After dead mouse removed from kitchen drawer, what steps do I take to clean the drawer so my utensils can go back in?

[CTyankee]

Just wash in hot water and detergent?

[rsdsharp]

1. .

&pp=ygUqbnVrZSBpdCBmcm9tIG9yYml0IHRoZSBvbmx5IHdheSB0byBiZSBzdXJl

[50 Shades Of Blue]

5. ROFL!!!!!!!!!

[unblock]

10. that would absolutely be mrs. unblock's response

we'd be looking at a full kitchen renovation!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

25. While that is tempting ...

really, Spic 'n' Span or dishwashing liquid and hot water ought to do the trick.

[Luciferous]

37. That's what I was thinking too 😂

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

2. That would probably be sufficient.

You could also wipe the drawer with bleach.

[10 Turtle Day]

43. Bleach is the best disinfectant

I remember in a microbiology class we had an experiment where we had many different contaminants and strains of bacteria in Petri dishes and used a bunch of different cleaners on them. Bleach was the only thing that killed everything. I recommend using a bleach/water solution.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

3. I would use Chlorox wipes on it first. I feel your pain!

[Silver Gaia]

41. This. Wear gloves. Clean it with Clorox wipes.

If you don't trust that, get some Clorox spray cleaner with bleach, take it outside, and spray it down with that. It will go into any nooks and crannies. Let it air dry, then wipe it down with Clorox wipes. Wear disposable gloves to do any disinfecting of mouse contamination!

[bucolic_frolic]

4. Ask AI

Was the mouse dry, decomposed, wet? What's the drawer made of? Plastic liner? So many factors to consider a response.

[marble falls]

9. Was it cataleptic, had it been encapsulated in epoxy and turned into key chain in another dimension ...

... so MANY questions ............

[CTyankee]

15. it was dry and stuck to the adhesive in the wooden utensil drawer (non-eating)

[SWBTATTReg]

26. So you had your built-in mousetrap! Clever!!

As some of our fellow DUers said, hot soap/water, disinfectant, bleach, perhaps all of the choices. Makes you wonder also where the little guy was at before too, in the other drawers too? in the Pots and Pans drawers? Yikes. I'd just start rewashing the dishes/kit. utensils/etc. again, perhaps through a couple of cycles in the dishwasher too.

Good luck too, on that it was perhaps the only mouse too? What I'm saying is that there is usually more than just one mouse.

[CTyankee]

45. No, they're little squares of adhesive on them. Everything in the drawer got handwashed in hot water, soap and bleach.

[SWBTATTReg]

48. It is always better to be safe, and do the washing that you did (clean the things in the drawer, as well as the

drawer too). I do have a mice problem too, I had 3 dogs, 2 of whom died since last year (they are 17, 18 years old, so it is sad here), and the mice got in from a filthy neighbor's house, and since have been impossible to get all of them. I won't use poison, until my last dog is gone (and she's on her way unfortunately), then we'll use poison, kill the mice left.

[marble falls]

6. First you burn the drawer and everything in it. .........

[SWBTATTReg]

27. Ha ha heh!!

[unc70]

7. Not just the one draw; all that "connect"

Most kitchen drawer units are open to each other. Into one drawer, into all the others.

Also need to locate and eliminate the access route.

[WestMichRad]

13. !!This!!

[Irish_Dem]

17. Right, look for mouse droppings elsewhere in the kitchen.

[VGNonly]

8. I would use

a mild bleach spray, let soak a minute or so, then with warm to hot water and soap. Hantavirus is nothing to mess with.

[marble falls]

11. Especially if one lives up in Four Corners.

[VGNonly]

14. I remember on Survivor Man.

He was in Canyonlands NP Utah. He caught some small rodents and basically burned them a crisp to eliminate viruses.

A somewhat related note, I have a relative that caught Coccidiodomcosis (Valley Fever) another southwestern ailment. I can't really be cured, only treated.

[marble falls]

19. And sometime Valley Fever'll kill you!

[VGNonly]

47. Valley Fever contributed to the death of Lee Marvin.

He was also a heavy smoker and drinker. Died at 63.

[EYESORE 9001]

12. ...

[JoseBalow]

18. This is the only correct answer

[Irish_Dem]

16. I would move to another home asap.

[Karadeniz]

20. Mice urinate as they walk. Add bleach to your soap solution.

[CTyankee]

21. Interesting. How do we know this?

[Karadeniz]

22. No telling! I read it somewhere. The author of Animals and the Afterlife had

mice as pets, so she probably talked about it when discussing the mice areas she created.

[CTyankee]

23. Mice pee. I wonder how much each mouse pees. Anybody know?

[Karadeniz]

24. Its not a full pee. As it walks,, it leaves a film. When i was a baby, my dsd had a

cocker spaniel whom he adored. Handy got sick and the vet discovered Handy had licked up some mouse pee in a lower kitchen cabinet. Probably in New Orleans at the time, he'd seen a lot of it. That particular disease was fatal. Remember the native Americans in some SW state who died from something connected to mice?

