12 Natural Home Remedies and Products For Getting Rid of Mice

Written by Abdulmumin Akinde
Updated: August 15, 2023
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12 Natural Home Remedies and Products for Getting Rid of Mice
If you have a mouse problem – you have more options than you may think.

As a homeowner, dealing with a mouse problem is one of the worst things imaginable. An infestation can be nightmarish and revolting, with droppings left all around the house, attacks on food containers, clothes stained and torn, and an unpredictability that is definitely irritating. Most frightening of all, mice can carry several infectious diseases such as salmonellosis, listeria, and hantavirus. So if you have a mice problem in your home, you need to make it your responsibility to get them out as soon as possible. Read on to discover the top natural remedies for getting rid of mice in your home once and for all. 

1. Conduct An Inspection

House mouse

There are a plethora of natural solutions to getting rid of mice in your home, but be sure, to begin with a thorough inspection and close all entry points so that they will stay away.

©iStock.com/Bruno_il_segretario

While you are exploring natural, DIY solutions, why not inspect your home? If you find damaged drains, cracks in your garage door, or gaps around the vents, you must carry out the necessary repairs to keep mice away.

2. Clean Up Your Home

Cleaning lady holding a bucket of cleaning products in her hands on a blurred background.

Keeping your home clean is the best way to keep mice out.

©Natali _ Mis/Shutterstock.com

Mice like to hide in dark, sheltered areas. They also thrive better in dirty spaces. Clean up the clutter in your home and move objects away from the walls. Allowing your home to get cluttered and dirty is the easiest way to harbor mice. Keep your home neat and organized at all times. Clean up spills promptly, and trashed food should always stay in closed bins.

You should also ensure your pipes and drains are clean. Sometimes having mice within your home isn’t exactly a testament to how hygienic your home is. Mice generally seek shelter, water, and food to survive and may still enter a perfectly clean house. However, if your home is always clean, it helps to keep them well away.

3. Crevice Control

closeup mouse (Mus musculus)  peeps out of a hole in the wall with electric outlet. Mice control concept. Extermination.

Look for holes and small openings that mice could enter.


Image: torook, Shutterstock

©torook/Shutterstock.com

Mice have a soft and flexible body, allowing them to fit into the smallest crevices and tight spaces. You need to locate these small openings and seal them all up. Leave no nook or cranny opened or unsealed. Ensuring that there is no place for mice to enter in the first place is central to preventing an unnecessary invasion.

4. Cow Dung

Fresh cow dung on the natural floor, bio-fertilizer from the cow dung.

Mice will actually eat cow dung – causing them to develop a fatal stomach infection.


Image: MR.PRAWET THADTHIAM, Shutterstock

©MR.PRAWET THADTHIAM/Shutterstock.com

This doesn’t sound very pleasant, but it’s definitely worth it in the long run. All you need to do is wear clean gloves and spread cow dung in your garden, attic, or wherever and go. Cow dung is actually inflammatory for mice. They’ll eat the dung when they come across it and end up with stomach inflammation, leading to death. 

5. Instant Potato/Potato flakes

instant potatoes

When mice eat instant potato flakes they drink water – causing the potatoes to swell in their stomachs.


Image: Silvia Bogdanski, Shutterstock

©Silvia Bogdanski/Shutterstock.com

This natural DIY solution is another one of the top remedies for getting rid of mice. You can order potato powder online or get some at your local market. When they eat instant potato flakes, it makes them thirsty right away. If they drink water after eating the potato flakes, they will swell up in their stomach, eventually leading to death. You can apply this natural poison by placing them out around the house, especially close to infested areas. 

6. Peppermint Oil

what smells do mice hate

Peppermint oil is a strong deterrent for mice in your home.

©Madeleine Steinbach/Shutterstock.com

Peppermint oil might smell sweet and refreshing to you, but it doesn’t smell so nice for mice. In fact, mice find the smell of peppermint oil to be overwhelming and confusing. They’re likely to stay away if they smell it around your home. To apply peppermint oil, dip cotton balls or soft paper towels in the fluid and spread them in places vulnerable to mice attacks. The smell is often strong enough to keep your home safe from mice. 

You can also grow peppermint plants to keep the smell alive and fresh. You will need to change and replace the cotton balls from time to time, depending on how much oil you put into them. This will undoubtedly keep mice away for good. If you can’t find peppermint oil in your local store, you can use castor oil as an effective replacement. You can also check out peppermint oil online to place an order. 

7. Ammonia

Ammonia. Ammonia hazardous chemical in laboratory packaging

Mice, like most animals, can’t tolerate the smell of ammonia.

©luchschenF/Shutterstock.com

Ammonia is a compound made up of hydrogen and nitrogen. It is colorless gas but with a distinctively pungent smell. To use ammonia as an effective mice repellent, mix a few spoons of detergent, a quarter glass of water, and two cups of ammonia in a bowl. Pour this mixture into a spray bottle, and spray around all infested areas. Mice cannot stand the pungent smell of ammonia and are less likely to return.

