Mouse urine and nests....

[Paul R. Haller]

Whenever I have urine odors To get rid of, rat or otherwise, I have successfully washed with white vinegar, water, and rubbing alcohol. Then, if odor still remains, a strong detergent, like Castrol super clean, multiple times and where the odor still remained, I followed up with an RV waste digester mixed with water and kept it wet. The waste digester seemed to clear out even the faintest smells where the others could not.
-Paul R. Haller-

[road bum]

There is a product made to spray your engine called[[ RATWAY]] one bottle of waterproof rataway is enough to spray your engine 50 times and cost $33.00 shipping included.. 800-646-2177--- the company is in Ojal, Ca. e-mail is
ratawayman@aol.com-
site is www.rataway.com

we use Irish Spring bar soap[[leave it in the box or wrapper and punch hole in it]] and dryer sheets in our Motorhome before we cover it... hubby also puts dryer sheets on the top of the tires, in tail pipe, outside propane storage and in all the outside storage units along with bar of irish spring.. he put dryer sheet in all the cabinets inside , in the bunk over the cab he put soap and dryer sheets, we have two house type upholstered recliners that we installed-- he puts both the sheet and soap on the seats, does the same in the bedroom, bathroom cabinets, in all the gallery cabinets, under the front seats.. we have never seen any sign of mice or rodents.. he does the same in our barn.. we had an 86 Ford commercial Van that the mice ruin everything under the hood and the seats inside the van..

My Dad use to buy garlic oil extract and pepper mint that is used for making candy ,, he mixed those together and sprayed on cotton balls and place those in sacks my Mom made and tossed them around the garage and in cars that would be parked for the Winter...

there is also a product made that cost $200.00 that you spray the outside of your motorhome--wheel wells, exhaust, bumpers the ground before you put your cover on.. that was told to us at a campgrounds..

Chipmunks and squirrels also do damage and can stretch their bodies to get into hoses, small openings.. That Van had foam fliter that chipmucks chewed through and carried cat food from across the road and had it buried down under the fliter.. I thought hubby was playing a joke on me-- he was working on the van and came running into the house and Said-- look what I found under that foam filter.. he put the unit into a five gallon pail and told me take it the Ford dealer so they could order a new one.. the guy there hollered for the order clerk-- he looked at the mess and said --------------ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh looks like you have some chipmunks Madam.. that filter was part of the anti snog that year Van had.. Ford wanted $600.00 for it and I told the guy --I do not think I will order it today.. I told hubby and he said ---watch me fix it far cheaper-- he went on line and found one for $65.00 plus shipping-- when it came it was the wrong part.. so long story short he bought a furnace filter and cut a piece to fit inside.. it worked like a charm--we put 8500 miles on after he fixed it..

[sidewinder2]

I can't help you with the odor but I do endorse the peppermint oil. I put 8-10 drops on a cotton ball and place about a dozen inside the coach, one in every bay and four of them in the engine compartment.

It really works and the coach smells good when you take it out of storage.

Apparently, the peppermint oil destroys the sense of smell for the mice and they can't function without it so they stay away.

Hope this helps for future storage without odor and health issues caused by mice.

[road bum]

found the other mouse proof information-- www.mouse-free.com

--if you do it you would need a gallon jug of mouse free $99.00 and DlY application gun $29.99 plus a compressed air hose with minimum of 60 PSI

you can go to www.rvdealersmarket place.com there you will find state lists of RV dealers that will do it for you.. the price the guy that told us about it said he was quoted $10.00 per linear foot so if you had a trailer that was 22' it will cost 22 x 10.00 =$220.00 that would only stop the mice from entering your RV not kill any you already have inside.. one caution--those who have pets please do not use moth balls or crystals.. if you miss picking them up and your pet eats it it could get very sick or die..happy travels or camp outs

31' 2006 - Jayco -Greyhawk

[RanCarr]

Originally Posted by Paul R. Haller

Whenever I have urine odors To get rid of, rat or otherwise, I have successfully washed with white vinegar, water, and rubbing alcohol. Then, if odor still remains, a strong detergent, like Castrol super clean, multiple times and where the odor still remained, I followed up with an RV waste digester mixed with water and kept it wet. The waste digester seemed to clear out even the faintest smells where the others could not.
-Paul R. Haller-

It seems the mouse waste smell is gone but there is still a nasty smell in the RV. It reminds me of old rotten fouled latex based paint. Have you ever opened an old can of non-oil based paint? The latex becomes foul smelling as it does whatever ancient latex paint does - decomposes? Becomes rancid? There were no foul smells when we bought it last fall. The mice I can understand, but can't figure out what this other unpleasant odor is or where it's coming from.

The RV may have been neglected, but the last owner did keep it clean. We don't know where to start with this other odor.

[RanCarr]

Originally Posted by road bum

There is a product made to spray your engine called[[ RATWAY]] one bottle of waterproof rataway is enough to spray your engine 50 times and cost $33.00 shipping included.. 800-646-2177--- the company is in Ojal, Ca. e-mail is
ratawayman@aol.com-
site is www.rataway.com

we use Irish Spring bar soap[[leave it in the box or wrapper and punch hole in it]] and dryer sheets in our Motorhome before we cover it... hubby also puts dryer sheets on the top of the tires, in tail pipe, outside propane storage and in all the outside storage units along with bar of irish spring.. he put dryer sheet in all the cabinets inside , in the bunk over the cab he put soap and dryer sheets, we have two house type upholstered recliners that we installed-- he puts both the sheet and soap on the seats, does the same in the bedroom, bathroom cabinets, in all the gallery cabinets, under the front seats.. we have never seen any sign of mice or rodents.. he does the same in our barn.. we had an 86 Ford commercial Van that the mice ruin everything under the hood and the seats inside the van..