[SWBTATTReg]

28. And they crap too, seemingly while walking too. Not just pee everywhere.

[Karadeniz]

29. Im guessing we all need a terrier!

[SWBTATTReg]

32. Yes, they are good for getting mice too. A cat of course is good too. I use glue traps but they seem to

recognize the traps and avoid them. Pisses me off!

[10 Turtle Day]

42. I like the traps that look like big hockey pucks

You twist it to set it. They have a spring action so once that mice is in it snaps shut. The mouse is dead and encased in the trap so you never have to see it or touch it. If the trap is closed, there is a dead mouse inside. Just toss the whole thing. Oh, and peanut butter is the best bait. They love it. One time when I was doing a lot of baking and had bought bulk size peanut butter for making peanut butter cookies and had it stored in a lower cabinet along with the bulk flour and sugar. The mice got into the flour a little but they’d chewed the lid edges of the peanut butter jar all the way around until they were able to get into the peanut butter. They’d accomplished this in just a few days! Pissed me off I had to toss all of that. But those traps with peanut butter bait work great. I think they are Tom Cat brand.

[SWBTATTReg]

49. Thanks for the advice. What shocks me is that you said that they chewed through the plastic lids on the Peanut

Butter?! Yikes!! I guess I'll need to store it (the peanut butter, one of the items I stock up per my survivalist list, is peanut butter, four jars of it!). I rotate through it too, so it won't spoil, but for a mouse to chew thru a lid?!! Wow.

[OAITW r.2.0]

30. This is a subject, near and dear to my heart.

Serious....had a mice infestation problem. Final count" 15. (3 drowned -1 in the washing machine and 2 in Skippa's water dish). The rest live trapped and freed for what would have most likely been a brief life.

Spray some bleach on the problem areas. Doing over my kitchen cubby area. Expecct to find a couple more desiccated mice remains.

[yellow dahlia]

31. I love this discussion. The laughs were welcome.

But seriously. I live in the quasi country and have had my fair share of battles w/ mice. All the advice about cleaning and removing all trails, as well as cleaning all surfaces is valuable. Bleach is good. I often use vinegar.

Next you want to prevent further visits from mice. Finding the place of entry and plugging it is good. Peppermint and cinnamon are two things that discourage their presence. I spray peppermint essential oils in kitchen areas and closets and other locations. Love the smell of peppermint!

Good luck

[womanofthehills]

33. When you live in the country.......,

Just spray with Clorox foam or pour Clorox -let it sit a few minutes and wipe. You might spray essential oils like peppermint around cabinets -

Man - I have so many electronic mouse traps - in my car, sheds, house, drawers - - Did you catch the mouse ? —
or was it just dead - which would be weird.

How to Tell a Field Mouse and a House Mouse Apart

“Field mice are dark brown or gray with a white belly, while house mice are a solid brown or gray.
Field mice are about 6 inches (15 cm) long with a furry tail. House mice are smaller, about 3 inches (7 cm) long with a scaly, hairless tail.
Field mouse droppings have pointed ends, while house mouse droppings are oblong and rounded.
Field mice are typically found in rural areas, while house mice are more commonly found in residential areas.“

https://www.wikihow.com/Field-Mouse-vs-House-Mouse

[Jilly_in_VA]

34. Wash the drawer and everything in it

in a solution of hot water, Dawn detergent, and bleach. Kills just about everything. Place some cotton balls soaked in peppermint oil in the back of the drawer before you put everything back in. Mice hate the smell of mint. Replace those every couple of months.

[The Madcap]

35. Bag the mouse

You might need some dark meat after T**** wrecks the economy.

[CTyankee]

44. sorry, my mouse went out stuck to the adhesive we laid for him. He left his shit behind so the drawer had to be

sanitized.

[The Madcap]

46. Oh well

A source of valuable protein wasted...

[forgotmylogin]

36. I'd spray the drawer with bleach.

Let it sit a while then wipe out. Hydrogen peroxide might also work.

If it’s an option, I would also re-line the drawer with new contact paper.

[Iggo]

38. Forever unclean!

You must build a new drawer and buy new utensils!

[KitFox]

39. I sympathize with you! A mouse problem becomes such an ordeal!

Good advice here about using bleach and soap, and if you have a dishwasher, run everything through. Also good advice to check all the drawers and cupboards. I have had good luck with buying many packages of steel wool and thickly stuffing it and wrapping it around any places where I think they might have entered such as inside the cupboard under the sink where the pipes come in. Supposedly they can’t or dislike chewing through it. Peppermint ideas mentioned work too. I also got a bunch of mint plants at the nursery and planted them in containers and set them outside on either side of my back door where I suspected they were squeezing in. I also beefed up the weather stripping around the doors. I live in a rural area so I think the feral cat population around helps, too. Get a box of disposable gloves you can wear and toss any time you have to deal with all of it. Good luck. It’s such a pain you really wish you could take a flamethrower to it!