"I'd Tried Traps, Poison, Even a Cat" - How a Bristol Mum Finally Got Rid of Mice in Her Kitchen After 3 Years

Margaret Hartley in her Fishponds kitchen, which she says has been mouse-free since September 2024.

When Margaret Hartley, 64, from Fishponds in Bristol heard scratching under her kitchen cupboards for the first time back in 2021, she didn't think much of it.

"It was just this little scratching sound behind the cooker," she told me over the phone last week. "I thought, right, I'll nip to B&Q, get a couple of traps, job done. That's what my dad always did."

But it wasn't job done. Not even close.

Over the next three years, Margaret tried practically everything you can think of. Snap traps. Humane catch-and-release traps. Those plug-in ultrasonic things from Amazon. Cotton wool balls soaked in peppermint oil from Holland & Barrett. She even got her daughter's cat to come and stay for a fortnight.

"Nothing worked properly," she said. "Or things would sort of work for a bit, then they'd come straight back. I'd find droppings in my cutlery drawer and just want to cry. It's so disgusting. You feel dirty in your own home and you don't want to tell people because it's embarrassing."

It Wasn't Just the Kitchen

By autumn 2023, Margaret realised the problem had spread to the loft. She could hear them at night, running about above her bedroom ceiling.

"That's when I really started to lose sleep, literally. I could hear them scurrying around at two in the morning. My husband Dave kept saying 'just ignore it' but how can you ignore that? Once you know they're there, every little sound has you wide awake."

She called out a local pest control company who charged her £180 for the first visit. They put down poison bait stations and told her they'd return in two weeks.

The poison brought its own worries too. Margaret's five-year-old grandson Oliver visits every weekend, and she was terrified he'd somehow get into the bait stations. "I was following him round the house making sure he didn't touch anything near the skirting boards. That's no way to live, is it?"

And the traps? With Margaret's arthritis getting worse in her hands, particularly over the winter months, the snap traps had become nearly impossible to set. "I actually caught my own thumb in one. Properly bruised it, went all purple. And then you've got to deal with the dead mouse as well - pick it up, put it in the bin. I'm sorry but I just can't do it anymore. I'm not squeamish about much but that, no."

Mouse droppings found in Margaret's cutlery drawer. She says finding them there was the final straw.

A Comment in a Facebook Group Changed Everything

Margaret told me she found the solution almost by accident. She was scrolling through a local Fishponds community group on Facebook when she spotted a post from another woman complaining about mice in her terraced house.

"I always read through the comments on those posts because, you know, I was desperate for any ideas at that point. I must have tried about fifteen different things over three years. Anyway, this one woman replied saying she'd been using these little scented pouches you put behind cupboards and in the loft, and she'd not seen a single mouse since."

"A few other people commented saying they'd used the same ones. So I thought, well I've tried everything else, it's not exactly expensive, might as well give it a go."

The product was PRACTS HOMECARE Rodent Repellent Pouches. Margaret looked them up that evening and ordered a pack before bed.

PRACTS HOMECARE Rodent Repellent Pouches. 12 pouches per pack, using natural essential oils.

So How Do These Pouches Actually Work?

I was curious about the science behind it, so I did a bit of digging.

Unlike traps or poison, PRACTS HOMECARE pouches don't try to kill mice at all. They stop mice from wanting to be there in the first place. Each pouch contains a concentrated blend of natural essential oils - peppermint, cinnamon, castor oil, and cedarwood - all scents that mice genuinely cannot stand.

The smell is actually quite pleasant to us. A bit fresh and herby, sort of like walking past a Lush shop. But to a mouse, whose sense of smell is roughly fourteen times stronger than ours, it's completely overwhelming. They won't go anywhere near it.

Margaret said using them couldn't be simpler, which mattered to her because of her hands:

1. Open the pack Take the pouches out of the resealable bag. No fiddling, no setup, no tools needed.
2. Place them where mice go Pop them behind kitchen units, under the sink, inside cupboards, up in the loft - wherever you've noticed droppings or heard scratching.
3. Swap them out each month Replace with fresh pouches every 60 days to keep the scent barrier at full strength. That's it.

