Rats and Peppermint

We had a rat infestation in our shed! They chewed holes in everything bagged (what a mess - got into everything, gnawed plastic, cardboard etc) pooed and peed everywhere. They had to go. We tried two types of traps - electric and sticky. The electric worked once but I think they got wise to it. The sticky traps were just way to barbaric for us to use more than once. Awful. Checked the internet and found a reference to rats not liking peppermint. So, I vacuumed and cleaned up all of the poops and got out everything they had trashed. Then, I got a vial of peppermint essential oil at the local yoga shop, diluted it in one gal warm H2O and sprayed it all over the shed. Of course then, I forgot to leave to door open. But, they ate a hole through a window screen and all took off!! Definitely, they are all gone. Hopefully, a something will eat them out in the wild. I will never know if it was the clean up, taking away all of the "food" or the peppermint oil or a combo but, they are gone! We vote peppermint worth a try (and helps with the smell).

LOL! I can just see the rats trying to chew through the screen while holding their noses.

That really is wild. I clean with a combination of water, vinegar, and Dr. Bronner's peppermint castile soap, and have never seen a rodent at my place.

Though I admit I have three cats and a pekingese, so that could be a factor, too.

But mopping, etc., with the combination leaves the house smelling SOOOOOOOOOO good!

Oh, wow, I have the Dr Bonner's soap and I LOVE it! I will definitely look for the peppermint oil to try, but in the mean time I'm going to try the Dr Bonners PM soap. I bought it for shampoo. I like to use a peppermint shampoo sometimes in the morning because I love the tingley feeling. Then one morning in a rush I used it to wash my hands. All morning I could still smell the wonderful aroma. I loved it. So now sometimes I use it for a "bubble bath"/soak. I never tried it for house cleaning. NOW I will.

scutler, have you considered washing your car with it too?

Hmm, not sure if the car exterior would retain enough of the oil (for any time) to matter. I think I'll try washing the interior (and the smell will make me want to live int the car!), even lightly "swiping" the fabric as well as the vinyl (dash, etc). I have a carpet steamer, and I really NEED to wash the carpets in the car. I think I'll use the Dr B's PM for the carpets, too. Then maybe I'll try stuffing some cotton pads soaked in the Dr B soap around under the hood. I think that would make the whole car smell fabulous to me AND chase the rats out at the same time. How does that sound?

A slightly related hint. I use Dr Bronner's eucalyptus soap everytime I shower. It leaves a very mild residue of odor that I have convinced myself is an inect repellant while I'm outdoors and doing gardening chores.

Interesting. I may have that one as well although perhaps in solid form. I'll have to check that out. It sounds as though you have also convinced the insects. ; )

Lost track of the thread. If you're going to clean with it, use about 2 gallons of water, a cup of vinegar, and just a squirt of the soap. If you put in too much soap you have to rinse it. But the Dr. Bronner's is very concentrated.

You can also make a great shampoo with it -- these recipes are from a book called Better Basics for the Home and I forget the author's name -- with (I believe, haven't made it in a while) 2 cups water, 1/4 cup soap, and a teaspoon of vegetable glycerine. Talk about a clean scalp! Very tingly, as scutler points out, and squeaky clean hair.

That's a FABULOUS book for cleaning without chemicals, by the way. I have 3 cats and a dog, all indoor, and unless I've been really lax about cleaning, people don't know I have animals. I'd highly recommend it.

Where do you get vegetable glycerine??

Lost track again, sorry -- I get vegetable glycerine at Basic Foods. I would think any health food store that carries a lot of stuff would have it.

Thanks!

think it might work on gophers?

It's worth a try.

barksy - Thanks for starting this thread

roseone33 - Thanks for the posting on Dr Bronner's eucalyptus soap. I'm highly allergic to all insect bites so I'm surely going to give it a try.

