How to Clean Mouse Droppings from Carpet

It takes special procedures to clean mouse droppings from carpets, which this guide covers to help protect you from getting an infection. In extreme cases, you need to inform your healthcare provider If you are concerned that you may have developed an illness due to a rodent-borne disease after exposure to their dropping, urine, or other evidence.

Breathing in contaminated air from mouse evidence is a form of disease spread to humans. Thus, it is not recommended by the CDC to vacuum or sweep mouse droppings, urine, or nesting materials. Tiny droplets may contain viruses and will escape into the air through vacuuming.

Meanwhile, if you have swept or vacuumed during rodent cleaning, contact your local or state health department for information about rodent-borne diseases.

How to clean mouse droppings from carpet

It is important to safely clean up all mouse urine, droppings, dead mouse, and nesting materials if you have mice in your carpet. Follow the safe steps below:

1. Check if those are mice droppings

It is best to check if you are dealing with actual mouse droppings before you do the clean-up. Mice droppings can pose a health risk.

Unlike the common home remedies you use to clean pet stains on carpets, the procedure for removing mouse droppings and odor from carpets is different and specific, so you need to know that you are dealing with mouse droppings.

The droppings of these ferocious critters are like grains of black rice and are minuscule. The pellets often appear in long trails along carpets, staircases, floors, or any other path the mouse follows and are shaped like spindles. Note that rat and roach droppings are different from mouse droppings, even though they both look like black pepper.

Mice droppings can spread many contagious diseases, so do not touch or smell them if you think they are on your carpet. You want to keep a reasonable distance and visually inspect the droppings.

2. Do not sweep or vacuum

It’s important to resist the urge to follow the easy way out—using your vacuum cleaner to remove mouse droppings.

The bacteria in the droppings may become airborne and inhaling them can spread all sorts of diseases, including hantavirus. A mouse can spread hantavirus to people. Hantavirus can be present in mice urine, saliva, and feces and releasable in the air in confined spaces when disturbed by human activities, including sweeping or vacuuming.

Other surfaces in your house could be contaminated. Sweeping them into a dustpan or out the door should also be avoided. The droppings should be handled with care as they contain bacteria.

3. Leave the doors and windows open

The optimum condition of the room before you conduct any cleaning procedure is to make it well-ventilated.

Create a well-ventilated space by opening the windows. If you want privacy from children and pets, keep the door closed.

Allow up to 30 minutes for the room to be aerated to make sure that the space is free of any existing bacterial particles.

4. Gear up

You need to put on gloves once the room is aerated to help avoid the spread of any disease since you’ll be handling the droppings directly.

You will also be protected when you are cleaning the carpet with recommended disinfectants. For an additional layer of protection, wear long-sleeved clothes and put on a mask.

5. Disinfect mouse droppings

The droppings are now ready to be disinfected. This allows them to be safely and easily removed as they become less sticky and adhesive.

You can easily disinfect the droppings without damaging your carpet using carpet-safe solutions with antibacterial properties. It may also be done using some carpet pre-sprays.

If necessary, dilute the disinfectant according to the product instructions and pour it into a spray bottle. Now spray it on the droppings directly. Wait for up to half an hour for the dropping to get disinfected.

Note that vinegar is not a reliable mouse poop disinfectant. Here’s a publication we’ve made explaining the minor role of vinegar in disinfecting mouse droppings.

6. Remove the droppings

This step can be irritating and gross, but you need to do it manually. Carefully remove the nice droppings one by one from the carpet with the use of a paper towel.

You can also pick the droppings with an adhesive cardboard pad. Use a sealable, disposable plastic bag to dispose of them.

Make sure to seal the bag tightly after placing the paper towel you used in picking them up inside it. During this step, it is important to put on your gloves.

7. Dispose of the sealed bag and wash up

Before you empty it into a dustbin with a tight-fitting lid, get another plastic bag to double up the initially sealed plastic bag. Place this dustbin outside of your home.

Wash your gloves for at least 2 minutes with antibacterial soap while still wearing them. Now, remove and dispose of the gloves, alongside the droppings. Wash your bare hands this time around without the gloves and apply hand sanitizer (if any is available).

8. Clean and steam your carpet

Clean your carpet after safely disposing of the mouse droppings. A suitable carpet pre-spray and shampoo are recommended for proper cleaning.

You will also want to follow this up using commercial carpet cleaning equipment for deep cleaning of your carpet for the best results. You can steam other furniture the mouse would have been in contact with.

Since the droppings mean you have a mouse in your house or workspace, then in most cases, mouse evidence in one room means they are also in the other rooms.

Your final step is to look for the mouse and be sure you do not have an infestation. If you suspect an infestation, then it’s advisable to contact a pest exterminator to identify the infested areas and humanely get rid of the rodents for you to regain your home. To rid your carpet of mouse droppings can be quite a procedure, without a doubt. It is always necessary to follow the proper procedures to ensure that diseases are not spread in your home through droppings.