"Honestly, I was a bit sceptical," Margaret admitted. "After all the money I'd spent on pest control and everything else, the idea that a little scented pouch would sort it seemed too good to be true. But they're dead easy to use. No setting traps with arthritic fingers, no worrying about poison. You literally just put them in place and leave them."

A pouch placed behind kitchen units. They're small enough to tuck out of sight.

Where to put them

Margaret's pest control man had pointed out all the areas where mice were most active, so she already knew where to focus:

• Kitchen - behind the cooker, under the sink, inside cupboards near the back wall
• Loft - along the edges near pipe entry points, near the hatch
• Utility room - behind the washing machine, near where the pipework comes through
• Garage or shed - in corners, on shelving, near doorways

What Happened After Margaret Placed the Pouches

"They turned up on the Thursday," she said. "I put four in the kitchen straight away - three behind the cupboards and one under the sink. Then I asked Dave to go up in the loft and put another four along the edges, near where the soil pipe comes through the wall."

"By Saturday morning, no scratching. I thought maybe I was imagining it, or maybe they'd just gone quiet for a bit like they sometimes do. By the following Wednesday I checked everywhere - not a single new dropping anywhere. I haven't been so happy to see an empty cutlery drawer in my life."

Before

After - 2 weeks

Inside Margaret's kitchen cupboard. Left: before PRACTS HOMECARE. Right: two weeks after.

"It's been about four months now and I haven't seen a single sign of them. Not one dropping. No scratching at night. I actually sleep right through again, which sounds daft to get excited about but honestly, when you've had mice keeping you up at night for months on end, a proper night's kip feels brilliant."

"And my grandson can come round without me panicking about poison bait stations. That alone is worth it."

Others Who've Had the Same Problem

After speaking to Margaret, I looked into whether her experience was typical. I found dozens of reviews from people in very similar situations - homeowners who'd spent years dealing with mice and trying different products before landing on PRACTS HOMECARE.

Dave R. Sunderland, Tyne and Wear

★★★★★

"We'd had mice in the kitchen since we moved in three years ago. The previous owners clearly knew about it and said nothing. Spent ages blocking up holes, putting traps down, even had Rentokil out once. They kept finding a way back. Bought these pouches after seeing them on Facebook and genuinely, within a week, nothing. It's been about six weeks now and still all clear. Absolutely chuffed."

Verified Buyer

Sandra K. Telford, Shropshire

★★★★★

"My loft was dreadful - you could hear them running about every single night. I'm 71 and getting up a ladder to set traps in the loft just isn't happening anymore, so I got my son to pop these pouches up there instead. Three months on and not a peep. I also like that there's no poison because we've got a cat and I always worried about secondary poisoning with the bait boxes."

Verified Buyer

Jen & Paul M. Wakefield, West Yorkshire

★★★★☆

"Four stars only because you do need to swap them out every month, but they work so well I honestly don't mind. We'd been fighting mice in our 1930s semi for about two years. Pest control twice, traps all over the kitchen, still finding droppings every morning. Put these pouches in and it stopped within days. Our house is old with loads of little gaps everywhere so I'm properly surprised at how well they work. Smells quite nice too, sort of minty and warm."

Verified Buyer

PRACTS HOMECARE pouches tucked behind a kitchen kickboard. Small, discreet, and out of sight.

Why Margaret Wishes She'd Found These Years Ago

I asked Margaret what she'd say to someone who's still on the fence, someone who's been through the same cycle of traps and pest control bills and is wondering if this would actually be any different.

"I'd say I completely understand being sceptical because I was exactly the same. I'd spent over £400 on pest control visits and products that didn't last. The traps are grim, the poison had me on edge with a little one visiting, and the ultrasonic plug-in things, well, I'm fairly sure the mice couldn't have cared less about those."

"These pouches cost a fraction of what I've spent over the years and they genuinely work. You just put them there and forget about them. No dead mice to deal with, no poison to worry about, no spring-loaded traps bruising your thumbs. I wish somebody had told me about them in 2021. Would have saved myself three years of stress."

Common Questions About PRACTS HOMECARE

I put together answers to the questions readers have been asking most. Show all