The Best Mouse Traps

Your guide to this review today is by Cleaning expert Adam Barker
Published on
March 28th, 2019

Expert BioExpert Bio

Adam has a passion for cleaning from his youth growing up in England, and he has carried it with him to the US. Adam’s formal training and certifications in cleaning include the Advanced System Cleaning specialist (For HVAC cleaning / ductwork), through NADCA (this is the highest certification that NADCA has), as well as several other certifications from the IICRC. Adam has either advised, consulted, or done research with dozens of cleaning and cleaning related business entities. Adam holds an undergraduate degree from Oxford, a Master’s degree from Oxford, and a Master’s degree from Harvard Business School.

The Cleaning Institute

When you are dealing with a mouse infestation of any kind in your home or apartment, you want to be sure you have the right tools to get the job done right the first time. Calling an exterminator might not be in the cards for you right now, and in that case, you will have to solve the problem yourself with some good old-fashioned mouse traps to get rid of these annoying rodents once and for all.

However, there are so many mouse traps that are available on the market right now – how are you supposed to know where to begin? It is exactly these kinds of situations that The Cleaning Institute was made for, so allow us to step in for a couple of moments and assist you with your current predicament. The Cleaning Institute has spent our years conducting independent research on a whole different plethora of cleaning products, including mouse traps, to make certain that consumers who want to be informed can find the best possible option for them in terms of what their needs are and what their budgetary situation is like.

How has The Cleaning Institute managed to thrive for so many years and become a global leader when it comes to providing reliable product reviews? By keeping things simple and always being honest and straightforward with people. We write reviews that are simple and easy to follow along with for our readers, and we give our testing team review criteria to ensure that their results are replicable and recordable. Simply put, we treat product review as a science, and we take it just as seriously as any other scientist would their work, and our readers have stuck with us for all of these years because of that.

So how did we determine what the best available mouse traps on the market today were? We managed to break everything down into three simple and easy to understand categories: efficiency, durability, and design. But what kind of criteria do these categories actually consist of? For more information, continue reading and find out how we actually managed to come to our final conclusions when it came to helping you find the best available mouse traps on the market.

EXPERT INSIGHTS

From our team: Mice have poor eyesight, so placing these traps in corners and along walls is the key to success, as these creatures tend to walk by feel with their whiskers. Take note of where you see mice, and where you suspect they might travel so you can increase the chances that they’ll encounter the traps.

Testing Categories

When it came to testing categories, it made the most sense to us to focus primarily on efficiency, durability, and design features.

Efficiency: Where efficiency was concerned, we were focused on seeing how many mice the traps were actually able to catch and kill. A mouse trap that is not able to catch a mouse is not worth your time or money, so if the product was not able to get the job done, we definitely made a note of it during our review and scored the mouse trap accordingly.

Durability: When trying to find the best mouse trap on the market, durability is also an important factor, as you do not want to purchase a mouse trap that is going to break after only one or a few uses. If the materials used were flimsy or the trap broke early on in the process, we made a note of that in our review.

Design: Another vitally important factor in finding the right mouse trap has to do with how well it is designed. Not only does this relate to how well it can do its job, but a mouse trap with a faulty design could easily injure you or someone else. If we felt like the product had a poor design, we made note of it during our evaluations.

Top Pick

Tomcat Press
'N Set
Mouse Trap

This four pack set of mouse traps is easy to use and makes sure to kill mice on the first go around – all you have to do is touch them to set them.

Price Check

Most notable upside: Tomcat’s product is very easy to use, and you can get even better results when you combine it with the attractant gel, which is sold separately. All you have to do is lay these traps down and use one touch to set them, so it cannot get much simpler.

Biggest downsides: Unfortunately, it seems as if something has changed in the manufacturing of these products over the last several years, as they do not seem to work as well as they did when we previously tested them just a few years ago.

Honorable Mention

Mouse Trap, Small Mice Traps That Work
Mice Snap Kill Trap and Power Rodent
Killer with Bait Cup

This product is safe and easy to use, as it does not contain poison or glue, and more importantly, is designed in such a way as to not accidentally catch your fingers at any time.

Price Check

Most notable upside: This product is easy to use and set, and because it requires so little weight to trigger the trap in the first place, it is ideal for getting rid of both larger and smaller types of mice.

Biggest downsides: For whatever reason, these traps kill very slowly – one of them barely left a mark on a pencil, so that is something to keep in mind before you make a purchase.

Green Pick

Authenzo 2019
Upgrade Version
Humane Mouse Trap

The Humane Mouse Trap is an excellent product that allows you to trap the mouse and release it back into the wild without having to kill it, which we think is a pretty fantastic idea.

Price Check

Most notable upside: This product is easy to use and, for those of you out there who aren’t too keen on actually having to kill a mouse, and get rid of its body afterward, this is a product that finally for some humane pest removal.

Biggest downsides: Unfortunately, these traps are so small that it would not be practical for most sized rodents to actually be able to fit into them.

All Our Picks

Mice are one of the most economically and socially significant urban pests. They can cause a lot of damage in and around your home, and they are carriers of both pests and diseases that can infect you and other animals that you have as pets. Once you see a mouse or signs of mice in your home, you should take steps to control and eliminate them as soon as possible.

Why are Mice such Pests?

