In this post, I’m going to show you how to get rid of mice naturally. You’re not going to believe some of the clever ways I share with you, but they actually work!
How is it mice look so cute in cartoons and at Disneyland, but they are so gross and creepy when they are scurrying across your floor?
Not to mention the disgust at finding mouse droppings in your kitchen near your food! Oh my gosh. I cringe just thinking about it.
If you don’t want to use an old-school mousetrap or a glue trap, this post will help you solve your mouse problem. I do have to tell you though that most (not all) of these natural remedies will kill the mice.
Get Rid of Mice Naturally
If you have a soft heart for these tiny rodents, and I totally get it if you do, I’ll mention whether the mouse will die as a result.
1. Steel wool.
It’s cheap and when you pull it apart and stuff it into any of the tiny places mice are getting in, that will be that.
Mice can’t chew through it, try though they might. It also doesn’t feel good on those little teeth, although a mouse has never actually told me that himself.
2. Powdered chocolate milk mix.
You’re shaking your head and laughing right now, aren’t you? Hear me out!
Add the powder to dry Plaster of Paris, mix it up well, and leave it out someplace you’ve noticed mice or their droppings.
They will eat it up quick because CHOCOLATE, and then the Plaster of Paris will make them thirsty.
As long as you don’t leave water out for them beside their chocolate treat, they’ll head out to look for water elsewhere. The mice will die.
3. Mashed potatoes.
Before you head to the kitchen to whip up some Yukon Golds with a little butter and milk, I’m talking about instant potato flakes!
Sprinkle them wherever you’ve seen a mouse. They’ll eat them, their stomachs will expand and it will kill them. (Please don’t use this method if you have fur babies in the house.)
4. No cat? No problem.
Do you have a friend who has a cat? Ask for some of their used cat litter. I know! What a weird conversation to have!
Think about it. If we’ve learned anything from cartoons, we know mice are afraid of cats. Spread the used litter anywhere outside where you think mice are entering. They’ll stay away.
5. Onions will repel mice.
Put an onion out wherever a mouse has left droppings. According to experts, mice hate the smell.
Remember to change the onion for another one as they decompose. Also, make sure your fur babies can’t get to them.
6. Baking Soda
Cut a hole in a box of baking soda that is large enough for a mouse and place it in suspected areas. This will produce gas inside their stomachs when they eat it and cause them to die.
Those are clever ways to get rid of mice!
Hey, if it works and it doesn’t involve having traps everywhere, I’m all in to try it. What about you?
How do you get rid of mice?
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114 comments on “6 Clever Ways to Get Rid of Mice That Actually Work”
I’d rather use a snap trap or a glue trap and be done! Because if you allow them to run off and die from most of these methods listed above, you have a dead mouse smell that you can’t find.
For mice I use D con and Tomcat poison along with a five gallon pail with a ramp to the rim bated with sunflower seeds.
Another one: put Coke, 7-Up, Pepsi, etc in a jar lid where you have seen mice droppings. They will drink some and their stomachs expand. Rodents can’t burp, that’s why they will die.
Great idea good finding what to do …to get rid of pests..
I use diatomaceous earth. Sprinkle it in cupboards and anywhere pests might be getting in. It is salty pests eat it and die.
I put charcoal to keep mice out of my camper!
Any kind of charcoal?
I like the idea that I saw you offered on Facebook called Anti_mouse bags, with Cinnamon, Cloves, Chili flakes and star Anise. But there was no suggestion how this works? do the mice move to another part of the house, or do you put the bags in every corner of the house till they are all done, or? At the very least, the house should smell good.
I used to live in Montana – try getting rid of pack rats, and oh yes very cute but did not take long after the smell and distruction to become very eager to get rid of them. Same with mice, I use both glue and snap. I have found out that honey on a soft piece of bread works better than peanut butter. They get so engrossed with licking the honey plus you can leave it on a trap for a very long time. Also I have found that most mice that get caught on a glue trap die pretty quickly, they do not languish for days. My worse problem is my van, may try some of the ideas here using the oils.
used in attached garage I put in each corner gone within a week and have not been back-no didn’t get house-having major remodeling done no mouse droppings in house
I mixed corn meal with Plaster of Paris to get rid of pack rats in a shed. I can’t use it now because I have cats.
I don’t like killing anything, especially a cute little furry mouse. That said, mice are a real unsanitary pest. If you feel you must kill them, I think a snap type trap is more humane than a glue trap. The glue trap will trap anything that walks on it and the animal will slowly die of starvation! Personally, I use a small plastic trap that you put peanut butter in, and when the mouse goes in, the door shuts behind it. Then I drive it a couple of miles away and release it in the woods. Much kinder. And it’s cheap at Amazon and reusable.
Nice. Some of the methods described seem barbaric, even if it is just a mouse, it’s stilla living creature, and the methods that cause their stomachs to boat or blow up seem really awful THey are just trying to get through the day-like any other living creature.
What’s the name of the trap u use that u get from Amazon ?
I laughed at the cat litter suggestion. I had 5 cats at one point. Mice used their litter boxes to bury squash seeds for feasting on later! I now have two cats and the mice are still coming in to dine.
