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Quick and Easy Ways to Get Mice Out of Your Oven
The last place you want to see mice is in your oven. Unfortunately, your oven is a popular place for mice to hide. They wait for the stray bits of food and can also build nests in available openings around your wall oven.
While they are not inside your oven, mice can cause much damage around it, causing various health and safety hazards. Armed with the proper techniques, you can get rid of mice in the oven and keep them out!
How Do Mice Get In My Oven?
If you hardly use your oven or have a spare one in your kitchen, then you’re at risk of mice. Mice are attracted to the stray food crumbs you may have missed in the kitchen, the warmth of the lights, and the kitchen itself, where food stays.
Mice spread viral and bacterial diseases by their droppings inside your appliances, countertops, or cupboards. The oven is the most common place where you’d find a mice’s nest. The mice will often take out the insulation from the oven and take it to the walls for building nests.
If you have unsecured cracks in the wall or gas lines, mice can easily get into your kitchen and the oven. They are pretty resilient and can travel far and wide. Eventually, they do end up in your kitchen.
Mice are quite small, so you wouldn’t notice them until you have a huge infestation on your hands.
A common household product smell will indicate if you have mice in the oven.
If you get a persistent smell of ammonia when you put your oven on, that’s the smell of mice. This is their urine and dried dropping, which gives off this potent scent in the kitchen. If you suspect mice in your oven, you must act fast.
Health Hazards of Mouse Droppings in Oven
You shouldn’t ignore mice or their waste in your oven as they can pose health hazards to you and affect your food. These hazards are:
- Cooking in an oven with mice droppings or urine is risky, as the oven’s heat can transfer the pathogens into your food. Apart from this, the intense heat can also transfer a weird aroma and taste to your food. It’s always best to check your oven for mouse droppings before popping your quick meal in there!
- Breathing in the fumes from mouse droppings in the oven can also cause respiratory issues/infections and allergic reactions.
- You or a family member can catch a skin disease or allergies caused by the airborne pathogens from the mouse droppings and urine.
- Mouse droppings can contain the Hantavirus disease, which can cause a severe lung disease called Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome. Therefore, it’s important to prevent mice in the kitchen to maintain a clean and safe cooking environment.
- You are also at risk of infection if you touch mouse droppings, nesting materials, or urine without gloves, then touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. It would be best to always have the proper protection when tackling a mice-infested oven.
How Do I Kill Mice from My Oven?
When you identify a mice problem, it’s best to drive them out immediately. You can eliminate mice by looking for possible entry points and nesting areas. Remember, don’t touch the nests with your bare hands!
Ammonia Spray
A solution of ammonia and water can suffocate mice in the oven. Soak the ammonia solution on cotton balls and place them inside the oven and other entry points. They will feel suffocated and eventually die.
Set Traps
Set snap traps along the walls and spaces around your oven. Use bait such as peanut butter, chocolate, or cheese to lure the mouse out. Also, place them behind the stove, as they may be coming in and out to get food.
Check your traps regularly, throw away any dead mice you find, and reset the trap if needed. Keep the mouse traps away from children and pets so they don’t get hurt.
Alternatively, you can use live traps if you don’t want to kill the mice. These devices have a door that closes once the mouse goes inside. This doesn’t kill them, so you can go to a park or someplace far from your home to set them free.
Regularly Clean Your Oven
This is more of a preventative measure.
Mice are attracted to food crumbs and uncleaned ovens. Clean your oven after use and make sure there are no food crumbs around—secure food sources, such as the kitchen bin. Once a week, thoroughly scrub your oven and behind it if possible. Seal any cracks and holes around the oven.
Can Oven Cleaner Kill Mice?
Oven cleaners contain a bunch of different chemicals, such as caustic soda, dichloromethane, and others. This combination is very effective in getting the gunk off your oven, even after a full day of making various types of meals.
These formulations can be toxic if they are ingested or if the fumes are inhaled, so they do have the possibility of killing mice. However, oven cleaner alone isn’t going to sort out your mice problem, especially if you have an infestation.
