How to Prevent Mice in the toaster (2023 Update)

[dannydee]

We live in the country. No matter how well I plug every small hole or gap in the house, sooner or later a mouse is going to get indoors. They are known to chew their own holes to get in. I dont know who is worse in this house, because both my wife and myself tend to get pretty panicky when they get in. I dont mind them in the least outdoors, but once in the house, it's like they are going to attack us. My wife even has nightmares about them if there has been one in the house lately, and she just had one of them, which woke me up.

What happened was this morning she went to the kitchen to make some toast and as she was inserting the bread, a mouse jumped out of the toaster. After that incident I had a feeling she would have a nightmare tonight, and I was right.

My reason for this message is to ask if anyone knows of a way to make a cover for a toaster, or do they sell them? Once a mouse gets in the toaster, she throws it in the trash. I really dont blame her, because there really is no way to wash the whole thing and the mice leave a disgusting mess in the bottom, if you know what I mean.

Toasters are not that expensive, but I bet we average buying 3 or 4 each year and always because of mice. This is getting pretty costly. After the mouse jumping out at her last morning, she said she will never use a toaster again unless it's kept covered or in some sort of enclosure where mice can not get inside. At the same time, I am not going to buy another one until we find a means to enclose it. I don't understand why they dont make toasters that can be closed up after use. Mice a fairly common in the country, and even in the city people do get them indoors. This makes me wonder how many people eat mouse droppings with their toast and never realize it. And even without mice, toasters being open on the top are not the most sanitary at anytime.

If anyone has any solutions or ideas, please reply.

Thanks

Dan

[Dr. Hardcrab]

Get a cat....

[ransley]

Have you ever heard of mouse traps and mouse poison, I guess not

[Norminn]

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You get droppings and body parts before wheat becomes toast; read up on food safety standards and you will find a minimum allowable level of stuff allowed. Envision a grainary and the feast it offers to rodents. Then picture the grainary being emptied and the wheat being milled for flour......rodents have lived and died in the stuff, and some unfortunate is bound to be milled along with the flour. You also get larvae in pasta and nuts, so be aware the world is not sterile outside of your toaster.

It only takes a few crumbs to attract mice - cereal, pet food, flour, etc. Clean up the kitchen thoroughly, every crack, crevice and cupboard. Put mouse edibles into sealed plastic or metal containers. Put traps in the nice, warm, cozy places that mice like to nest in .... around pilot flame, fridge motor. Mice need only about 1/4" opening to get into the house, but making the house less attractive is the key. I used to get a mouse or two every fall when the weather turned cold. It was easy to get rid of them. If the toaster is the only food source, mebbe storing it in a closed plastic bin would cure the visitors.

[Jim Elbrecht]

-snip-

If you have that many mice you should be thinking about an exterminator- or at least a bunch of traps/poison.

-snip-

-snip-

I get an occasional mouse. And I trap him, and all his kin- then I don't see any [or any sign] for a year or two.

An appliance garage might make your wife less squeamish-

But don't let her read this site or she might want you to kill some of the critters- can get a few interesting viruses just by sharing living quarters with mice.

Jim

[HeyBub]

1. Get your wife to make a toaster cozy.
2. Keep the crumbs cleaned out of the toaster.

1. Put the toaster in the refrigerator between uses.

2. Put the toaster in a plastic trash bag. Don't forget the twist-tie.

1. Toast your bread in the oven.

2. (My favorite) You can get little mice-like toys in the cat section of Walmart. They're like five for a dollar. Sprinkle these toys under the covers. This phobia cure is called "total immersion therapy."

[Noel]

cozy.http://www.camacrafts.org/kitchen_tca.htm>

Cats are not the answer...they can't get all of them. Why not get a wired net ,the type that they can't gnaw at, and use it as a cover for the toaster..or why not put it in storage of your dishwasher or range, if you have them, or microwave oven...But remember, keep the house clean of crumbs and after using the toaster, clean out the crumbs ...don't let them accumulate. I lined my kitchen drawers ( the rear ends ) and now they never get into them.

