Being organized is one of the best tricks that will help you to keep mice out of your clothes. Simply wash your clothes and have them neatly hanged or folded in the wardrobe. Throwing heaps and piles of dirty clothes will provide a hiding place for mice.
To keep mice from destroying your clothes, remove them from the infested area, and clean them up. Then spray the wardrobe with rat repellants scents like oleander and peppermint essential oil. Since mice can’t eat through steel wool, use it to block any holes that they use to enter your wardrobe.
The disadvantage of using mice poison is that you will be putting your pets in great danger. Many of those can always have fatal effects on your pets in case they take them by mistake.
Signs of mice eating your clothes
Before taking any action, you need to confirm what you are dealing with. You will have to know the signs of mice in clothes. This will help in preventing further damage. Here are some signs that will let you know you have destructive mice in your house:
1. Noise at night
You will hear the mice scratching and moving in your drawers and wardrobe at night. Mice tend to be more active at night. During the day, they are hide because they are scared of humans and other predators.
They move fast so you will definitely hear their claws scratching on the wood and metal as they move. Mice also make those noises when trying to make holes in your wardrobes and drawers.
Rodents tend to scratch, nibble, and move a lot during the process. This should be enough for you to take action against those destructive rodents.
2. Mice and rat droppings
If the mice have settled in your drawers, they will definitely leave their droppings on your clothes. Mice droppings are shaped like rice grains with a dark brown shade that may sometimes appear to be black.
Fresh droppings are brownish and will stain your clothes. You will notice sudden brown pellet shapes on your clothes. This is a sign that mice are all over your clothes.
3. Tiny foot prints and wrinkled clothes
You will notice small pieces of wood that are spread all over your clothes. Those are the pieces of food and wood that they carry around as they move. They will also move on your clothes and leave them foots prints on them.
When this happens, you will have wrinkles on your clothes. If you are not lucky enough, they shall have made tiny or even large holes through your favorite clothes.
The female ones will always eat through cotton while trying to get a cushion. They collect fabric and wood to keep their young ones warm.
4. Mice urine marks on clothes
Mice and rat urine smell like ammonia with a stale scent that is not really pleasant to the human nose.
A bad smell from the drawers and wardrobes is a sign of a serious mice infestation. This can also be felt on your clothes since they shall have been locked with the urine for some time.
In some cases, they will even have urine stains on your clothes. A yellow-brown liquid stain on your clothes is a clear sign of mice in your closet.
How to keep mice out of stored clothes
Here are some repellants that you can use to deter mice in your drawers and wardrobes. Those are readily available in local stores and they are easy to use.
1. Peppermint oil
Using peppermint oil is one of the best ways to keep mice out of clothes. This is because the smell does not really irritate humans but rather smells good. However, mice cannot be around the pungent peppermint smell and it is a sure way of repelling them.
You can get 100% pure peppermint essential oil spray which is ready for use. Spray this at the wardrobe and drawer corners were you keep your clothes. You can also mix this with water if you are having a serious mice infestation:
- Get ¼ cup of 100% pure peppermint oil in a container
- Add 1/8 of water into the container and shake to mix
- Put this in a spray bottle and spray the affected areas
You can also deep cotton balls into peppermint oil. Then place them near the clothes to keep mice out of clothes in bedroom closets, drawers, or wardrobes.
2. Natural pure pepper
Natural pepper is a way of repelling mice out of your closet or anywhere that you keep your clothes. Here is how to make natural pepper spray for repelling mice:
- You can get 8-10 pieces of fresh green or red pepper
- Grind them until they become juicy
- Mic this with ½ cup of water to make a strong solution
- Use a bottle spray to spread this at the areas where mice hide after eating your clothes
- You can also spread powdered paper at the wardrobe or drawer corners to keep mice away from your clothes
3. Keep the clothes clean and organized
Avoid keeping dirty clothes for long in your bedroom as this is major mice and rat attraction. The stains food stains on wrinkled clothes will make them easily chew and eat through them.
- Keep them washed and neatly hanged. If possible, iron them if you prefer to fold your clothes before keeping them.
- Get a closed bucket for dirty clothes. Close the lid closed in a way that the mice cannot access them.
- It is also recommended that you hung your clothes on a hunger. It is for mice to access hanging clothes. This is a good way of keeping them out of your clothes.
If you do not have enough hanging space, then consider folding and keeping them in a cabinet or drawers. Put some mice repellants that will protect your clothes. Control mice in other areas of the house so that they do not keep coming back.
4. Camphor rat repellent
Camphor has a strong smell that will irritate and give a burning feeling to the mice’s delicate and sensitive nose. They cannot stand the smell and they will avoid it.
- Camphor is good for clothes since it will protect them while also repelling all types of rodents. Rats as well as other bugs like cockroaches that destroy clothes will also avoid camphor.
- Roach poop may look like mice poop in some cases. Camphor will help you out in repelling all of them.
You can also soak cotton balls in camphor oil. Then place them at the corners of your drawers or wardrobe where you keep your clothes. This will be a sure way of keeping mice out of your clothes without having to kill them in there.
5. Steel wool
Mice have a tendency of chewing through stuff including wood. They will make holes in your drawers and closets so that they can enter and destroy your stuff.
The last thing you should do is poison them. If they die in hidden areas, your bedroom may really stink as they rot.
Mice cannot chew through steel wool because it pricks and pierces their nose and mouth while they chew. The tiny steel wool pieces can also be deadly to them if they eat them by accident. However, you will have to block those holes and repair them if you want a permanent solution.
you can also use other natural smells that rats hate to keep mice and rats out of your clothes. Just ensure that your pets are also safe when using any repellant around the house.
References:
- Doctor NDTV: benefits of Camphor
- UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment: (Entomology at the University of Kentucky): Control of mice