Finding droppings in a drawer, under the sink or in the garage is unsettling. The natural instinct is to grab a broom or the vacuum and get rid of them. Please don't.
Why not sweep or vacuum?
Dried rodent droppings and urine can carry diseases, and sweeping or vacuuming them sends particles into the air where you can breathe them in. The best-known risk is hantavirus, carried mainly by deer mice. Cases in Washington are rare, but it's serious, and the precautions are easy.
Cleaning up a small amount
For a small area like a cabinet or a corner of the garage, public health guidance from the CDC goes roughly like this:
- Open windows and doors and let the area air out for at least 30 minutes.
- Put on rubber or plastic gloves.
- Spray the droppings and any nesting material with a disinfectant or a mix of 1 part bleach to 10 parts water until soaked. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
- Wipe it up with paper towels and put them in a sealed plastic bag in the trash.
- Mop or wipe the area with disinfectant.
- Wash your gloved hands, then remove the gloves and wash your hands again.
When to call someone
If droppings are spread through an attic, crawl space, or insulation, it's a different job. There's too much area to treat with a spray bottle, and the insulation itself is contaminated. That's when protective suits, respirators, HEPA vacuums and proper disposal come in.
Also call if you're seeing droppings regularly. It means there's an active population and a way in that needs closing.
We handle rodent removal and cleanup in attics and crawl spaces, and follow it with rodent proofing so they don't come back.