As the weather gets cooler, mice tend to start looking for shelter — and your house may just be the perfect setup. Even worse, mice can have up to 100 babies a year, so this easy hack to make your house less appealing to mice is the perfect solution.
The scoop
Instagrammer Nicole Jaques (@itsnicolejaques) posts recipes, along with kitchen and cleaning tips. Her motto is "making you the CEO of your home," and she's certainly working toward that with this hack.
All you need to do is gather cinnamon sticks, cloves, cayenne, or chili flakes, and add a few drops of peppermint oil. Then add it to sachet bags and place them around your house — Jaques recommends focusing on pantries or other places that you store food items, including pet food and trash.
"Mice have a strong sense of smell, and they'll stay away," Jaques explains in her video.
And the added bonus? They smell like Christmas, too!
How it's helping
This hack not only keeps mice out of your house, but it's relatively cost effective and humane, too. Instead of having to pay for traps (and then clean up after them) or buy rodent repellent, this DIY mouse repellent is made primarily with your household kitchen items.
Sachet bags are available on Amazon, with 100 of them going for just $8, and an 8oz container of cinnamon sticks goes for $10. These supplies will last you a while, so in the long run it's likely more cost effective, and definitely smells better.
Cayenne is also a great way to keep animals out of your garden, so it has an additional use if you're not a fan of it in your dishes.
Plus, Jaques mentions that mice can have up to 100 babies, and they're small enough to fit through a pencil hole. At that point, it's more effective to have a solution that keeps them away rather than traps them. Instead of using a store-bought repellant that may have chemicals in it, you'll know exactly what's in this all-natural version, and won't have to worry if your toddler or pet gets curious enough to play with it.
Along with that, it's also more pleasant for getting rid of unwanted pests. Despite their undesirable qualities, mice are an important part of the ecosystem, preying on some small populations and acting as food for others.
If you're interested in more eco-friendly ways to get rid of pests, check out this onion water that keeps pests out of your garden, and these flowers that do the same.
What everyone's saying
Users in the comments were thrilled to find such an easy hack. "OMG we live on a pond, [we] needed this!" said one.
Wrote some others: "Gonna make these up for sure! Thank you!" and "I'm doing this for myself and my friend who has a sneaky mouse."
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more, waste less, and help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
