefits of cedar is that it naturally keeps pests away. It's the scent that pests such as moths and varied carped beetles find offensive and unpleasant, and as they have sensitive senses of smell, cedar can keep them away at quite a distance from the actual product in the material.

Important details about cedar wood

If the scent diminishes with time, you can gently roughen the surface of the cedar products with a fine sandpaper. As with all treatment of wood products, it's important to remember that this is done outdoors with good ventilation and that you use a face mask if necessary to avoid inhaling the particles.

If you are sensitive to strong scents, you can let products in cedar rest for some time outdoors on, for example, a balcony for the scent to diminish a bit (the products smell the most when they just are removed from their packaging). If you have very sensitive skin or contact allergy, you should avoid having the redcedar directly against the skin for a longer period of time. This is not particularly relevant for any of our products, but mainly if it's used for a balcony or similar.

It's quite common for white cedar crystals to form on the wood if the product has been in storage for some time, this is perfectly normal and a sign of high quality fresh red cedar wood. Some people mistake it mold, but this is not the case. Wipe it off and it won't appear again. The the cedar breathing in the packaging can also cause dark spots on the cardboard, which is only natural.

At Skolyx you will find a large number of different types of cedar products, ranging from shoe trees, boot stretchers and shoehorns to hangers, storage boxes and different types of cedar blocks.