Mice can be a problem in almost any house. They come in through tiny holes or with access lines like water and sewer. Seeing a mouse scurry across the floor can be startling and creepy, but having mice in your house is also unsanitary and potentially dangerous. They can chew through wires causing a fire hazard. Or they can leave their disease-carrying droppings in or near your food. If you have mice, getting rid of them is a priority. Fortunately, there are many effective ways to get rid of them.

Good old traps are a tried and true way to kill the mice already living in your house. Just bait the trap. The mouse will come to eat the bait. The trap will engage, in most cases killing the mouse instantly. If you are opposed to killing mice, you can use humane traps that catch mice, but don’t kill them. Once the mouse is trapped, you can release it outdoors, preferably far away from your house. Poison is also an effective method for getting rid of mice you already have. But be very careful to make sure it is not possible for children or pets to get into it.

Once you have gotten rid of the mice in your house, if you don’t keep others from coming in, you will never solve your problem once and for all. This is when you use peppermint oil. Mice are put off by the odor. They have a very strong sense of smell, and the peppermint is offensive to them. If they detect the odor of peppermint, they will not approach. The method is really very simple. Apply a generous amount of peppermint oil to a few cotton balls. Then place the cotton balls where mice enter the house. It may also be a good idea to place a few peppermint oil soaked cotton balls in the pantry or wherever you’ve seen mice. Don’t use peppermint extract. Use peppermint oil. Mice will be much better deterred by the stronger smell of the oil.

If you still get mice, look for more entry points you may have missed. Mice can fit through very tiny holes. You’d be surprised how tiny. Once you find potential entry points, plug them up as best as you can, and apply another cotton ball soaked with peppermint oil. And remember to check and replace the cotton balls every 30 days or so, as they may lose some of their effectiveness.

Keeping your house mouse-free is a two step process. Get rid of the ones you already have, and keep new ones from entering with peppermint oil. Mice don’t like it, but you will.

There are many ways to try to get rid of mice, some more humane than others. Traditional and humane traps have been around forever and can be quite effective. One problem with traps is that you have to handle the mice, dead or alive, once you’ve trapped them. Poison works too, but mice live for a while after ingesting the poison, and they might die in a corner somewhere in your house. You will know once you smell the decomposition. Then you will need to find the dead mouse, and get rid of it. With peppermint oil, mice stay away so you never have to see them at all.

In addition to being an inconvenience, it can be hazardous to have mice living in your house. Mice in your walls can chew through electrical wires leaving you vulnerable to a house fire, not to mention an expensive rewiring job. If there are mice in your walls, you will hear them scratching at night. The first step will be to find where they are getting in. This can be difficult, as they can fit through very small holes. Start where you hear the scratching, and look around until you find the hole or holes they’re using. Once you find them, soak a couple of cotton balls with peppermint oil, and place them near the points of entry. They cannot tolerate the smell of the peppermint oil. Mice will avoid the area, and find somewhere else to go. If that somewhere else is another entry point to your house, find it, and apply more peppermint oil.

Mice in your kitchen can be dangerous as well. They get into your pantry and gnaw through boxes to get to your food and build their nests. Once living there, they leave droppings in and around your food. Their feces, of course, is unsanitary and may carry disease. It is also thought that mouse feces may be a contributing factor to asthma in children. In any event, you certainly don’t want mice living in and near your food. Here is another area where you can use peppermint oil. Mice will set up house in a particular spot and keep coming back. Again, put some peppermint oil on a couple of cotton balls, and place them near your food where the mice live. It is non-toxic, so it can be used near food.

Peppermint has many uses from breath freshening to relieving nausea. When used properly, it can also be an effective deterrent to mice. Once you find an area where mice are entering or living, place a cotton ball soaked with peppermint oil. Mice will stay away.