Mouse Repelling Peppermint Cotton Balls
Peppermint mouse repellent…How can some cotton balls sprinkled with peppermint oil help get a pesty mouse family out of my house?
By: Kathy Sadowski, MS in Aromatherapy, Registered Aromatherapist, LMT
It had been a long day and the bed was calling my name. With its cozy sheets, a quiet house, stars in the sky, my pajamas on, and teeth brushed. I fell blissfully into the bed, closed my eyes, and was so content. Then I heard something…scratch, scratch, scratch, I could hear from the other side of the bedroom drywall. All I wanted to do was sleep, but I had to tend to some unwanted houseguests – mice! They had nestled in between the outer brick and interior walls of the house as well as the attic. I got out my cool mist essential oil diffuser and added a few drops of peppermint essential oil. Then, my husband turned off the circuit switch for the electricity in our bedroom, and unscrewed the plate to the plug outlet where the scratching was coming from, and aimed the cool peppermint mist straight towards the sound. We heard a frantic scrambling and a running away from the cool peppermint mist. Needless to say, My husband and I decided it best to sleep out on the couch that night.
The next morning, I had a talk with our pet cats, and they lazily indicated they were not interested in helping to catch the mice. Further, they were very perturbed at the peppermint aroma in our bedroom that forced them to go sleep in another room all night.
So I called an exterminator, who indicated mice can squeeze through a space the size of a pinky finger to get in a house and their pheromones lead a path for all in the mice family to come along. The exterminator placed catch and release traps near the exterior suspected entrance ways, catching some, but the mice seemed to find new ways to get in the house. I read online that with a very strong sense of smell, the pheromone scent is the root of the problem, and all potential entry points need to be closed. Peppermint oil may be an effective way to mask the pheromone path for mice. Natural products on the market include the following:
– Mouse Away – a combination of peppermint and spearmint to be sprayed on cotton balls at www.dreamingearth.com
– Rodent Defense – contains peppers, predator scent (probably urine), and peppermint oil at www.rodentdefense.com
– Fresh Cab Rodent Repellent made of corn cobs soaked in an essential oils blend of balsam fir, lavender, rosemary, cedar, orange, and lemon available at www.earthkind.com
Mice infestations can become a real problem. They can chew away electrical wires, gnaw down dry wall, leave unhealthy droppings, and spread disease. Further, the gestation period of a mouse is only 20 days, and a new born can start making babies as soon as it is 50 days old (Wikipedia, n.d.). This can create an ongoing problem unless the pheromone path is eliminated and the entry ways are plugged. So, needless to say, we were very concerned about ridding the mice from our house! We were trying to trap the mice with the help of the exterminator, but still had this ongoing problem of the scent trail that encouraged more mice to come on over. What we needed was a natural product to help reduce the aromatic welcome path to our house. After doing some research, I figured out ways to use the peppermint oil to get rid of the mice for good. Once they had left the house, we would make sure all possible exterior holes were sealed.
Here is what we did to get rid of the mice.
- We used a diffuser to steam the smell right near the electrical plug (circuit off) where the mice were living on the other side of the wall.
- We sprayed cotton balls with a 15% peppermint oil / vinegar solution. Then, up in the attic, we placed the cotton balls all around where there were mice droppings.
- We had peppermint growing outside. We minced about 5 cups of the leaves and stuffed them into cut-off panty hose and tied a knot. We put these herb packages in a few key places to ward off the mice.
- Once we felt the mice were gone from the house, we sealed all exterior holes, then drizzled the cotton balls with peppermint oil and wrapped them into steel wool to place in the old mouse entranceways.
And finally, after about a month, that peppermint mouse repellent worked!
Peppermint was very effective in our mouse repelling efforts. We immediately heard an end to scratching in the walls on the first night near the peppermint diffuser. It made an amazing difference! Then, minting up the attic and continuing with the diffuser for a few more days really made them want to go find a new home. Finally, once they were gone, plugging up the holes was very important. We never heard that scratching again!
Peppermint Mouse Repellent Safety Points
- Wear gloves when working with the peppermint oil.
- Do not to use an electrical plug for about a week after a diffused has been near it, to makes sure it is dry.
- Do not use peppermint oil around pregnant women and young children. If a family becomes irritated with the smell of the peppermint oil in the cool mist diffuser, discontinue use. Cotton balls can also be picked up and removed.
- Pets can also be very sensitive to essential oils, and especially cats. Keep pets in a part of the house that has fresh air, with no peppermint essential oil aroma.
Peppermint Mouse Repellent – References
- Batish, D. R., Singh, H. P., Kohli, R. K., & Kaur, S. (2008). Eucalyptus essential oil as a natural pesticide. Forest Ecology and Management, 256(12), 2166-2174.
- Dubey, N. K., Shukla, R., Kumar, A., Singh, P., & Prakash, B. (2011). Global scenario on the application of natural products in integrated pest management programmes. Natural products in plant pest management, 1, 1-20.
- Earth Kind. (n.d.). FreshCab Botanical Rodent Repellent. Retrieved in May, 2018. Retrieved from www.earthkind.com
- Koul, O., Walia, S., & Dhaliwal, G. S. (2008). Essential oils as green pesticides: potential and constraints. Biopesticides International, 4(1), 63-84.
- Dreaming Earth. (n.d.). Mouse Away. Retrieved in May, 2018. Retrieved from www.dreamingearth.com
- Rodent Defense (n.d.). Rodent Defense. Retrieved in May, 2018. Retrieved from www.rodentdefense.com
- Singla, N., Thind, R. K., & Mahal, A. K. (2014). Potential of Eucalyptus Oil as Repellent against House Rat, Rattus rattus. The Scientific World Journal, 2014.
- Wikipedia (n.d.). Mouse. Retrieved in May, 2018. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouse
