A Guide on How to Get Rid Ground Moles With Dawn Soap

Ground moles are a real nuisance to your garden. They dig underground tunnels, which make it difficult to walk or garden properly. The large lumps of molehills also ruin the appearance of your luscious lawn, while their burrowing activity damages grass roots underneath. Dealing with mole problems can prove challenging, especially if they have multiplied.

However, you should consider natural solutions if your mole problem isn’t severe. Below is a guide on how to get rid of ground moles with dawn soap.

Why Use Dawn Soap to Get Rid of Ground Moles?

While other methods exist, you should consider using dawn soap for the following reasons:

Excellent repellant properties – dawn soap has several ingredients that perfectly repel ground moles. It releases a strong scent that deters moles from staying in their tunnels. It also disrupts the moles’ sensitive skin.
Non-toxic – dawn soap is a non-toxic solution for eliminating ground moles. It is safe for humans, pets, and the general environment.
Easily available – creating a dawn soap solution for use is very simple. Everything you need is readily available from local stores, making it a convenient method of mole control.

That said, read on to find out how you can use dawn soap to eliminate ground moles in your yard.

How to Get Rid of Ground Moles with Dawn Soap

Getting rid of ground moles with dawn soap is a straightforward process. Follow the following steps:

1. What You Will Need

You will need the following supplies to prepare this mole repellent:

Dawn soap
Tap water
Castor oil
Sprayer and a hose (for large yards)

Note that castor oil is a widely known natural remedy for repelling ground rodents. You can easily find it in the laxative section at your local drugstore. However, it is very combustible, and you should store it safely.

2. Making the mixture

Using dawn soap to get rid of ground moles in your garden doesn’t mean squirting the soap indiscriminately in your garden. Instead, you should prepare a homemade solution that effectively eliminates ground moles. The solution has a smell that strongly repels ground moles from your yard.

With the supplies above, follow these steps to prepare the solution:

Heat approximately 3 liters of water – it shouldn’t boil
Pour castor oil into a large bucket with warm water
Add dawn soap to the mixture and stir or shake to mix

3. The equipment

The next step is ensuring that you distribute dawn soap evenly in your garden. You can achieve this simply by pouring the mixture into any evident ground mole tunnel that you can see in the yard. While this can help, locating all entrances and exits of mole tunnels is a challenge. Besides, you can unknowingly pour a lot of the repellent in one section.

The second and probably most effective method is using a garden sprayer. As a gardening enthusiast, you can use a bottle sprayer that can be attached to a garden hose or a handheld pump sprayer. This is a perfect solution for homeowners with large yards.

4. The process

The general idea is to ensure that you distribute the mixture throughout your lawn. Regardless of the location of ground moles or tunnel holes, the smell of castor oil – dawn soap mixture will force them out of their tunnels. You should use a systematic approach for large gardens. For instance, you can map out and divide your yard into sections to ensure you don’t miss some parts.

5. Monitor and repeat as necessary

You should closely monitor mole hill activity in your garden after applying the solution. While ground moles should start vacating after one application, check for signs of mole activity, such as new molehills, raised ridges, or new tunnels. Respray the entire garden if you notice signs of mole activity.

Moles are stubborn, so you shouldn’t have a problem repeating the application multiple times. Similarly, if you’ve succeeded in chasing off-ground moles, schedule routine spraying to ensure they don’t return and burrow more. You should consider reapplying monthly as a precautionary measure.

Will Dawn Dish Soap Get Rid of Moles?

Dawn dish soap mixture can eliminate ground moles from your yard. The mixture of castor and dawn soap has a smell that repels ground moles. It also induces digestive distress and itching of the skin, forcing ground moles out of their tunnels.

Are Moles Bad for Your Yard?

Ideally, ground moles are not entirely bad for your garden. They dig underground tunnels, actively aerating the soil. This makes it easier for plant roots to access water, oxygen, and nutrients. Ground moles also feast on grubs, which eat plant roots, thus preventing this problem.

Unfortunately, their underground activity has some consequential effects. For starters, they remove soil from their tunnels, leaving unsightly molehills behind. Their tunnels also undermine your garden soil’s integrity and can completely damage your lawn. As such, you should solve any arising mole problem before it gets out of hand.

Signs of Moles in Your Yard

Before stressing out about how to get rid of ground moles, you should confirm that you truly have a problem. Below are typical signs of a mole’s presence in your yard:

Molehills – ground moles burrow and push underground soil to the surface, leaving distinctive heaps of molehills spread throughout your garden.
Patches of drying or dead grass – damage on your growing turf is certainly disheartening, especially if you regularly maintain your lawn. Discolored, drying, or dying grass is a sign of mole presence. Their burrowing activity damages the roots of grass and other garden plants.
Loose soil – tunneling and burrowing activity causes loose soil. Soft spots in your garden are a sign of underground tunnels.
Randomly appearing mounds of dirt – it isn’t normal for mounds of dirt to appear randomly in your yard. Therefore, if you notice such mounds in your backyard, chances are ground moles are digging tunnels out.
The sudden growth of weeds – though surprising, weeds can grow uncontrollably in mole-infested yards. As mentioned, moles overturn underground soil, creating optimal conditions for the growth of weeds.

Other Ways of Getting Rid of Moles

You can use the following alternative options to eliminate ground moles in your yard:

1. Trapping

Setting traps is the oldest and probably the most reliable method of getting rid of moles. Unlike traditional options, modern mole traps, like the scissor-jaw trap, are very lethal. They are also target-specific and reduce the chances of chemical buildup or secondary poisoning to the surrounding environment.

However, trapping moles requires a lot of creativity. Moles may look slow, but are very smart than other mammals. They can excellently detect traps if they aren’t placed properly. Therefore, to complement your trapping efforts, you should place traps in active mole tunnels. You should also set traps during spring or fall when they are most active.

Besides their heightened activity, trapping during spring ensures that you eliminate females before giving birth. This effectively limits infestations.

2. Use baits

Using baits is another effective way of getting rid of ground moles. Baits essentially involve placing poison in their burrows. You can use grain baits, synthetic worm baits, or gel baits. Below are a few things you should know about baiting moles:

Grain pellet baits are fairly inconsistent since their effectiveness depends on the area and mole species you are dealing with.
Synthetic earthworm baits contain rodenticide bromethalin, which is considerably the most effective baiting option as it kills moles in one feeding. Moles die 12 to 24 hours after ingesting earthworm baits. These baits also entice moles since earthworms are the dietary staple for ground moles.
Gel baits are effective during specific times or seasons. However, they require repeated applications and take more than a month to kill moles.

The best part about using poisoned baits is moles die and decompose in their underground tunnels. As such, you don’t have to dispose their bodies like using traps. For effective results, you should place baits repeatedly for up to six weeks.

3. Using boric acid

Boric acid is also effective against ground moles, especially if they have dug crisscrossing tunnels. Moles spend most of their life underground and won’t stand the smell of borax in their tunnels. Boric acid poured into the tunnel is absorbed into the soil, keeping moles away from your garden.

4. Using marshmallows

Marshmallows is another surprising solution that eliminates ground moles in your yard. However, you should use commercial or industrial-grade marshmallows that contain carrageenan. This ingredient affects ground moles’ digestive system, eventually killing them. Like with boric acid, you should place marshmallows in every underground tunnel and repeat the process until there is little or no mole activity in your garden.

The Bottom Line

How to get rid of ground moles with dawn soap is probably the easiest and most affordable way of getting rid of ground moles. It is also a safe option, as there are no chemicals involved. While it doesn’t typically kill moles, it ensures that your yard stays free from mole infestation.