I use these traps and they really work well. Once I catch the mouse we take a drive, a couple miles and I set it free. I always tell it not to come back because it may not be so lucky next time… I have a cat.
I use battery operated mIce traps. You put a tiny dap of peanut butter at the end and give the a shock that kills them. The new one will let you know on your cell phone when they die. I change the batteries once a year.
I do the same thing…my neighbor thinks I’m nuts, but that’s OK by me.
Just a note: Mice have been known to travel 50 miles to get back to a home they find perfect for their existence.
Are these similar to the humane mouse Traps you use, the Wanqueen Store
“4 Pcs Humane Mouse Traps No Kill, Live Mouse Traps “
Some time if they get om the glue they will eat one of there foot off to get free .
Traps do not work for us. The little buggers are too smart. We have had three traps out for months and they keep avoiding them.  Thank you for the tried and true methods. I will certainly write this down and give it a go. Â
Peppermint oil has kept them out of my silverware drawer. I douse the cotton balls every couple weeks.
I think that’s what got rid of some of our mice. I had a spray bottle and I had mixed water with mint essential oil and I would spray around the baseboards every couple days. And I sprayed it where the most dropping were. I also put some on cotton balls and put them in the little restaurant containers that you get ketchup in. And put those in the drawer. I mean there is a lot less mice. And you got to keep cleaning up the droppings everyday because the mice usually stay where the dropping
Irish Spring soap bars. Leave one bar in each corner of your garage. Replace when you can no longer smell the soap. Apparently rodents hate the smell and flee the scene. It’s worked in two states we’ve lived in when neighbors around us had problems with mice.
Will not work for our mice. I bought a bunch , some I broke up, others left them whole. Came back in May. Some of the soap had chew marks on them.
It worked for a couple weeks, they ate it
Ditto on the Irish Spring, I had bars throughout my motorhome and they chowed on the bars and pooped green.Â
Something to consider. It may feel less brutal to use a regular trap. (I use one of the plastic traps similar to a chip clip. They are easy to set and they rarely miss.) But if you will feel bad for it using a trap. Think about dying from poisoning. Slow, painful….ugh.. but in addition. You have no idea where it will die. In your ceiling or your walls. They will decompose there and the odor is disgusting. Imagine a few of them rotting in your walls. Yuckers!! Use a trap that snaps their neck or chokes them out. It’s the most humane and you can dispose of their body with certainty. Of you have kids it’s a teachable moment about death and you can do a funeral and bury it outside somewhere.
The solutions you have lead to a smell somewhere you might not be able to get the dead mouse out from.
Traps are better they don’t move if you don’t like the snap ones use sticky traps just pick it up and throw it I. I put bird seed on it works great
I’ve read peppermint oil! I put drops in cotton balls and it keeps them away. Even my dogs won’t go near them. Just be safe with children, and your hands, the oil will cause burning sensation. So be careful and wash hands immediately.
I was told from my dad…. North balls works…. Even with squaral…
I never needed to try it.
We put mothballs in combines in the off season to keep mice from chewing the wiring.
All these comments about people not wanting to hurt these poor little creatures. I have no problem or feeling killing them and I couldn’t give a rat’s ass how much they suffer. I just want them gone
I wonder what goes through their brain honestly… they really tried comparing rodents to puppies to try to gaslight people. These creatures are small but can be dangerous- healthwise, mostly. i hope you the best in getting rid of them
Don’t use steel wool, use copper scrubbers like “ChoreBoy”, steel wool rusts.. Also if you mix the copper with caulk, and seal the hole up, the chances of the mice chewing through it again are very low. Every hole I’ve ever plugged up using copper scrubbers and caulking has never been breached. They make new holes, but they don’t breach the old ones.
There’s been tests showing that male mice breed more actively when they smell cat urine. Probably (and this is my theory) because the cat is a natural “enemy” so they breed more to shore up their numbers. Mice actually pass their “knowledge” through their DNA to the next generation. That’s why if you don’t get rid of them ASAP, they get more difficult to get rid of. They start avoiding multiple types of traps and you’re always having to come up with new ones. I live in an apartment so I have neighbors, and some of them, since the pandemic have been lax in making sure we don’t have issues with pests. So, for a year, I’ve been battling with mice finding a way into my apartment. And because these mice can go to other apartments they continue to come to mine. I have been battling with them for over a year and they ignore the Plaster of Paris baits, no matter what I add to them, mashed potatoes aren’t working any longer either. The numbers have dwindled, but these buggers just won’t stay out of my apartment. My dog has even taken them out. I plug up the holes they make, and they just make new ones. I even had them chew a hole right under an electrical outlet and come out from under the plate. They’re getting creative.
I’m so glad you brought this up because I’ve been wondering why these damn nightmares won’t take the bait in my traps lately and now I know! I’m going to switch it ASAP! Try the bristarboy noise or frequency sound repellent. I don’t live in an apartment or a flat but I did read that several whom do & even those who already had mouse issues within their flat bought some of these, plugged them in & it was really helpful in driving the mice out of their home. It allegedly works for bugs too so may as well give it a go if you’ve tried everything else. I had mice enter through our pipes. How effing sick is that? UCK just thinking about it makes me want to barf!
I swat them with a fly swatter.
Mice EAT onions. They got into mine.
Abolished them.