How To Keep Rabbits Out of Your Garden With Ivory Soap (4 Amazing Ways!)

If you live in an area with many rabbits, you know how frustrating it can be when they eat the vegetables right out of your garden. Not only can rabbits cause damage to your garden, but they can also pose a risk to their own health if they consume plants that are toxic to them. You may wonder how to keep rabbits out of your garden with ivory soap.

Rabbits can’t stand the strong smell of ivory or deodorant-based soaps. Because of this, soap bars have become an effective way to repel pests from the garden. Burying, spraying, scattering, and hanging the soap are effective methods to keep the critters at bay.

I’m glad there’s a way to protect our lettuce after all. In this article, we’ll explore why rabbits hate soap and how you can weaponize that old ivory soap in the closet.

How To Keep Rabbits Out of Your Garden With Ivory Soap

There are a few methods to keep rabbits out of your lettuce patches. You can bury it, spray it, scatter chunks, or hang bags around the garden. Each method has different physical requirements and monetary expenses.

You’ll need an even soap coverage every 10 feet to ensure rabbits won’t be tempted. For methods like scattering and spraying, that’s easy to achieve. For burying and hanging soap bags, you’ll need to measure.

Why Don’t Rabbits Like Soap?

Ivory soap was created in 1879 with a formula that combined whale oil and olive oil. Nowadays, the soap contains tallowate salts, similar to salts found in animal fat, like beef tallow. Because of this, rabbits avoid the scent because they think it will cause them to get sick.

1. Bury the Soap

Burying the soap is a great way to protect the plants from rabbits while keeping the soap out of direct rain. This is a good option if you have dogs that like to eat everything they can get their mouths on! All you need to do is dig a trench around your garden and place one inch of the ivory soap at the bottom.

Cover the soap with soil so no neighborhood pets get their mouths on it. Repeat the process every few weeks to ensure the soap is still fragrant and keeps rabbits away.

As I said, this is an excellent method for anyone with a dog. However, it can be more physically taxing than the other options. If you have trouble digging the trench every two weeks, you may want to consider other courses of action. 

2. Spray the Soap

You’ll need a spray bottle for this technique. Carefully use a knife to shave thin slices of ivory soap into the spray bottle. Make the pieces small enough to dissolve into the water when the container is shaken. You don’t need a lot of soap in the bottle – maybe only half a bar. 

When the mixture is ready, spray the edges of your garden and the plants. Not only will the smell deter rabbits, but the taste will also deter deer, and the chemicals will kill pests like aphids.

This method uses the least amount of soap and is best for people on a budget. You’ll need to reapply the spray every few days or after every rainfall. When you harvest your produce, remember to wash it first! Otherwise, you’ll be the one with a mouth full of ivory soap.

3. Scatter the Soap

If you don’t feel like digging and you don’t feel like spritzing, you can chop the soap bar up or grate it and scatter it among your garden. This method works best in drier climates where rain won’t break down and wash the soap away. 

It can pose a potential risk to pets eating chunks of soap, so consider that when scattering them. If your garden is fenced in to protect it from larger animals, you shouldn’t have to worry about your dog. 

This option uses the most amount of soap if you live in a damper climate. Even though ivory soap is relatively cheap, you may not want to spend dozens of dollars on soap every month to evict the rabbits. 

4. Ivory Soap Bags

You’ll need small burlap bags for this method. You can purchase them or make them yourself using a needle, thread, and a button to keep them closed. You can also tie the top shut with twine. 

After cutting your soap bar into eight pieces, place two pieces into each burlap bag. The great thing about the bag is that it enables you to hang this from stakes every 5-10 feet throughout the garden. This method lasts the longest (even in damper weather) and is just as effective in repelling rabbits as the others.

The few downsides to the bag method are that it will take as much soap as scattering it, and you’ll need to source or make the bags yourself. You don’t need to use burlap – I specified it because the material holds up well in outdoor weather.

More on this category: Do Possums Eat Oranges?

Conclusion

You don’t have to invest in fancy animal repellants to protect your vegetable garden if you have a box of ivory soap in the bathroom. Due to its composition, the soap naturally repels rabbits and can also help repel deer and aphids. You can bury it, spray it, scatter chunks, or hang bags throughout your garden. 

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