If you own outdoor furniture and facing some trouble with rats destroying your furniture then the following tips and tricks are going to help you to understand how to keep rats away from outdoor furniture.
- Use ultrasonic rat repellents
- Use peppermint oil on your furniture
- Place some cloves
- Grow plants in your garden that the rat hates
- Spray ammonia
- Place mothballs
- Lighten up your garden
- Use mouse repellent on your furniture
- Store the furniture
- Keep your patio clean
- Don’t give them easy access to food
- Remove cushions from your patio
- Call pest control
The best solution to stop them from destroying your outdoor furniture is to prevent them from getting inside the home. We will look at a few tips by which we can keep these pests away from your outdoor relaxing furniture.
Why Are Rats Gnawing On My Outdoor Furniture?
Rats like to grind their teeth on wood due to their continuously growing teeth. They grind their teeth on wood, furniture, etc., to keep them filed. Rats chew on pieces of furniture to keep their incisors from growing to an unmanageable length.
Tip to Keep Rats Out Of Outdoor Furniture
If you own outdoor furniture, you know how quickly rats can find their way to your furniture. If you haven’t experienced it before, then you should know that rats can make a home out of the fabric of your furniture.
They can make their way under the fabric and make a nest, making it much harder to find and get rid of.
You need to know how to prevent rats from making their way to your furniture. Here are some tips.
Tip#1 Peppermint Oil
Peppermint oil is a non-lethal pest repellent used for mice and rats. Unlike humans, they detest the smell!
Mix half the bottle with half a bottle of lemon oil, add it to a liter of water in a sprayer, and spray it on your furniture and around the area where you want rats to avoid until they are completely gone. Peppermint oil is an excellent repellent to deter pesky rodents from your property.
Tip#2 Ultrasonic rat Repellants
Ultrasonic rat Repellants are available to deter them away from your patio. It is safe to use this around children, cats, and dogs, odorless, and easy to install.
It protects your house from pests without the use of dangerous chemicals. It is safe for your family and can be installed anywhere in the house. It is easy to install; you can easily install it on your patio to keep the rats away from your outdoor furniture.
Tip#3 Use Of Cloves
Cloves are an excellent natural rat repellent because of their unpleasant smell and spicy flavor. You can place some pieces of cloves around your garden or near the furniture, or you can grow a clove plant in your garden. Its unpleasant smell will keep the rodents away from your furniture.
Tip#4 Grow Plants That Rats Hate
Daffodils, alliums, garlic, lavender, and mint are known to be rodents that repel plants. Plant them in your garden to avoid rats coming to your house. You can also place some plants underneath furniture covers to keep them away from your furniture.
Tip#5 Use Of Ammonia
Rats find the scent of ammonia the same as the scent of urine of their predators and don’t go nearby where they smell ammonia, making it a very effective rat repellent.
Fill a few bottle caps of ammonia or soak cotton balls and put them near your outdoor furniture or anywhere you see rat droppings. Ammonia is poisonous, so do not put ammonia near pets or children.
Tip#6 Moth Balls
Mothballs contain little naphthalene and work as a repellent against rats, but it is not powerful enough to completely get rid of them. Place mothballs in your furniture to keep rats away from your furniture.
Tip#7 Lighten Up Your Garden
Rats are nocturnal and active at night. They cause all the destruction at night. However, they are not scared of lights but feel more secure when it’s dark. Try to keep the light in your garden on to avoid them. If you have bird feeders in your garden, use rodent-proof bird feeders and place them inside at night.
Tip#8 Use A Mouse Repellent on your Furniture
Many effective rat repellents are available in the market, which are safe for furniture. You can use peppermint oil and tea tree oil on the surface. It will prevent them from coming in contact with your furniture and potentially chewing through it while they search for food!
Tip#9 Store The Furniture
If you live in a country that is mostly cold throughout the year, you don’t use furniture most of the time. Secure your furniture in plastic to keep it safe from rats. Open it up when you intend to use it for a long time.
