Cleaning pots and pans after mice.

[Joan]

We recently had a mouse in the kitchen, it has been dispatched with. When I went to go cook next, I noticed that there was mouse poop on my pots and pans. I have rinsed them off, soaked them in a bleach solution for 10 minutes, and plan on washing them with dish-soap after the soak. In addition, my husband said he would wash out the cabinet for me.

 

Is there anything else I need to do. Also, on one of the lids, I notice after the bleach soak, there as a piece of mouse poop stuck between the glass and the metal. I took a toothpick and removed it and re-soaked it.

 

Is this enough, or is there more I should do to disinfect the pot and pans. (Majority are stainless steel with glass lids, two are nonstick, and one lid is a universal lid with glass and I think silicone)

[Midnightmom]

15 hours ago, Joan said:

Is this enough, or is there more I should do to disinfect the pot and pans. (Majority are stainless steel with glass lids, two are nonstick, and one lid is a universal lid with glass and I think silicone)

 

I recently found out that you should not use bleach on stainless steel - it discolors the metal. Look for my post about "Did I Ruin My Pot?" to find out more details.

[Mt_Rider]

My Opinion:  Although finding any Rodent Leavings is completely gross     I usually just wash very well with hot dish water.  AND....if I've still got the heebee geebees about it, I boil water in whatever pot has been fouled.  Inspecting closely the crevasses is a good idea, as you've found.  Scrub with a dish brush or it's like to get those cracks and small spaces. 

 

I might use alcohol wipes on the surfaces while cleaning up visible leavings...then put into the dishwater.   

 

MtRider  ...I'm about to hang my pots from the ceiling ....but....y'know mice "fly", right?   

Edited September 20, 2020 by Mt_Rider

[Jeepers]

I'd still bleach if I saw the dropping after I already washed the item. I could live with discolored but not the thought of embedded mouse droppings. Although alcohol sounds good too. I'd be dousing it on though. Gads, I hate mice in the house. 

 

I think they can fly too. They sure can jump. At the Indy house last time I was there, I got on a ladder to remove a light bulb in the kitchen ceiling and glanced over at the top of the cabinet. Yep, mouse droppings up there. How did they get up there and why. And this is the time of year they will be moving back in.  

[monzi]

I have a stainless steel kettle which has a flat round plastic lid. I covered the kettle with a tea towel to protect it from a mouse. What's the best way to clean the kettle, especially when it may have mouse bacteria on it?