Eastern redcedar heartwood is prized for its pleasant fragrance and insect-repellant properties. It is frequently used to line closets, wardrobes, or cedar chests.

It is attractive, fine-textured, and easily worked, and is commonly used to make woodenware, gifts, and novelty items. Large trees are harvested commercially for paneling, poles, and fence posts. Sawdust and wood chips are used in kennel bedding to minimize odors and repel fleas. Cedarwood oil is extracted from the trees as a fragrance base for soaps and cosmetics.

Redcedar is frequently grown as a landscape tree to provide natural fencing, soil stabilization, and wind protection. The trees withstand extreme drought, heat, and wind. Midwestern shelterbelts and mine reclamation sites are common places for redcedar plantings. They are also grown as a popular Christmas tree species, because of their attractive, fragrant foliage.

Herbalists use redcedar to treat arthritis, rheumatism, bronchitis, asthma, and colds. The leaves have been used to treat skin rashes or steeped into a tea to calm nerves, relieve headaches, or even cure bad dreams!