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Irish Spring soap (Rodent Deterrent)

glcaines

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I had terrible problems with mice eating the center out of my drivers seat on my M35A2. They were eating the canvas and foam rubber. I put Irish Spring soap on the center of the seat and to my surprise, the mice ate a big chunk out of the bar of Irish Spring soap. Obviously didn't work for me, but I understand that others have had good success. I also put a Black and Decker electronic mouse repeller in the same truck. The mice chewed through the power cord, so it didn't work either.
 

MarkM

CODE BROWN...It's all going to sh~t !
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Location
WOBURN. MA.
I had terrible problems with mice eating the center out of my drivers seat on my M35A2. They were eating the canvas and foam rubber. I put Irish Spring soap on the center of the seat and to my surprise, the mice ate a big chunk out of the bar of Irish Spring soap. Obviously didn't work for me, but I understand that others have had good success. I also put a Black and Decker electronic mouse repeller in the same truck. The mice chewed through the power cord, so it didn't work either.

Your mice are obviously screwing with you lol
 

Digger556

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Denver CO
Back in the day, I built large parade floats. The artistic parts were made of fabric foam, cloth, and spray foam. The mice loved that stuff for nest building. We used dryer sheets to keep them away and never had a problem afterwards. I never understood the sciemce behind it, but it did work without fail.
 

D6T

Well-known member
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Location
Vermont
Back in the day, I built large parade floats. The artistic parts were made of fabric foam, cloth, and spray foam. The mice loved that stuff for nest building. We used dryer sheets to keep them away and never had a problem afterwards. I never understood the sciemce behind it, but it did work without fail.
This whole thread will probably be like this, back and forth with pros and cons, so here’s my input…

…I’ve loaded vehicles with different brands of dryer sheets and the mice have taken the sheets and loved them so much that they made nests with them.
 

Triple Jim

Well-known member
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North Carolina
Back in the day, I built large parade floats. The artistic parts were made of fabric foam, cloth, and spray foam. The mice loved that stuff for nest building. We used dryer sheets to keep them away and never had a problem afterwards. I never understood the sciemce behind it, but it did work without fail.
They'd keep me away too! I used to mountain bike quite a bit with a friend, and one day while he was on the trail in front of me I smelled a non-pleasant perfumy odor and my eyes started burning and watering. I asked him what was causing the stink and he said his wife used a dryer sheet when she dried his clothes. That stuff is horrible!
 

Ultra Mag

Member
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Location
Culpeper VA
They'd keep me away too! I used to mountain bike quite a bit with a friend, and one day while he was on the trail in front of me I smelled a non-pleasant perfumy odor and my eyes started burning and watering. I asked him what was causing the stink and he said his wife used a dryer sheet when she dried his clothes. That stuff is horrible!
This whole thread will probably be like this, back and forth with pros and cons, so here’s my input…

…I’ve loaded vehicles with different brands of dryer sheets and the mice have taken the sheets and loved them so much that they made nests with them.
Im truly convinced they know color codes on wiring harnesses to😳
 

msgjd

Well-known member
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Location
upstate ny
call me evil and bad, but the previously-unchecked mouse and deer population upon my acreage caused a spike in the deer tick population .. I resorted to rodent bait blocks about 7 years ago, the kind in bulk tubs.. And of course remedial efforts with the large 4-legged part of the problem... It took a (temporary) paralyzation and inter-cranial swelling several years ago before they figured out I had chronic lyme yet never had a bullseye. It's supposedly "killed" from my system but there was some permanent damage. One of the reasons sometimes it takes me about 20-30 minutes to type a paragraph and get it to say what i want it to say, and other times no time at all.. Verbal speech structuring is more difficult at times.. Thus I feel no remorse lobbing my little green grenades into trucks, trailers, gensets, buildings, and other strategic places two or three times a year ☠ .. Rarely do I find any nesting or damage since , and only once or twice a year do I find a little pest crawling on me
 
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Chainbreaker

Well-known member
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Location
Oregon
I've tried pure peppermint oil on cotton in one of those glass salt/pepper shakers in one of our cars parked outside & it didn't seem to deter mice much.

Got a barn on property but don't have any barn cats... However, night cameras show we now have feral cats and sometimes Foxes & an occasional Bobcat that come out of the woods behind us at night & patrol our property & do a pretty good critter eradication job according to my skat analysis.

I quit putting out mouse poison once I spotted the ferals & critters lurking around at night via our security cameras. Heard about the Irish Spring soap deterrent but haven't tried it... yet that is.
 

glcaines

Well-known member
3,915
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Location
Hiawassee, Georgia
I live on 40 acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Georgia surrounded by National Forest. The coyotes and bobcats don't let any loose cats survive here. I may start using poison. My F250 is currently out of commission because a large rat ate through some of the wiring and additionally ate the inner fender lining on the left front. I saw the rat once when I raised the hood and he was a very large rat. I've tried glue traps, live traps, traditional spring traps, etc. and no results. The rat has now started eating the inner fender on the other side of the truck.
F250 Rat Damage.jpg
 

Chainbreaker

Well-known member
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Location
Oregon
Also, I've had GREAT success using those 5 gallon bucket trap for mice and rats. It's a gravity teeter-totter type trap that lands the mice/rats into a 1/2 filled bucket of water. Since they can't swim forever, they drown. I've caught as many as 10 a night in one trap in our barn & shop areas. You can get them in packs of 1,3 or 5 and you just have to supply the bucket, water & bait (peanut butter works well). They work best in fall/winter when critters are trying to find food & indoor places of comfort to crawl into.

If you search on Amazon you can find them & a video. Most Farm Supply Stores carry them as well. I purchased a 3-pak of the Gardenix brand & they have worked well for me. Or you can search YouTube on ideas on how to build your own custom bucket mouse/rat trap.
 
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2Pbfeet

Well-known member
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Location
Mt. Hamilton, CA
Cats have worked well for us. Really well. We have the full spectrum of bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions, owls and raptors. Our first pair made it about eighteen years, so it is possible to have cats with the right stuff for a long time. One even liked to take on, play with and eat rattlesnakes.

I still leave peanut butter and oatmeal baited traps in critical spots. When I was helping take care of a cottage, we used cigarettes cracked in half. It was the only thing that worked all winter. Lots of things were tried; mothballs did nothing, and the peppermint oil smelled nice, but yes, didn't slow the mice down, the Irish Spring soap was chewed on, and in some case chewed up, like @glcaines experience. Ultimately, getting fanatical about closing every hole 1/4" and up solved the problem, but you can't do that on a vehicle. For vehicles, I try to make sure that they get started regularly in the fall and spring when rodents are on the move.

For rats, I like the Wildlife Control Supplies tube traps, baited or not.

All the best,

2Pbfeet
 
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