Xcluder Rodent Control Fill Fabric, Large DIY Kit, Stainless Steel Wool, Stops Rats and Mice

The media could not be loaded. When the “pest doctor” came out to help with our rats nightly invasions, he said we could save some money by putting in the weep hole barrier ourselves. He didn’t say we’d need a particular kind of rat barrier. No problem,” said I. “I can do that.” So I promptly bought more copper wool and shoved it in the weep holes.Sure enough, a month later, the rat plot thickened. After he disposed of several rats, and we thought our problems were over. Guess what. That pest guy’s visit wasn’t covered under contract. Why? The rats, or Ratzillas he called them, had pulled the copper wool out of numerous weep holes. Was the pest control guy playing games with us? No. I saw the weep holes myself, the very ones I had filled weeks prior.What am I supposed to fill them with? XCluder. The stuff you see on this listing. We had some delivered the next day. When you buy this, you note that it has special scissors and special gloves. You want to use those gloves. They will keep your hands from getting cut up on the fabric you used to fill the weep holes. I understand now why rats don’t want to play with this. I can’t imagine the damage it would do to their mouths. The gloves are covered with flexible rubber. There were times that my fingers encountered the fabric without the gloves. Trust me. You’ll understand. Even through the gloves where there is no rubber coating, you can feel the sharp metal.The fabric kit also comes with scissors that are capable of cutting the fabric. You might think that this is just a cute little accessory to include. Like the gloves. It’s not. It’s a necessity. You’ll be glad you bought it.This isn’t perfect though. One spot where the pest control guy filled a weep hole with this, he didn’t pack it tight enough. I noticed it had been pulled out. Make sure it’s in there without space for rats or mice to get in. Reportedly, it will expand. But, as I say, in one space it either fell out or was pulled out.The long and short is that you shouldn’t waste money on the copper wool. It’s throwing good money after bad. This product is an excellent product so far as I can tell at this point. Make sure to cut it appropriately but also make sure it fills the space. There may be other similar products. But I can say that copper wool doesn’t work against Ratzilla.

So far, this stuff is working great! I didn't realize that there were huge gaps around the pipes under my sink and when our building started having a problem with mice, so did my unit. I couldn't figure out how the little suckers were getting in. We had an exterminator come in and he put bait stations and traps around, but he told me that he couldn't fill the gaps around the pipes and that I would have to call a contractor for that. The biggest gap was less than an inch so that seemed excessive. After some research, I found this stuff and so far, so good. You definitely need to wear the gloves so if they don't fit, get some that are bigger and have the rubber coating like these do because this stuff is evil and will get through any fabric, even the heavy canvas gloves. And the included scissors are also helpful because you need something strong to get through this stuff. But it was easy enough to cut and I pulled it apart a bit before stuffing it in the crevices around the pipes. Once you are done cutting this stuff, be sure to clean up the small bits that fall because those will hurt if you touch them or step on them or, like me, end up with them on your clothing. Tiny little shard of pain, I tell you. But that's great because it will hurt the mice if they even try to get into my place. I got a paper towel wet and used that to clean them all up. Next time, I'll put down some plastic before cutting, or cut the bits over a bag. Lesson learned.This stuff stays put and I have not heard the mice in the cupboard since. Now I just need to go around my place and find any other ways they are sneaking in. You get quite a bit of it with this size order so I have no doubt I'll be able to do my entire unit with just one package. I highly recommend this stuff if you know where the mice are getting in. I don't know if this is safe to use around copper pipes, but mine were all PVC and one was the flexible hose used for the dishwasher. Do some research before using this around copper because the building manager mentioned it when I told him about this stuff. If I find out more about that, I'll update my review. Or, if someone from the company knows and can comment, that would be great. Overall, very satisfied. I freaking hate mice.