The Top 5 Ways To Rid Rodents FROM Your VEHICLE

Did you take your sports car out of storage this Spring and find a surprise? Vehicle owners that live along West Michigan's lakeshore and farm country are finding out that rodents made a home in their cars last Winter. In these areas, infestations are inevitable, and you shouldn't be embarrassed.

However, you should know that it's essential to take care of the issue because inhaling rat urine and droppings is dangerous for your health. For example, they can carry the Hantavirus. So, we'll discuss how to repel rodents, how to take care of an infestation at home, what you should do before you drop your car off at a detailer, and how Garza Detailing and Power Washing will finish the job.

Rodent Prevention Tips
Measures of prevention are your best bet, but they aren't foolproof. Here are some ways to repel rodents:

1. Common Sense: Keep food and wrappers out of your car! While this won’t stop these wiley creatures from wanting to build nests and gnaw on wires while it’s in storage, in or out of storage, you don’t want to leave an invitation.
2. Old Fashioned: House a cat in your garage.
3. Hillbilly Method: Grate some Irish Spring soap and put it around your vehicle and in the trunk. Mice don’t like the smell or the taste. If you ever had your mouth washed out  with soap, no explanation is necessary:)
4. Most Recommended: Purchase a mouse blocker. Those little long tailed devils are repelled by the signal it omits. If you can't install it yourself, hire a mechanic.
5. Boogee: Purchase a Mouse Blocker 1000X! It omits an ultrasonic sound that will blast rats away.

DIY Rodent Control
When you take your treasured vehicle out for a spin, unfortunately, you may find dead rodents, nesting, urine, and droppings.

If you're willing to DIY the cleanup, do not vacuum the droppings with your household vacuum cleaner, and immediately empty out your shop vac wearing appropriate protective gear, like a mask, gloves, and long sleeves. As we established, they could be contaminated with the Hantavirus.

First, air out the interior and engine compartment for at least 20 minutes. Then, take a commercially labeled disinfectant or a mixture of one part bleach and nine parts water to spray all over the contaminated areas. Let the disinfectant sit for five minutes.

Next, use a paper towel to pick up the waste. Then, respray the disinfectant.

Check the HVAC system because mice love to nest in there. If you find that you need to replace the air filter, repeat all of the steps above on the HVAC system.

OR, Instead, Do These Two Things Before You Take Your Car To a Detailer.
Most detailers like us are willing to work with rodent infestations, but before we do that, replace your cabin air filters and remove all visible nests.

What We Can Do
After you replace filters and remove nesting, we can do the further cleanup, extracting, and an interior deep clean. Please note that if your vents and air intake are infested, they must be opened up to be cleaned out. You may prefer to have your dealership do that if the process is complicated.

So, call Garza Detailing and Power Washing at 616-836-7465, or fill out our form so that we can clean up and help you breathe easy. Remember the preventative methods for next year when your car returns to storage!

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