- LAST UPDATED: December 5, 2023
Having mice in your home or car can be downright disgusting, and if you’re like most people, you want to get rid of them as fast as possible at any cost. The fact is that some mice can simply die in your walls or in your vehicle before you notice them. This often leaves the owner with a foul, unpleasant stench on their hands.
The good news is that you can rid your property of that foul odor in a hurry if you take the right steps. Keep reading to learn more about getting the dead mouse smell out of your home or car.
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How to Identify
The smell of any sort of dead rodent or creature in your home is very unpleasant. The problem is that most people haven’t encountered this particular odor before. That can make it pretty hard to identify.
Here’s how you can identify the smell of a dead mouse:
- Check for droppings inside your home. You’ll likely notice these near entrances or in places you don’t often visit like your basement or attic. Click here to know how to get rid of mice in attic.
- Look around the outside of your home for mouse droppings. Mice don’t always have to get into your home in a visible way to enter your walls. In many cases, mice come in through the outside never to be seen by the humans or pets living in the house.
- Watch for pets in your home returning to a certain area. Pets have a keen sense of smell and they may notice a dead animal long before you would. Consider marking this area so you don’t lose track of it.
What Does a Dead Mouse Smell Like?
You would think that a dead mouse odor would be obvious, but most people just don’t know what a dead rodent smells like.
Common odors emitted by a dead mouse may include:
- Sulfur-like smells. Sulfur is often the first smell humans and pets will notice if a mouse has died in your home but is not visible to the naked eye.
- Methane odors. Similar to thinners and natural gasses, you’ll notice this odor as the body begins to decompose. Typically you will smell sulfur-like odors first, however.
- Noxious gasses that remind you of rotten food or soil. These become apparent as decomposition speeds up.
How to Get Rid of Dead Mouse Odor
A lot of people want to know how to get rid of mouse smell in their home, and if you’ve got something dead on your property, you’re not going to want it there for too long. There are a variety of different ways to rid your home, car, or property of this smell, but they are all situation dependent.
Keep reading to learn more about how to handle all of the situations you may encounter when you’ve got a dead mouse causing you problems.
In My Car
A dead mouse in your car is pretty disgusting, and if you’ve had one in there even overnight, you’re likely to be bowled over by the stench. It’s not an odor that you have to live with long, and in most cases, the fact that your car is an enclosed space makes it easier to handle.
Here’s how to get rid of a dead mouse smell in your car:
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Locate the mouse if possible. In some cases, you may be smelling a mouse who has died in your engine or undercarriage. Remove the dead mouse and discard the body to begin the cleaning process.
Tip
Wear a face mask and rubber gloves when trying locate the dead mouse in your car. This will make removal much more sanitary and help prevent the smell from irritating you during the process. - Open all of your car’s windows, pop the hood, and open the trunk. Allow your car to air out in a place that is shady. Hot sun will l make the smell worse before the natural air can begin to work.
Give your car a thorough wash, including the engine and undercarriage. A high-pressure hose, like those found at commercial do-it-yourself car washes, can help remove the smell from under your car.- Use a standard upholstery shampoo to clean the seats. This can help mask the odor. If the mouse was in the passenger area or in the trunk, repeat the process for a thorough clean.
- Leave the windows open in a safe area out of the sun to let the car air out. Avoid running the air conditioner or heater for a day or two if the mouse died in the engine or beneath your car.
Give your car a thorough wash, including the engine and undercarriage. A high-pressure hose, like those found at commercial do-it-yourself car washes, can help remove the smell from under your car.In Vents
Having a mouse die in your vents can be extremely unpleasant, but it is something that happens to homeowners from time to time. Once you have narrowed your search down to the vents, you can begin to get rid of the stench.
Here’s how you can get rid of dead mouse smell in your vents:
- Remove the body of the mouse if you can locate it. Use rubber gloves and a sturdy trash bag to do this.
- Turn on a dehumidifier in your home, or use the thermostat to lower humidity in your home if possible. This can help to speed up decomposition, which will result in a less problematic odor in your home.
- Use deodorizers in front of your vents to get rid of the smell. This can work after the mouse is removed or while you’re still in the process of searching for the body.
