How to Get Rid of Ground Moles with Dawn Soap (2024)

Looking for ways to get rid of moles, voles and gophers naturally? Turns out you can actually get rid of moles in your yard with Dawn dish soap. A mixture of Dawn and castor oil makes a great natural repellent for moles and other burrowing creatures. Read on for the full recipe and find out what smells moles hate and other easy ways to keep rodents out of your yard.

Get rid of moles with Dawn soap

If you’ve been working hard on your lawn and garden, one of the most frustrating things you can find on your grass are mole hills.

Those large lumps of brown dirt can totally ruin the look of your luscious lawn, and burrowing rodents can cause damage to the grass roots underneath.

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Moles aren’t all bad through, they do serve a purpose. Creatures that burrow under the ground help to aerate the soil and help keep the bug population under control. Moles eat insects and worms in the ground so if you have a few mole hills on your lawn take comfort knowing they are getting rid of spiders and other bugs (if you're having trouble with other rodents, read more here).

You can kill moles with a trap but I prefer cruelty-free methods. Instead of killing the rodents I’d rather they prefer not to tear up my lawn in the first place (and go for the neighbors instead I suppose).

You can get live traps and relocate the moles but I have a recipe to share that uses one of my favorite household supplies: Dawn dish soap. Combined with castor oil it makes a great natural mole repellent for your lawn. Many commercial repellents use concentrated pellets or liquids composed of castor oil and other irritating ingredients to drive moles away. Now you can make your own!

Ingredients for natural mole repellent

• Dawn Dish Soap
• Water
• Castor Oil
• Hose end sprayer

Castor oil is available at your local drug store. You can find it in the laxative section. It’s a light yellow oil with a faint odor and it tastes gross. It is composed of several different glycerides, the main one being ricinolein, or glyceride of ricinoleic acid. It does not combine well with water (this is why you add the dish soap to help it mix) , so you’ll have to shake it after you combine the ingredients.

Beware that castor oil is combustible, so store it safely. The medicine cabinet or any other cool dry place out of direct sun or heat.

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Directions for Natural Mole and Vole repellent

Follow the directions in the "How To" card at the bottom of the post for the mole repellent recipe. Spray the mixture all over your lawn and pour it directly onto the mole hills.

Here’s why natural mole repellent with Dawn and castor oil works:

Moles hate castor oil. When you apply it to the soil, it acts as a natural repellent. The castor oil doesn’t kill the moles but it will upset their digestive tract and cause stomach upset. If it get on their skin, it will make them itch. The castor oil won’t cause permanent damage but it will make them reroute their tunnels elsewhere.

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Do coffee grounds keepmoles away?

Coffee grounds have manyuses in the garden. They can be used to help repel rodents, pests and randomcats.

I would use coffee grounds as part of your mole repelling arsenal but I don't think they are strong enough to repel moles on their own, but they can certainly help.

To use as a repellent, either sprinkle some freshcoffee groundsthroughout the lawn and garden, or toss your brewedcoffee groundsinto the garden each day after making your morning pot ofcoffee.

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Do moth balls get ridof moles in your yard?

Mothballsormothflakes are also touted as a supposed moleand volerepellent. Again,theidea is to sprinklethe moth ballsdowntheholes, tunnels and burrows ofmoleand voles.

Moth balls have a lot of toxic chemicals in them so they aren't my favorite way to get rid of pests. However if you already have them in your closet, why not give it a shot and put them in the mole hills.

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How to get rid of ground moles with urine

Another way to get rid of moles in your yard is to deter them with urine. You can use human or animal urine. If you have dogs, let them do their business in the yard and they will help take care of things. You could also use your own urine and pour it onto the mole hills. I'll let you decide the best way to get human urine onto the mole hills 🙂

Will cats help get rid of rodents in the yard?

Yes! My cat is quite the mouser and will bring home a small rodent almost everyday. Sometimes more than one per day if shes feeling particularly frisky.

If you are thinking of getting a cat anyways then it can be a helpful tool to get rid of moles, voles and other rodents in the home and garden. I don't think you should get a cat for the sole purpose of catching moles though. What if the kitty you choose turns out to be terrible at catching moles? You still have to take care of it and it's a living creature that is depending on you.

How do you get rid of moles naturally? Let me know your best tips in the comments!

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