Sunday, February 7, 2010

Cleanup of mice infestation?

Our rural cabin is used about once/month. A few months ago, there were mouse feces everywhere - on top of the bedspread, pillows, shelves, food cans etc.(The mice are now gone) How to clean up? yes to a mask (does it need to be a respirator type) and disposable gloves. Can the bedspreads etc, be washed in a public laundromat - not leave any residue for the next customer? In gathering up the mouse feces, do you put it with other garbage or it goes to toxic disposal? What about using a vacuum-do toxins get in the discharging air?Cleanup of mice infestation?
DON'T VACUUM! The feces will become airborne and you will either breathe it in or it will become dust on your furniture!!! Take everything you can to the laundromat and wash in hot, hot water with lots of soap. there won't be any residue for the next person, it will be flushed away. Find a repirator-type mask if you can, but the other should suffice. It just the particles you don't want to breathe in and they are fairly large (molecularily speaking). Humans can get very sick from breathing in the feces, you are right to be concerned, however, it sounds like you are taking intelligent steps to keep your family healthy.





A bleach solution should be used on all surface areas as well. 1 cup bleach to 10 gallons of water. Every surface of that cabin should be disinfected with this solution. Throw out all of the food, cans included. Ironically, all of this trash can be put in the regular garbage! It isn't considered a biohazardous material! I mean the dumps are crawling with rodents and their excrement...Good luck.Cleanup of mice infestation?
you need to use a mask, and gloves and also, before you move them you need to spray them with Lysol. They can go in the regular trash as long as they are tied up really good. The Lysol will help in several ways, moving them stirs up the dust which can make you sick. You can wash the bedspreads etc in public laundromat but, after you do I would run an empty load in the washers you use. I would use a vacuum if you spray with Lysol and then be sure to change the bag right away. Then run the vacuum outside for just a min. to get the dust out of it. The mask does not need to be the resp. type unless you are talking an extreme amount
I don't think you belong in a rural area, mice or no mice! Even the Federal Government allows a certain amount of mice feces to be in prepared food. If it smells bad, use a mask, otherwise just knock it to the floor and clean it up like any other dirt. Wash the linens anywhere you want. If some of your neighbors have an accident in there pants, guess where they wash them out! Quit leaving food in the cabin and the mice will quit coming in.
I definitely think you are thinking too hard on this one. Shake out the blankets, pillows, etc. Wear disposable gloves and a dust mask. Any washing machine that can manage blankets and stuff should handle it fine as long as you aren't throwing in the nests and gobs of feces. Just shake everything out first and sweep it up with a dust pan. If you feel like there is really a lot of it, just make sure you seal the plastic garbage bags that you dump it in.
I ditto the folks who say to be careful. Hanta virus is no fun. Wanted to add to the comment about using bleach water. This is accurate, but you need to leave it on for a few minutes, don't spray and then wipe right away. DO NOT VACUUM!
Well Ma'am, you seem to have all the answers right. I'm a MedLab Technologist supervisor. You have to keep in mind something like the ';Hanta'; virus that stymied the health department for years in the Southwest, killed many people, mice droppings and dirt from mice. My Uncle tore down an old chicken coop for the lumber. He got a bacterial infection in one lung from the dried chicken feces and had that lung removed. Caused a mold type growth in his lung so...





I would go to a local health store and tell them what your doing and what you need for a resperator. You seem to be senseable with your question and your own ideas, keep up with the care and removal of trash and cleaning. Good Luck, don't forget to wash good yourself.

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