Tip#10 Keep Patio Clean
You should keep your garden, including the grill and deck, clean if you want to avoid them coming to your outdoor furniture. Clean up food crumbs right away, and make sure not to leave garbage cans outside the house; if you are leaving them outside, then cover the lids tightly to avoid these unwanted visitors to your home.
Tip#11 Don’t Give Them Easy Access to Food
Clutter is equally essential to rats as food because it provides them shelter, security, and protection from larger animals. They built their nests near the most accessible food sources. So, make sure not to give them food. Don’t leave any food crumbs and garbage outside.
Tip#12 Remove Cushions from Your Patio
Rats love digging holes and living in pillows. Don’t leave cushions or pillows outside; if you leave them in the garden, place mothballs around them otherwise put them in at separate places and use them when you are using the furniture.
Tip#13 Call Pest Control
If the above methods didn’t work for you and you are still noticing any of the warning signs of an infestation, then it’s the right time to call a pest control company to get your home inspected for your family’s health and the safety of your house.
How To Find Out If a Rat Is Damaging Your Furniture?
If you are not sure if a rat is destroying your outdoor furniture, then look for these few signs given below:
Check Footprint
Check if any footprints are on the sand or floor on your patio. If the footprints are visible, then yes, your patio furniture is home to critters.
Rat Droppings
The worst part is that living on your furniture can be their droppings. They will not only ruin your furniture with their droppings, but their droppings can spread bacteria and trigger allergic reactions in humans.
What Diseases Spread Through Rat Droppings?
- Hantavirus
- Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome
- Salmonellosis
- Lymphocytic Chorio-meningitis
- Tularemia
Hantavirus symptoms are fever, muscle pain, especially in the hips, thighs, and back, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and chills. These all symptoms will appear within 1 to 8 weeks of exposure to rats’ droppings.
Damage
You’ll notice gnawing on the furniture, causing furniture to become brittle, and a urine smell coming from the furniture.
What Spice Keeps Rats Away?
Cinnamon has a very strong and spicy scent like rat hate. Rats will not come near your house if they smell cinnamon.
Place cinnamon sticks in your closet, drawers, cushions, and your outdoor furniture. Putting a few drops of cinnamon oil on a cotton ball and putting it inside the table can also help repel rats.
Will vinegar repel rats?
Vinegar has an unpleasant smell, strong enough to deter rats. Sprinkle it around your garden to stop them from coming.
Why Are Rats Attracted to Outdoor Furniture?
Have you ever noticed rats running across the furniture outdoors? Have you ever wondered why the rats are attracted to the furniture? To understand why rats are attracted to these pieces of furniture, we need to look at the factors that attract them.
Warmth And Shelter
Rats search for a warm place to live during the winter seasons. So, make sure your furniture is tightly packed during the winter season.
Continuously Growing Teeth
Rats like to grind their teeth on wood due to their continuously growing teeth. They grind their teeth on wood, furniture, etc., to keep them filed. Rats need to chew on furniture or keep their teeth from growing to an unmanageable length.
Food Storage
Cracks and holes in the furniture, like a corner sofa in your garden, are the favorite of rats to store food. You may find their droppings and food particles on your outdoor furniture as a sign that rats are using them.
Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed our article about how to keep rats away from your outdoor furniture. Suppose you are concerned that rats might be chewing up your outdoor furniture and destroying your garden.
In that case, it’s important to ensure you’re keeping them away from your furniture and outdoor areas to prevent the problem from occurring.
Please read our article for some amazing tips and tricks to keep rats away from your outdoor furniture or your garden and take care of your outdoor furniture. For further queries, you can also contact us anytime.
Thanks for reading!
List Of Sources
Estimated Time of Biomineralization in Developing Rat Incisors, Seong-Oh Kim Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Yonsei University College of Dentistry
