We all want to have a clean and sanitized kitchen for ourselves. I also love to cook for my family, so I was whipping some batter for a cake one day. Then I opened my oven, and you will not believe what I saw. A vile black mouse was pooping right in the middle of my oven tray. What would you do if you discovered nasty mice or mice droppings inside your oven?
This nasty creature carries diseases and can damage the inside of your oven. So it is a grave concern of how to disinfect oven after mice.
Therefore, we have gathered a step-by-step process to clean and sanitize your oven from mice safely. Let’s get started.
What are the best ways to disinfect the oven?
Ventilate the Kitchen
Before beginning to clean, you should keep all the doors and windows for 30 to 40 minutes. It will let the room air out.
Any smell or gas will go away by ventilating and make the cleaning process suitable. This is the first step of how to clean oven after mice.
Always Wear Gloves
You should always wear latex or rubber gloves. It will protect your hand from germs and bacteria-like pathogens.
If you do not have any gloves, use a kitchen towel or a rag for safety. Rags and kitchen towels are cheaper than gloves, and you can throw them out after using them.
Scope the droppings
Pick up the mice poop with a kitchen towel and wrap it well before throwing it. Wipe the mice’s urine with a rag to avoid mouse droppings in oven insulation.
Disinfect the Mice droppings
If you are confused about what to use to disinfect after mice, we have gathered three safe and valuable solutions to clean the oven.
- Buy a mouse disinfectant from the market. You can spray the disinfectant on the droppings and wipe it. You can also use a sanitizing wipe or Lysol for it.
- Make a homemade disinfect with vinegar and water. You can boil some white vinegar and water for 10 to 15 minutes. You can also add lemon to it. Soak a cloth rag in this solution and thoroughly clean the inside and underneath of the oven
- Use a bleach solution. You can create a bleach solution by adding one part of bleach and ten parts of water. Then gently apply the solution to the oven and let it soak for 15 minutes.
- You can also apply 70% alcohol solution. Let the alcohol solution soak in a cloth and wipe the oven. It will not only clean the oven but also make the surface clean and shiny.
Use the Heat
After disinfecting, you can turn on the oven for 5 minutes at 350 degrees to let the heat kill the bacteria and get rid of nasty smells. You can also use the broil option in the oven that will immediately heat the oven by 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
Use Fragrance
To bring back the natural smell of the oven, you can either use lavender or rosemary oil. Moreover, teabags or fragrance-based pesticide also helps reducing bad smells.
Keep the Mouse Away
After following all these steps, you need to be careful about not letting mice get inside the oven. You have to have a full-proof plan to defeat these sneaky mice.
First, you need to keep your kitchen sanitized and clean. You should throw food waste away so that mice cannot get food and live. Similarly, food should always be bagged and locked by containers and zippers.
Second, you have to block mice to get inside the oven. So I bet you are wondering how mice get in oven? There are many empty spaces around vents and cords where mice can sneak in. Therefore, you need to block them with aluminum foil to prevent mice excursions.
Furthermore, you can use peppermint as natural mice repellent. This strong repelling smell will prevent mice from getting into the oven.
Cautions
- Do not use a vacuum cleaner. It will blow the droppings.
- Never touch any mice droppings with bare hands.
- Make sure to wash your gloves before removing them.
- Always start cleaning after ventilation
- Do not scrap the mice waste from the oven. It will cause damage to the oven.
- Please do not turn the oven on while cleaning it.
These are the couple of cautions you need to follow before reasoning how to disinfect oven after mice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can mice live in an oven?
Mice cannot live inside the oven, but they can go inside to eat food crumbs or wastes. They can also cause damage to the oven by cutting cords or infecting germs.
How do you keep mice out of appliances?
You can use cotton balls soaked in peppermint oil and place them in different corners of the kitchen. You have to replace them constantly after the repellent smell dies.
How are mice getting in my oven?
Mice love the warmth and eating food crumbs. So if you turn off the oven and leave food wastes, then mice can get in there using small gaps in the oven.
Why does my oven stink when I turn it on?
The cause of oven stinking might be because of gas combustion at the burner. Please turn off your oven and keep it open for a while. After 4-5 minutes, the smell will go away.
What smell will keep mice away?
Strong repelling smells like peppermints, clove oil, vinegar, tea bags, cinnamon, mint toothpaste, cayenne pepper, ammonia, cloves, clove oil, and dryer sheets will definitely keep the mice away.
What food kills rats instantly?
Blend the mixture of flour or cornmeal with sugar or powdered chocolate mix and baking soda, 1 cup each. This mixture will kill rats instantly as the chocolate or sugar will attract them, and the baking soda will demolish them.
Conclusion
In the end, you should always clean your oven and kitchen after mice invasion. Otherwise, it will infect many health hazards to your family.
So be sure to follow the steps carefully to clean up the mess that mice have left behind. Furthermore, maintain your oven hygiene always.
I hope this article on “how to disinfect oven after mice” will help you keep your house and your family healthy and ways from those nasty mice.
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