Judy

I just bought a small bottle of Dr. B's to try. Now it sounds like I need one with both eucalyptus and peppermint. I'll try the eucalyptus on me to repel mosquitoes and no-see-ums and the peppermint to run off field mice. Will it hurt plants?

Very interesting thread!

I'll have to wander over and take a look at the available
goodies.

http://www.drbronner.com/main.html

Karen Marie

Thanks Wuvie! I just started a thread wondering how I was to use the liquid soap I just bought. Duh...check the website! lol

When people dump dishwater, etc., outside, the grass where they dump it seems to grow better, so I'd think it won't hurt plants. I use it when a recipe calls for using soap to make other stuff stick to foliage. But be SURE to dilute it!

Oh great, I'll use it on aphids too!

I've used Dr. Bronner's liquid soap as a spreader sticker too. It only takes a drop or two (depending on size of sprayer).

BTW, last fall I had an incident in which a rat got under the hood of my car (in the driveway) and did about $500 damage (and I know I got off easy). I soaked a cotton pad (the square ones used for makeup, etc) with Dr Bonner Peppermint Soap and tucked it under the hood in the same area where the rat did the damage (anchored by some of that engine stuff under there). As I the car has not moved for 3 days, I ran out today to check under the hood for stowaways and other unwanted occupants. The pad is still there. Thankfully, so far no sign of rats trying to move in.

I don't know if I mentioned this previously, but I order mine from www.drugstore.com. (I didn't know about the Dr Bonner sight) It looks like the prices are slightly lower on drugstore.com which also offers free shipping (but with $50 order). Also, DS gives you DS bucks off subsequent orders. However, DS does not seem to offer the gallon size.

Lately, I'm using it for all kinds of things these days. Recently used it to wash the filter from my hand held vacuum. While I have dog shampoo for actual "baths", I use a very dilute solution of the peppermint soap to wash my dog's paws when he comes in all messy (Maltese, lots of hair). Makes him smell nice, too.

This is where I buy it by the gallon... http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2133863&cp&sr=1&origkw=dr+bronners+soap&kw=dr+bronners+soap&parentPage=search They do charge shipping but with the GNC discount it comes out the same. I have ordered from drugstore.com but wanted the larger size.
I use it at home and work. It doesn't work well in dispensers as it drys and plugs the opening.

Podster - If you dilute it 1:1 with water it almost never clogs dispensers, and usually does just as good a job...

Worth a try ~ Thanks much!

I dilute all my Dr. Bronner's, no matter what the "flavor". I believe it even recommends dilution on the label, or at least it used to.

Sure, it still does... but who wants to read directions... Sorry!

I avoid reading directions whenever possible, makes life more fun. :-)

I put Dr. Bronner's in the liquid soap dispensers full strength and put my hand over the spout when I pump, just in case there's a soap booger in there that will of course squirt up and land on my chest. That's usually not where I want to have a wet shirt or blouse. LOL!

LOL ~ soap boogers it is! They always light in the worst possible place too. Thanks for the grins Garden_mermaid. I need that tonight. LOLOLOL

Oh, wow---I've been using Dr. B's stuff since the '70s and never thought to use it in the garden dUUUUuuuUUH (accompanied by LOUD HEAD SMACK). Thanks for putting up all these hints, and the link to the website!!! I always love reading their labels, but it gets tedious after the first half hour---especially as my eyes get older and their print seems to be ever-smaller.....

Has the website changed lately - or am I mis-remembering... I mis-remember a lot lately. I'm glad to read all the miscellaneous uses - especially for the garden. I use a couple of drops of diluted lavendar dr. b's on my face at night. Anyone else use it that way? I'll be sure to try to run off the small rat that is raiding my birdseed plate with it! Peppermint to the rescue. I've just started reading the organic threads, and I'm so glad to get your expertise.

What changes are you seeing that seem like "mis-remembering"?

I wasn't very clear.. I meant the Dr. Bronner's website. It's not so funky as I remembered it - all the interesting info and the sayings seem to have been glitzed up. I love reading about all the uses for the soap.