We usually use moth balls or those camphor flakes and they work, but we didn't think mice would invade the engine. I have heard about those dryer sheets repelling mice. However the rodent odor is just about gone but now we notice another sick odor - see my other post from tonight. We can't tell where this smell is coming from or what's causing it.

My Dad use to buy garlic oil extract and pepper mint that is used for making candy ,, he mixed those together and sprayed on cotton balls and place those in sacks my Mom made and tossed them around the garage and in cars that would be parked for the Winter...

there is also a product made that cost $200.00 that you spray the outside of your motorhome--wheel wells, exhaust, bumpers the ground before you put your cover on.. that was told to us at a campgrounds..

We can't afford something so expensive. This coming winter I'll use BOTH mothballs/camphor flakes and dryer sheets all over the engine and the inside of the RV.

Chipmunks and squirrels also do damage and can stretch their bodies to get into hoses, small openings.. That Van had foam fliter that chipmucks chewed through and carried cat food from across the road and had it buried down under the fliter.. I thought hubby was playing a joke on me-- he was working on the van and came running into the house and Said-- look what I found under that foam filter.. he put the unit into a five gallon pail and told me take it the Ford dealer so they could order a new one.. the guy there hollered for the order clerk-- he looked at the mess and said --------------ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh looks like you have some chipmunks Madam.. that filter was part of the anti snog that year Van had.. Ford wanted $600.00 for it and I told the guy --I do not think I will order it today.. I told hubby and he said ---watch me fix it far cheaper-- he went on line and found one for $65.00 plus shipping-- when it came it was the wrong part.. so long story short he bought a furnace filter and cut a piece to fit inside.. it worked like a charm--we put 8500 miles on after he fixed it..

We couldn't find any sign of anything where the engine is concerned after washing it. What part are you talking about that had to be replaced?

[RanCarr]

Originally Posted by sidewinder2

......
Apparently, the peppermint oil destroys the sense of smell for the mice and they can't function without it so they stay away.

Hope this helps for future storage without odor and health issues caused by mice.

Where do you find Peppermint oil? Is this something I can find at Walmart or ........ ???

[RanCarr]

Originally Posted by road bum

found the other mouse proof information-- www.mouse-free.com

--if you do it you would need a gallon jug of mouse free $99.00 and DlY application gun $29.99 plus a compressed air hose with minimum of 60 PSI

Our concern is not so much in keeping them out from now on, but to get rid of the odors in the RV. It smells better now that the engine was washed, but now the chemical odor of stale old moldy latex paint is obvious. We are totally unable to find the source of this odor. We can't tell where it's coming from. It didn't have this sour nasty chemical odor when we bought it. It's not to bad when the windows and vents are all open but when we close them it's nauseating. We thought when I painted the walls and floors in the RV it would seal in any odors. That didn't happen.

.....you can go to www.rvdealersmarket place.com there you will find state lists of RV dealers that will do it for you.. the price the guy that told us about it said he was quoted $10.00 per linear foot so if you had a trailer that was 22' it will cost 22 x 10.00 =$220.00 that would only stop the mice from entering your RV not kill any you already have inside..

Fortunately the mice didn't invade the inside of the RV so no use treating it for mice.

...one caution--those who have pets please do not use moth balls or crystals.. if you miss picking them up and your pet eats it it could get very sick or die..happy travels or camp outs

31' 2006 - Jayco -Greyhawk

This is true. That's why we'll leave them where they're out of the cat's reach and remove them after the winter. Knowing cats, they wouldn't go near moth balls or anything remotely resembling them.

[BFlinn181]

Originally Posted by RanCarr

Where do you find Peppermint oil? Is this something I can find at Walmart or ........ ???

It's used as a diet supplement, so it's available where vitamins are sold. Walgreens, perhaps a Walmart Superstore, etc.

[RanCarr]

Originally Posted by Paul R. Haller

Whenever I have urine odors To get rid of, rat or otherwise, I have successfully washed with white vinegar, water, and rubbing alcohol. Then, if odor still remains, a strong detergent, like Castrol super clean, multiple times and where the odor still remained, I followed up with an RV waste digester mixed with water and kept it wet. The waste digester seemed to clear out even the faintest smells where the others could not.
-Paul R. Haller-

Have you used all these stuff on your engine? I'm sure there are places the water and cleaner missed when I did the engine because there's still a faint odor of mice in the cab part when the engine gets warm. Short of pulling the entire engine out to wash, I can't reach any place else to spray and hose. The stronger odor now is the sour smell of decomposing rotting acrylic paint. Anyone who opened an ancient can of moldy fungused acrylic paint knows the odor I mean.

[BA-in-Mich]

Have you tried cleaning the carpet?

[RanCarr]

Originally Posted by BA-in-Mich

Have you tried cleaning the carpet?

What carpet? We ripped that out within days of buying the RV. Then sealed in any odors by painting the floor with 2 heavy coats of Porch & Deck enamel.

[Moonrover]

Wagner 915 1,500-Watt On-Demand Power Steamer and Cleaner

Amazon has it for about $89. For an engine that is sort in "inside" an RV, this might be more controllable than a full-sized steam jenny.

[RanCarr]

Originally Posted by Moonrover

Wagner 915 1,500-Watt On-Demand Power Steamer and Cleaner

Amazon has it for about $89. For an engine that is sort in "inside" an RV, this might be more controllable than a full-sized steam jenny.

The mouse urine odor finally faded away. All we smell now is the sour odor of rotting wood and what smells like sour decomposing waterbase paint. We finally got the roof to stop leaking - for now anyway.