Have you noticed signs that you might have mice in your home lately? Perhaps you’ve seen mouse droppings on the floor or you’ve noticed that certain things have been nibbled on.
Often, you’ll wind up seeing that mice have been spending a lot of time under your kitchen sink. This is a common spot where people will see mice droppings and other signs that mice have been active in the kitchen.
It’s annoying to have to deal with mice in your home, but that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to get the problem taken care of. Getting rid of mice is something that you can handle so long as you understand how to approach things.
Below, you’ll see information about how you can effectively get rid of mice under the kitchen sink. If you follow this advice properly, then you’ll be able to eliminate the mice in a timely fashion.
1 – Take the Time to Seal up Holes and Cracks

The first thing to do is to go around your house to check for holes and cracks. The mice have to be getting inside of your home from somewhere and you need to figure out where this is.
Even if you do kill the mice that are in your house right now, it’s possible that more mice from outside will keep trickling in. Solving this issue is of the utmost importance when you’re trying to nip a mouse problem in the bud.
Go around the outside of your home and look for any holes and cracks. You might need to go around the house a few times while trying to pay attention to even small cracks or holes.
Mice are very good at squeezing their bodies into cracks and holes. Even if a hole doesn’t appear to be big enough for a mouse, it’s possible that a mouse might be able to use it as an entrance.
Essentially, if a mouse can fit its head inside of a crack or hole, then it’s definitely going to be able to get in. You have to remember that some mice are smaller than others, too.
Sealing up cracks and holes will take a bit of time and effort. You can try to make full repairs if you have the time and the ability to do so.
Otherwise, you can buy some type of sealant to try to eliminate the cracks and keep mice from getting in. Some people use foam sealant for mouse holes.
2 – Take the Time to Thoroughly Clean Your House
Next, you’re going to want to take the time to thoroughly clean your house. Mice are going to be more interested in your home if it has sources of food and water that they can exploit.
Keeping your home clean will ensure that they won’t have access to easy sources of food. Sometimes it’s easy to fall behind on your house chores and this means that there might be some crumbs in the kitchen on the counters and on the floor.
Try to take the time to vacuum your home to eliminate any crumbs. Sweep and mop the kitchen and any bathrooms in your house.
You’ll also want to try to do your dishes right away instead of leaving them in the sink. If you have a dishwasher, then you can get into the habit of simply placing your dishes into the dishwasher each night and running it.
It’s going to be important to limit the food options for the mice further by protecting your food. Keep cereal in airtight plastic containers and do what you can to protect the other types of food that you’re storing.
If you have pets, then you should avoid leaving pet food out in the pet bowls. Mice will eat this food when they get the chance, and you don’t want to give the mice free meals.
Pay attention to your garbage cans as well since mice will try to get into the garbage. Use garbage cans that have lids that will seal up tightly so that they can’t get into the trash and eat your garbage.
3 – Set Mouse Traps

Setting mouse traps underneath the sink will be a very good way to get rid of mice. You know that the mice are going under the kitchen sink because they’re leaving droppings behind, and this makes it a great spot to place a trap.
There are lots of different mouse traps on the market that you can choose from. Your best bet is likely to just buy a standard mouse trap that has a spring design.
These are the mouse traps that most people are familiar with. The design has been around for a very long time and it involves a simple pressure plate that triggers the mechanism and causes a hunk of metal to crash down on top of the mouse.
You’ll need to place bait on this mouse trap to entice the pesky rodents that are living in your home. Some people like to use cheese, but it’s actually better to use peanut butter.
Peanut butter sticks to the pressure plate very nicely and mice have to work to get the peanut butter off of the trap. It also sticks to their teeth and it makes it so that they have to linger longer.
Essentially, it’s going to be far more likely that the trap will spring and kill the mouse if you use peanut butter. Once you have the traps set up, you’ll just need to wait to see if it works.
Check back the next morning to see if there is a dead mouse in the trap that you set up. You’ll also be able to see if the bait is still there or not.
Of course, you’ll need to set these traps in places where your pets won’t be roaming. This is why keeping the traps under the sink will be a good idea.
Other traps that you might want to consider include humane traps that simply catch the rodents alive. This allows you the option of simply releasing the mouse back outside once it has been caught.
Whether or not this is a good idea is debatable. If you let a mouse outside after catching it, then it could try to get back into your home at a later date.
Some people simply don’t want to kill animals, though. You can decide the best approach based on your sensibilities.
4 – Poison the Mice