8. Pepper Spray

red and green chili pepper

A homemade pepper spray just may do the trick when looking to get rid of mice in your home.

©iStock.com/nitrub

This isn’t the regular kind of pepper spray you find in the market. Rather it is something you’ll have to make on your own. To make this spray, you’ll need some habanero and Cayenne pepper. Habanero makes it difficult for mice to breathe properly, which makes it a perfect way to get rid of them. 

The procedure for using this remedy is pretty simple; Boil water in a large pot, and blend peppers in a food processor or by hand. Pour the pepper blend into a gallon bucket and pour the boiling water over them. Cover up the mixture and leave it to sit for 24 hours. Next, use a cheesecloth to strain out the pepper bits by pouring it all into another two-gallon bucket. Finally, fill up the spray bottles and spray around mice-prone areas.

9. Bay Leaves

Photo of bay laurel (Taurus nobles) which is the leaf most commonly used to make bay leaves.

Bay leaves smell great to mice – so they eat them and choke to death.

©H. Zell / CC BY-SA 3.0 – License

Bay leaves are nutritious and also have a really inviting scent. Everyone loves to use them for cooking; thankfully, they are edible for humans. However, they’re not safe for mice to eat. The lovely smell of bay leaves usually deceives mice that food is near. However, once they get a mouthful, they inevitably choke and die. Sprinkle dried bay leaves in corners or entrance areas, and you should be able to get rid of mice for good. Repeat every five days for the best results.

10. Baking Soda

baking soda

Does baking soda kill mice? A mixture of baking soda and sugar does the trick.

©Geo-grafika/Shutterstock.com

Baking soda is a very versatile compound. This compound has plenty of applications around the house, from helping with skin problems to giving white teeth and removing the sourness in foods. As it turns out, one more way to use baking soda is as a mouse poison. 

Try this DIY procedure if you have baking soda in your kitchen cabinet. All you need to do is wear protective disposable gloves and combine 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of sugar. Add 1 cup of baking soda and blend properly. This mixture will serve as bait. Set the baited jar lids wherever you see mouse droppings or in whatever areas they tend to exhibit themselves. The sugar will attract the mice, and the baking soda will kill them. Continue to monitor the areas affected by mice, and stop the procedure only when there is proof that they are gone.

11. Plaster of Paris & Cocoa Powder

Bowl of cocoa powder, broken chocolate pieces and cocoa beans isolated on white background, top view

Mixing some cocoa powder with plaster of Paris makes an effective mouse poison.


Image: baibaz, Shutterstock

©baibaz/Shutterstock.com

Mix a tablespoon of Cocoa Powder with plaster of Paris and sprinkle it around the standard areas that mice tend to frequent. The cocoa powder attracts the mice to eat up this mixture. Eventually, it leaves them feeling dehydrated and suffocated before they rush out to die.

12. Call A Professional Company

Get rid of rat using  bait poison box, pest control in industry.

A professional exterminator can eliminate mice and identify entry points and nests.


Image: dokurose, Shutterstock

©dokurose/Shutterstock.com

If all else has failed and mice are still nestled in your walls or corners, call up a professional pest management company with vast experience in getting rid of rodents and vermin. Professionals will help you to identify the root cause of infestation and tell you what you need to do to keep them from coming back. They will also identify entry points, locate their nesting and food cache areas, and oust them without causing any damage to your home.

Conclusion

No one truly likes to deal with vermin like mice. Generally, it isn’t safe to inhabit a space with them. However, the professional tips and the above homemade DIY tips and tricks can help you to have a mice-free home and life.

Summary of Ways to Get Rid of Mice

MethodResults
1Conduct an Inspection to find ways that mice get into your home, then make repairs.Deters
2Clean Up Your Home to remove anything that might attract mice like food particlesDeters
3Crevice Control – seal up possible entrancesDeters
4Cow Dung -spread aroundKills
5Potato Flakes – spread aroundKills
6Peppermint Oil – sprayDeters
7Ammonia – sprayDeters
8Spray made from hot peppersKills
9Bay Leaves -spread aroundKills
10Baking Soda and Sugar – spread aroundKills
11Plaster of Paris and Cocoa Powder – spreadKills
12Professional Pest ControlDeters

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Landshark1/Shutterstock.com


Sources

  1. Summit Environmental Solutions, Available here: https://www.summitenvironmentalsolutions.com/about-us/blog/12-easy-ways-to-get-rid-of-mice-naturally-2
  2. First Cry Parenting, Available here: https://parenting.firstcry.com/articles/how-to-get-rid-of-rats-and-mice-from-home-12-effective-natural-remedies/
  3. Mosquito Nix, Available here: https://mosquitonix.com/blogs/news/home-remedies-for-getting-rid-of-mice-in-the-walls
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About the Author

Abdulmumin is a pharmacist and a top-rated content writer who can pretty much write on anything that can be researched on the internet. However, he particularly enjoys writing about animals, nature, and health. He loves animals, especially horses, and would love to have one someday.

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