Pour the pure peppermint extract onto cotton balls and place them around your home. Another option is to add the essential oil to a spray bottle mixed with water and spray it in the corners of your rooms.
Placing them along skirting boards and in and around holes that the mice might be using to enter and exit your property will prove useful. Using this method will create powerful pockets of the peppermint scent that they will hopefully want to avoid at all costs.
Scent-based repellents such as peppermint essential oil are one of the most effective rodent control methods that utilize strong smells to repel mice. So how do peppermint oils help trap mice and rats? Pure peppermint oil contains a strong menthol scent that's said to irritate a rodent's sense of smell.
Create a peppermint based spray
Katarina adds that you should reapply the spray every two weeks to ensure the rodent stays away for good.
Peppermint oil is an essential oil and much like a perfume that you'd use on your body, after some time, the effectiveness of the oil wears off as the oils and chemicals inside of the peppermint spray breaks down. Mice will simply avoid it, but it will not deter them from accessing your home.
You are supposed to use 100% peppermint oil and either dab it on cotton balls and place them around your home, or use a spray canister and combine two teaspoons of oil for every one cup of water and spray it around where you see the mice.
Mothballs - Contain naphthalene and may deter mice when used in strong enough doses. Ammonia - Mimics the odor of predators' urine and can act as a repellent. Peppermint Oil, Cayenne Pepper, or Cloves - Have strong scents that may repel mice.
When it comes to how long the oil will last, generally the cotton balls will need to be replaced 1-2 times per week as the peppermint smell quickly wears off from them. If using the spray method, that will likely need to be completed 1-2 times per week as well, or whenever the smell of the oil wears off.
Although they can keep mice away for some time, dryer sheets should not be used as a long-term solution to prevent mice from entering a home. House mice are adaptable creatures; it will only take a few days for them to get used to the smell of dryer sheets.
Both rats and mice are good climbers and can climb vertical walls and "shimmy" up between walls and drain pipes. Rats are also excellent swimmers and have been known to enter premises through the water traps of the toilet bowl when infestations occur in the main sewerage system.
Mice hate the sound and smell of aluminum foil.
Mice will avoid them completely.
In fact, mice are explorers who go around looking for any source of food they can find. Just because your home is clean, doesn't mean you're protected from a mice infestation.
There are two main things that can attract mice and rats to your house – food and shelter. If you don't tidy up properly and there's food waste on the floor or surfaces, rodents are going to love it! Rats and mice also need shelter, particularly during winter to avoid the worst of the cold.
Little House Living suggests saturating a cotton ball with peppermint essential oil, which can then be used in several ways: Swipe it along windowsills and door jambs, or pop it into the bottom of garbage cans to keep them from smelling.
Reapply after rain as peppermint oil is not waterproof. Those in warmer climates will need to reapply year round.
Just put a few drops of peppermint oil on a cotton ball and leave it on the corner of the room. Place a few cotton balls near the bed to prevent the rodents from climbing. Camphor – Camphor repels mice the same way peppermint oil does.
Peppermint oil is toxic to dogs and can cause mild to severe symptoms, including diarrhea, vomiting, weakness, and even lethargy. Peppermint oil poisoning can be fatal, especially if it's not treated as soon as possible. If you believe your dog has consumed peppermint oil, take them to the vet as soon as possible.