[ransley]

Feed the mice then they wont bother the toaster

[dadiOH]

I'm wondering if you knew that pepper can have up to 10% rodent droppings? Or that both you and your wife - and everyone else - has mites living in the root area of their eyelashes?

Pleasant dreams... :)

[GM]

As others have said, set traps etc first. You need to figure out their entry points (typically under the fridge, dishwasher or sink) and trap near there. You can try some cayenne pepper in the toaster to keep them away from that, but I would focus your energy closer to the source. I too live in a heavily wooded area with an endless supply of the little buggers, but have never been defeated in my attempts to stop them getting in. It sometimes takes a few goes to find all the entry points, but it is possible and I encourage you not to resign your self to it being an inevitable part of life in the country. Here are the areas I've found them getting in:

• wherever utilities or air comes in or out of the house - foam/wire wool/caulk around AC pipes and gas and electrical boxes (just foam all the way around them to be sure. screw wire mesh (chicken wire) over vent outlets (eg for bathroom fans); for the dryer vent, make sure the flap is not blocked with lint, buy one of the mouse/bird proof covers, and be sure to clean it out regularly to prevent a blockage

• if you have siding, look at the lower lip - sometimes there can be a gap underneath. depending on the type of material, you can either foam it, nail it tight to the sheathing or insert a thin strip of wood to close the gap

• don't ignore decks - I've had a couple of instances where I've sealed everything up so well, except for under the deck; last fall I pulled off the first three boards of the deck, in desperation, and sure enough, found gaps in the sill plate where the ledger board was attached - easy to fix, and that certainly solved the problem.

• don't ignore the roof, or vents high up on the walls, they will certainly get up there (although they are much more likely to be coming in at ground level

In my experience exterminators don't help that much. They just set traps and bait, which you can do. They tend to be less than helpful when looking for entry points....they want the recurring revenue! I've heard a couple say that most mice get in through cracks in the foundation, so nothing you can do about it - that is BS. In my experience they usually come in where a pipe or vent comes into the house.

Good luck.

[Norminn]

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Tell us about the components of household dust :o)

[jp]

To Dan, they sell electric units that emit a signal that will deture mice and squirrels, and all types of rodents at a cost of about 50 or

60 dollars. Its works, and for the price of the toster you can buy this unit. II would look at all your plumbing pipes where they come through the floor and calk all those areas, UNDER SINK and BATHROOM. Good luck dan, henry penta [e-mail]

[dadiOH]

Only if OP promises that his wife won't read it :)

[Jim Elbrecht]

-snip-

Cat's are like people- no two are alike. We had a cat that was a great hunter. . . outside. She cleaned or property of mice, moles, chipmunks, rabbits and even a mink- on Mother's Day, no less.

I think she considered the indoor mice 'fellow pets'. The cat slept on an ugly old overstuffed chair on the back porch. When she died I threw the chair out- and discovered about 10 pounds of catfood hidden in it. Not by the cat- but by the mice she was sleeping over.

Jim

[Oren]

How many years have you had this problem?

1 yr 3-4 toasters

2 yr 6-8 toasters

3 yr 9-12 toasters

[Don Wiss]

A mouse would simply crawl under that door.

Don (e-mail link at home page bottom).

[Don Wiss]

They won't do anything to keep out mice.

Don (e-mail link at home page bottom).

[websurf1]

Get a large plastic, tupperware-like container, into which the toaster can be put once it cools down. It's possible, but methinks unlikely, that the mice would chew into it as long as the outside is kept clean.

[Marina]

[e-mail] wrote in news:154d2990-579b-48e4-bcd1- [e-mail]:

Same thing happened to me. I bought a toaster oven.

[Abe]

Build a plywood box that just fits the toaster. Use a plywood with a finished veneer side that you can stain and make look nice. 1/2" or

3/8" thickness should be fine.