Does Lavender Repel Mice? Yes! Here’s How to Use It

Having mice in your home is never a pleasant experience. These little rodents often chew through furniture, important wires, and food on top of leaving droppings all over your house.

Unfortunately, getting rid of them isn’t easy. Mouse traps are cruel, and if you don’t check them often enough, you have rotting mice to deal with. Children and animals in the home are also at risk if they get too close to a trap.

Thankfully, there may be ways to scare them off and prevent them coming back that are much more natural and safe for all parties. Lavender is one way to fend off mice without any risk to anyone in your home. Learn how to use lavender to repel mice here.

Make a Spray

If you like the smell of lavender, this is a two-in-one method. Not only does it act as an air refresher, but the smell soaks into your carpets and furniture and works to keep away mice.

The one downside is that the smell only lasts so long. You’ll probably need to spray at least once a day. All you need is 40 or so drops of lavender essential oil in a spray bottle alongside 1 TBSP witch hazel and fill up the rest of the bottle with water. Shake it before you spray and you have a homemade air freshener and mouse repellent.

Lavender in Your Diffuser

There are a few downsides to this method. For one, it only helps the room you have the diffuser in. Unless you’re planning to have one in every room of your home it’s a very localized method. Additionally, the smell isn’t as strong as a spray or a cotton ball, so it’s not as effective as other methods.

The benefit of this is that if you’re sensitive to smells or don’t like the smell of lavender, it’s a way to mute the smell, and still entice mice to find somewhere else to go.

Place Lavender-Scented Cotton Balls Around Your Home

If there are certain locations you find mice the most, or where you think they’re getting into your home from, cotton balls soaked in lavender essential oil may be a method. Cotton balls hold a higher concentration of the smell for a longer period of time.

While they’ll still need regular refreshments to be their most effective, they last longer than spraying your home. Stick these in dark places such as rooms that aren’t used much or the dark spaces behind doors.

Plant Lavender Around Your Home

Generally, you want to keep plants away from your home, as they can make a hiding spot for mice. However, if you already have plants there you don’t want to get rid of, or want to put plants against the side of your home, lavender is the way to go.

You can either plant lavender by itself around your home or mix it in with other plants you have in the area. Growing lavender helps to stop mice from ever entering your house, and acts as a first line of defense.

If you use this method alongside the sprays or cotton balls, then you have a better chance of not only pushing mice out of your home if they’re already there but also keeping them out.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © db_beyer/ via Getty Images