Poisoning the mice is another common idea that people turn to when looking to get rid of mice under a kitchen sink. You can buy rodent poison that is designed to kill the mice when they eat it.
You can even buy mouse poison that is designed so that mice can get it but other pets can’t. Some of these products are referred to as “stations” and the mice will be able to release a poison block that they will eat.
The block has an appealing smell that makes the mice want to eat the poison. Eventually, the mice will die from consuming the poison.
This could be a useful tool when you’re battling a significant mouse infestation. It might not be more practical than using mouse traps with standard bait, though.
It’s also true that people worry about their pets and children getting sick from this poison. If you’re at all worried about this, then you could just use the traps and avoid poison products.
5 – Get a Cat

Getting a cat is a simple but effective way to get rid of mice under the kitchen sink. You see, cats are natural predators that will hunt down mice relentlessly.
If you have a cat in your house, then there’s a good chance that it will try to hunt the mice when they enter your home. You might wake up in the morning to find a dead mouse being presented to you by the cat.
Cats will often present the dead mice to their owners because they want praise. They might leave the dead mouse outside your bedroom door to show you what they have done.
Encouraging this will make it so that the cat will continue to try to catch mice if they dare to enter the house. Just try not to let your cat eat the mice since that would not be a good thing.
It’s also worth noting that not all cats are excellent at catching mice. Some cats will be too lazy or finicky to want to chase mice around, but many cats will do great jobs when it comes to hunting mice down.
Remember that owning a cat is a big responsibility. It costs money to take care of a pet and you’re going to need to give the cat attention to keep it happy.
You shouldn’t buy or adopt a cat for the sole purpose of having it kill mice. Only get a cat if you want one and you have the time to take care of it.
6 – Ultrasonic Repellent Devices
One new idea that people have been turning to lately involves using sounds to make the mice want to go away. There are ultrasonic repellent devices on the market that play sounds that make mice want to stay away from your home.
You could purchase one of these devices and place it in your kitchen somewhere. There are versions of these devices that can plug right into the wall so that you can use them indoors.
Most of these devices have settings that ensure that the sounds being emitted cannot be heard by human ears. That means that this shouldn’t bother you if you wish to try it out.
It could potentially bother your pets, though, and that might make it less practical in your situation. If you have a dog or a cat, then this type of repellent device might not be the best thing for your home.
Those who don’t have pets should be able to get good results by using devices like this. Mice might choose to stay away from your home entirely because of the sounds being emitted by the device.
7 – Using Plants and Scents to Repel Mice

Mice can be repelled by using certain plants and scents as well. Did you know that mice seem to hate the smell of garlic?
If you want to keep mice from getting close to your home, then planting garlic near your house might do the trick. Other plants with strong scents will also do the trick in case you think it would be weird to have garlic plants around the perimeter of your home.
You could plant lavender around the house to try to keep mice from coming around. It’s pretty easy to care for plants like this and it could keep mice from even trying to get inside.
If mice are already in your home, then you could try using lavender inside and placing it under the kitchen sink. Peppermint oil can also do a great job of making mice want to get away.
The idea of making the mice uncomfortable so that they will want to leave might help. Using these as deterrents to keep mice from entering your home might be more practical, though.
Planting certain plants around the perimeter of your home is an especially good idea. It could act as a line of defense that will make it less likely that you’ll have to deal with mice in your home at all.
That doesn’t mean that it will work 100% of the time, though. Some mice might not be bothered enough by the smell to turn down the opportunity to find food inside of your home.
Mice are going to do what is necessary to try to survive. Even so, it’s something that could make a difference and it’s worth a shot if you have the time to dedicate to caring for plants.
Final Thoughts
You have many options to consider when you’re trying to get rid of mice under the kitchen sink. First, you’re going to need to seal up holes and cracks to stop the mice from getting in and out of the house.
It’s also necessary to keep your home really clean to limit access to food sources. Once this is done, you’ll just want to set traps under the sink to finish the job.
Some people will choose to use poison instead of standard traps while others will just let their cats hunt the mice down. You could even try to use certain repellent methods to try to get the mice to stay away from your house.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems and over 10 years of experience working in IT. As a homeowner, I love working on projects around the house, and as a father, I love investigating various ways to keep my family safe (whether or not this involves tech). I’ve also played guitar for almost 20 years and love writing music, although it’s hard to find the time these days.