There are several reasons why mice make such effective pests. First, they have a quick lifecycle, and a mouse can grow from birth to adulthood in 2-3 months. Second, once they reach adulthood, they can breed and reproduce very quickly! A single adult pair of breeding mice can produce hundreds of offspring in a year. Third, they are omnivores, and will eat pretty much anything in your home from leftover food, stored food, trash, or even other mice! Finally, they are very hardy and resilient, and can easily adapt to any number of living conditions as long as there is an adequate source of food and somewhere to hide. Even seeing a mouse in your home is often a sign of an on-going rodent infestation and professional rodent control services can be expensive, so you might start considering the next best thing: using mouse traps.

The Classic Mouse Trap

Everyone is familiar with the old-fashioned mouse trap: a piece of wood with a metal snap trap. There’s a reason why it’s a classic: even though the design is old and simple, it still works effectively, it’s simple to create and you can find it in any hardware store! If you only have a light infestation in your home, the classic mouse trap can work beautifully with controlling your mouse problem. Simply set the trap, place some bait, and wait for the mouse to get trapped.

However, there are some drawbacks to using the classic mouse trap. The biggest drawback is that it can only be used to catch one mouse at a time, and it can be a messy process to remove the dead mouse and clean the trap for next time. What’s more, it has been found that over time, mice actually learn how to steal the bait without setting off the trap, or even avoid the trap altogether! These problems are the reason why there’s a cliché of “building a better mousetrap”.

Modern Upgrades to the Mouse Trap

Luckily, there are already several modern mouse trap designs that are available on the market. Here are some of the most common and popular alternative mouse trap designs that you can choose from:

Cage Traps

Cage traps are becoming popular because they offer a more humane way with dealing with mice. Instead of killing the mice, cage traps merely trap them in a small cage or enclosure, and you can release the mouse somewhere safe afterwards. Depending on the design of the cage trap, it can trap either single or multiple mice.

Sticky Traps

Sticky traps are pieces of hard paper or board that has an adhesive surface. You simply place bait in the middle of the sticky trap, and mice will become stuck on the surface when they try to reach the bait. However, the main drawback of sticky traps is that mice will tend to avoid the trap once one or two mice are already stuck in the adhesive. What’s more, if you have other pets in your home, they might accidentally touch the sticky trap because of the bait.

Bucket Traps

Bucket traps are interesting and ingenious mouse traps. It’s normally a deep bucket with a tube attached on top. The tube rolls around, and when you place bait on the middle of the tube, the mice will fall into the bucket when they try to traverse the tube to get to the bait. Bucket traps are found to be very effective in trapping multiple mice, but since it does not kill the mice, you might need a strong stomach when it comes to cleaning and emptying out the trap afterwards.

Tips Setting up Mouse Traps Around Your Home

Here are some tips that you should keep in mind when setting up traps around your home:

Make sure to place your mouse traps in dark, quiet corners such as under your kitchen sink or behind your refrigerator.
Wash your hands thoroughly before setting up traps. If your traps have the scent of people or other animals on them, mice will avoid going near the traps.
Check your traps regularly. Once there are trapped mice, other mice will avoid the traps. What’s more, dead mouse bodies smell disgusting, and are health hazards.
Use effective bait to entice mice. One of the best baits to use is peanut butter!
Space out your mouse traps around your home. If there too many traps in one place, mice might avoid that area altogether, and will create their nests somewhere else.
Prevention is always better than cure! Don’t leave out food as it can attract mice from outside, and make sure to seal up cracks and small holes around your home as mice will use these as entry points.

The Best Mouse Traps

Your guide to this review today is by Cleaning expert Adam Barker

The Cleaning Institute

EXPERT INSIGHTS

Testing Categories

Tomcat Press
'N Set
Mouse Trap

Mouse Trap, Small Mice Traps That Work
Mice Snap Kill Trap and Power Rodent
Killer with Bait Cup

Authenzo 2019
Upgrade Version
Humane Mouse Trap

All Our Picks

Tomcat Press
'N Set
Mouse Trap

Mouse Trap, Small Mice Traps That Work
Mice Snap Kill Trap and Power Rodent
Killer with Bait Cup

Authenzo 2019
Upgrade Version
Humane Mouse Trap

Why are Mice such Pests?

The Classic Mouse Trap

Modern Upgrades to the Mouse Trap

Tips Setting up Mouse Traps Around Your Home

Quick Links

Sign Up for Our Newsletter

The Best Mouse Traps

Your guide to this review today is by Cleaning expert Adam Barker

The Cleaning Institute

EXPERT INSIGHTS

Testing Categories

Tomcat Press 'N Set Mouse Trap

Mouse Trap, Small Mice Traps That WorkMice Snap Kill Trap and Power Rodent Killer with Bait Cup

Authenzo 2019 Upgrade Version Humane Mouse Trap

All Our Picks

Tomcat Press 'N Set Mouse Trap

Mouse Trap, Small Mice Traps That WorkMice Snap Kill Trap and Power Rodent Killer with Bait Cup

Authenzo 2019 Upgrade Version Humane Mouse Trap

Why are Mice such Pests?

The Classic Mouse Trap

Modern Upgrades to the Mouse Trap

Tips Setting up Mouse Traps Around Your Home

Quick Links

Sign Up for Our Newsletter

Tomcat Press
'N Set
Mouse Trap

Mouse Trap, Small Mice Traps That Work
Mice Snap Kill Trap and Power Rodent
Killer with Bait Cup

Authenzo 2019
Upgrade Version
Humane Mouse Trap

Tomcat Press
'N Set
Mouse Trap

Mouse Trap, Small Mice Traps That Work
Mice Snap Kill Trap and Power Rodent
Killer with Bait Cup

Authenzo 2019
Upgrade Version
Humane Mouse Trap