- Speed up the process of getting the odor out by running the air conditioning or heat when you’re not home. Leave windows open to allow natural fresh air in too.
- Hire professionals to clean your vents and ducts if the problem does not get better within a week. Once removed, the dead mouse smell will be much better for most homeowners within a day or two.
If you can’t find the mouse body on your own, you may want to call in professionals to help with the problem. Not everybody is comfortable simply speeding up decomposition to reduce the odor in the house.
Ways to Get Rid of Decaying Mouse Smell
Getting rid of the smell of a decaying mouse in your home is essential if you’re breathing in disgusting odors. For the most part, the process is a simple one.
- Find and remove the mouse body that is causing the odor. This can often help the problem clear up very quickly.
- Clean vents or areas around your home where you found the mouse thoroughly. Repeating the process more than once is often helpful.
- Use pleasant room deodorizers to mask the smell. Automatic deodorizers are best.
- Seal off rooms where the odor is worst for a few days. Leave windows open if possible to allow natural air to vent the smell.
I Have a Dead Mouse in my Wall: How Do I Get Rid of the Smell?
A dead mouse in your home is repugnant, but removing the odor doesn’t have to be a chore that takes weeks. Many people want to know exactly where do mice hide. In many cases, it’s in the wall. It’s best learn how to get rid of mice in walls before they die, but this isn’t possible in all situations.
Still, removing the odor of a dead mouse is possible if you follow the right steps:
- Locate the smell. In many cases, pets will alert you to exactly where the smell is coming from. You can also use AC and heat vents to help guide you based on where the odor is worst when running your system.
- Check for access points in your wall like cracks or exposed plumbing. In many cases, these are where mice get into your home, resulting in the smell that you’re trying to get rid of.
- Use a borescope to open up a small hole in the wall once you have pinpointed where the odor is coming from. Once this is done and you’ve found the mouse, remove it from the wall.
- Clean the interior of the wall with a mixture that is 10% bleach and 90% water. This helps kill bacteria and make the odor dissipate sooner.
- Clean the surrounding areas to get rid of the smell. Repair the wall once properly cleaned.
How Long Will it Smell?
Once a dead mouse has been found and removed from your wall, the odor will start to fade away. In most cases, this will take just a few days.
If you are unable to locate the mouse and remove it from your wall, the process will generally take considerably longer. Depending on the weather and time of year, it could take a few weeks to a month for the mouse body to decompose enough that you no longer smell it.
Removing the Smell Under Floorboards
Finding a mouse in your floorboards is the most important aspect, and in most cases, a pet will help you do this. If you don’t have a pet, you may need to get under your house or hire professionals to help locate the scent.
If the mouse is a in crawl space or other area not attracted to your home, the smell will likely dissipate quickly, especially if exposed to the elements. Using room deodorizers and keeping a clean floor will help.
Dead Mouse Odor Eliminator Options
There aren’t a ton of products on the market aimed at getting rid of dead mouse smell, but there are a couple of options that are effective.
- Nature’s Miracle Odor Control filters. Designed primarily for litter boxes, these can also work well if you have a mouse in a vent or an enclosed area that you can’t locate right away. Nature’s Miracle Odor control filters are available online and in many pet stores.
- Rat Sorb Odor Eliminator. Used by dabbing the liquid onto cotton balls and placing them near the smell, this product is made specifically to work on dead animal odors. It is available online and can be used in walls, attics, crawl spaces and more.
- Earth Care Odor Removing Bag. This can be used in crawl spaces, attics, in vents to absorb odors quickly. You can use more than one bag for a particularly problematic odor. Order Earth Care Odor Removing Bags online.
Removing the dead mouse smell from your home, whether it’s in your vents, under your floorboards, or somewhere else is important. After all, you can’t go on smelling that awful odor for long, and if you’re not careful, it could be hazardous to your health. Getting dead mouse smell out of your car is also a must.
While many of these remedies work and most people can handle dead mouse odors in their home or vehicle on their own, professional help is sometimes required. Fixing the entry points where the mouse got into your home, especially if it wasn’t a fluke, is also important to keep this problem from happening again.
As with most things rodent-related, getting rid of the dead mouse smell right away is something you have to do. The longer you wait, the worse the smell will get, at least until the body decomposes.
