How to Make Homemade Repellent for Mice

Deter mice with essential oils.

Making your home less appealing to mice involves cleaning, sweeping up crumbs and putting food in mouse-proof containers. However, your home still has lots of cozy places for mice to sleep and breed and things to chew on, such as wiring. If mice are common in your area, you might need to actively repel them in addition to removing the free lunches. Before spending a small fortune on a state-of-the-art, sonic, mouse-repelling device, try a home remedy. A simple homemade repellent is effective - and a lot cheaper.

Things You'll Need

• Peppermint, clove and lavender essential oils
• Cotton balls

Instructions

1. Drip a few drops of essential oil onto each cotton ball. Peppermint is repulsive to mice but they also dislike clove and lavender so mix it up a bit. You might be unlucky enough to have mice that can tolerate peppermint, but it is unlikely a mouse would tolerate all three.

2. Position the cotton balls in closets, behind furniture, besides skirting and inside any gaps a mouse could squeeze through. Plumbing fixtures in the bathroom and kitchen often have gaps beside them.

3. Replace the cotton balls once a week. The oils lose their pungency over time. If you are pretty sure that there are no mice, replace the balls once every four to six weeks as a precaution.

References

• All Pest Control: Homemade Mouse Repellents
• Extermine: How to Get Rid of Mice