Rats are more likely to enter your home during the colder months as they look for both shelter and food – but a quick and cheap kitchen hack could keep them at bay
Rats are notorious for seeking shelter and food in homes during the colder months, causing damage and spreading potentially fatal diseases.
These unwelcome guests are adept at finding entry points, and if not dealt with promptly, they can breed rapidly. While rat traps and poison are common solutions, prevention is often a more effective approach.
Experts from storage company Urban Locker have shared a simple and cost-effective method to keep rats at bay. The key is to start with your garden.
Rats can detect food from over a mile away, so overflowing bins or rubbish could be an open invitation. However, their strong sense of smell can also be used against them.
Instead of resorting to expensive chemicals, a surprisingly effective deterrent is vinegar, specifically from pickled onions. Elizabeth Adams from Urban Locker explained: “You can use expensive chemicals or you can use old rags soaked in pickled onion vinegar.
“While it sounds silly, the overpowering acidity of the vinegar in the pickled onion disrupts the rat’s ability to detect scents which makes your home and garden a no-go zone.
“You can soak old rags in pickled onion juice and place them near suspected entry points, bin areas and corners of the garden so you can discourage them from lingering in your garden.” She points out that these rags will need refreshing every few days to remain “effective”.
For another DIY solution, Elizabeth advises homeowners to “create your own rat-repellent spray” by mixing pickled onion vinegar with water in equal parts, then spraying the mixture around potential rodent access points and refuse zones, helping to mask food smells that attract the critters.
However, Elizabeth cautions against using peppermint essential oils as a deterrent due to their flammable nature and the risks they pose. While the pickled onion method is great for driving off rats, Elizabeth also notes that planting repellant greenery is beneficial.
She explained: “Plants such as lavender, mint, marigolds, daffodils, rosemary, sage and several others can be planted in your garden to disrupt the smell of a rat. If a rat can’t smell inside of your home then it is far less likely to try.”
She recommends positioning these plants strategically along fences, around outbuildings, and close to compost heaps to best deter unwelcome rodent visitors.