As we live in the woods, we have many rodents such as mice and rats in the area. Recently we have had rats in the engine compartment of our vehicles. They have been leaving droppings and pulling the insulation from the hood of our pickup. They use the insulation and other materials to build nests inside the engine area. We needed to find a good solution to repel these rodents and drive them away from our vehicles.

Irish Spring Soap Piece

I took a bar of Irish Spring soap and cut off a small piece about 1 inch long. I then cut that piece in half ending with a piece of soap about 1 inch square as shown. I placed a piece of soap inside the engine compartment on the battery tray as this was one of the places we have been seeing droppings. I repeated this process for all our vehicles. Then I waited and watched.

Apparently the strong soap smell from the Irish Spring soap repels the rodents. Since I have placed the soap pieces inside the vehicle engine area, we have not had any signs that the rats have been back.

This idea may also work well for other areas where you do not want mice or rats such as your house, sheds, or garages. Give it a try and let me know how this rodent repellent works for you.

**Follow-up comment – I am hearing from several of you that this doesn’t work. I am adding a warning to others to beware that this may not work on mice. Please read the comments to see the outcomes of others.