Constantly using oven cleaners can also cause your food to have a chemical taste and smell, which is not healthy for you.
Does Baking Soda Kill Mice?
Baking soda can kill mice when it is ingested. Sodium bicarbonate causes a large amount of gas to be produced in the body. Since mice and rats cannot pass gas, their internal pressure gets too high, which would kill them.
Mice would have to eat about 2 to 3 grams of baking soda for effective results, which is way more than normal poisons. This isn’t a humane way to deal with mice, as too much gas can be painful and cause them a lot of suffering.
How Do I Clean Mouse Droppings from My Oven?
Before cleaning the mouse droppings, make sure to have a pair of disposable gloves and a mask. This will protect you from contacting possible allergens or losing your job or fined if you use the oven commercially. Disconnect your oven’s power supply before proceeding with the cleaning.
Pick Up the Droppings
Check the insulation layers and cords thoroughly. Using some paper towels, carefully pick up mouse droppings from the oven. Use a new paper towel each time the old one gets dirty and throw it in the bin straight after.
Now you need to clean your oven.
Bleach Solution
Wipe your oven with a bleach solution and a clean paper towel. You can also use a household disinfectant. Let this soak for 5 minutes before wiping again with a dry paper towel. Leave the oven open to air out. Once you decide to use the oven, the heat will kill any lingering germs.
White Vinegar to Get Rid of The Smell
If you’re still getting a weird smell from your oven, then vinegar can be your solution.
Boil some water and vinegar, and wipe down your oven’s surface and drawers. Apart from the smell, you can also get rid of any pathogens. Put your oven’s temperature high to kill the remaining bacteria.
You can use a fragrance of your choice to bring a nice smell to the oven.
READ ALSO: How to Install a Wall Oven in a Base Cabinet? 2022
Do’s and Don’ts for Killing Mice in the Oven
When planning to eliminate mice from the oven, you should remember a few tips:
- Don’t use a vacuum cleaner to clean mouse droppings as it can blow them into the kitchen, releasing particles that shouldn’t be inhaled. Vacuuming the droppings can also give a bad smell to your vacuum.
- Do use gloves when dealing with mouse droppings. Touching mouse droppings with your bare hands, even using a paper towel, can cause a skin reaction or infection.
- If using live traps, don’t release the mice too close to your house, as they will come back to the house.
- Don’t put the oven on with the mice inside in an attempt to kill them.
Can You Get Rid of Mice Without Killing Them?
There are ways to get mice off your property without killing them.
If you get some used kitty litter and place it around your home, this can keep mice away. They will get the scent of a cat and assume it’s an unsafe place for them to live. You can also buy some ammonia, which smells like the urine of predators. This will get rid of mice without killing them.
You can also set live traps, which catch mice without poison or killing them. These traps lure them into a box that keeps them secure. When they are secure, release them at least a mile from your house.
How Do I Keep Mice Away From My Oven?
There are some preventative tips and tricks that you can do in the kitchen to keep mice away from the oven.
- Prevent entry. Mice are very small, so they are able to fit in dime-sized openings. Ensure that gaps and holes are sealed around the sink, dishwasher, electrical appliances, and behind your cupboards. You can use steel wool to cover the holes. Use a pencil to do this.
- Reduce the population. Mice can make babies at alarming speeds, so try to trap as many as possible. If you use live traps, release the mouse very far away from the house.
- Seal food sources. Don’t leave food on your counters overnight, and always wipe down your surfaces after preparing food. Clean your stove and oven after dinner, then sweep or vacuum afterward. Take out your trash regularly and make sure your bin is secure. Store your food in airtight containers if it doesn’t go in the fridge.
- Deterrent agent. Mice hate the smell of peppermint, so using this cleaning agent for your kitchen can help keep them away. You can make a spray solution of half vinegar, water, and some peppermint oil. You can also soak some cotton balls with peppermint oil and put them under the oven, sink, and cupboards.