Spring Cleaning Tips To Make Sure The Mice Don't Take Up Residence In Your Home
If you have had a mice problem in the past, you need to be especially vigilant with your spring cleaning to ensure that you don't get mice again. Here are a few things you need to do during your spring cleaning spree to insure that the mice leave you alone.
Check The Outside Of Your House
The first thing you need to do is see if there are any holes or areas where mice could get into your home outside of your home. Even a hole that seems really tiny to you could be big enough for a small mouse to squeeze through.
If you find any holes in the outside of your house, you need to fill them in. If there are openings around water or electrical outlets, fill in the openings with expanding foam. If you have cracks around windows or doors, fill them in with caulking. If the entrance to your crawlspace is not covered up, invest in some plywood to cover up your crawl space.
Check For Holes Inside Of Your House
Look inside of all of your cupboards, around your windows and doors, and around your baseboards for little cracks or holes that a mouse could get through. If you find small cracks, fill them with either expandable foam or caulking material. If you have large holes in your wall, you may need to invest in a patch and putty to cover the hole.
Clean Up All The Crumbs
Start with your kitchen, and clean one cupboard and drawer at a time. Pull everything out of the drawer, and wipe down the cupboard or drawer top to bottom to remove all crumbs or food debris.
Once you are done with the cupboards and drawers, move everything off your counters and clean them off. After you have done that, wash your floors and make sure that you clean really well where your floor is hidden by your cabinets.
After you have cleaned your kitchen, move on to the other rooms in your house. Remember to clean behind furniture and move rugs and clean under them as well.
Line Your Cupboards
Finally, keep the mice out by using smells to repel them. Place fabric softener sheets in the back of all your drawers, cupboards and behind your furniture. Mice tend to not like the smell from fabric softeners. Just remember to change them out every once in a while.
If there is any target areas where you want to scare the mice away, such as near the doorways or windows, put cotton balls soaked in peppermint oil near the entrances to your home.
Fight back against mice this year by sealing any holes inside and outside of your home, effectively cleaning your home, and putting out smells that will be offensive to the mice but not to you. If you don't see a reduction in mice, contact a business such as Environmental Services Pest Control.
