How to Make Your Home Less Attractive to Spiders
Spiders have many benefits in terms of pest control, but that doesn’t mean they are always welcome guests in your home. Here are some easy ways to keep a spider paradise out of your home – without summoning an exterminator.
But first, you probably don’t want to hear this, but most spiders are great for their habitat, including some parts of your home. They eat harmful pests such as earwigs, flies and moths, as well as critters that can transmit disease, such as mosquitoes and cockroaches. Rod Crawford, author of The Spider Myths , explains that there are even spiders that can eat other, not very friendly spiders: for example, the long-legged basement spider or the long-legged dad is known to kill black widows; they seem to be great allies in a basement or garage. (“It’s just Joe, he’s on guard.”)
But other spiders can be dangerous , and they have a tendency to sneak into places we don’t want to see, like the bedroom. The most dangerous spiders commonly found in the United States include black or brown widows, brown recluses (mainly in Central and South America), vagrant spiders (mainly in the Pacific Northwest), pouch spiders, and shepherd spiders. (Other large, non-venomous species may not be venomous, but may still have a painful bite.) If you have older family members, young children, or pets, it is best to keep these scary critters outside. Here’s how to do it.
How to get rid of spiders in your home
Don’t let the clutter pile up
If you’ve ever needed a reason to finally clean up your house , now you have it. Spiders are cunning creatures that like to hide in the shadows, and large piles of junk give them plenty of places to hide. (Someone is probably watching you right now.) Other beetles – food for spiders – like to hang out in a mess, too. Clearing it robs the spiders of food and deprives them of cozy hiding places.
Apartment Therapy’s Adrienne Brough invites you to clear your home of random stacks of books, clothes, shoes, papers, toys, or anything else that piles up in the stacks. Put whatever you want in storage containers. Airtight plastic containers are best because they are more effective at keeping out spiders and other insects. Finally, it helps to clean and vacuum your home regularly.
Protect the perimeter of your home
Spiders love the piles of stuff outside, too. Sarah Littleton from BobVila.com recommended to move all the unnecessary from the perimeter of your home to another place. Using a couple of Littleton’s suggestions, we’ve compiled a list of typical outdoor “amenities” that can help spiders infiltrate your home:
- Piles of leaves
- Stacks of firewood
- Compost containers
- Overgrown trees and shrubs
- Uncut lawns
- Stacks of boxes
- Weed spots
Move the stack of firewood further away, trim the vegetation around the house, and scoop up leaves and other dead plant debris.
There is nothing wrong with having spiders in your backyard or garden – they are good for both. But if you don’t want them in your home, it will help clarify where the yard ends and your home begins.
Move cobwebs away from entrances
Spiders hate to be disturbed at home. Like any other creature, the less they need to do in order to survive, the better. If you continue to destroy their home, they will decide it is unsafe and try to move elsewhere. The Guardian recommends grabbing a broomstick or long stick and heading out to hunt for webs. Take away anything you find in your home and garage, as well as anything you find around doors and near windows that you plan to open.
However, don’t overdo it and start clearing cobwebs all over your yard and garden. Remember, you want them to go somewhere . If you make every area around your home inhospitable, they are likely to stay where they are and continue to rebuild.
Reduce outdoor lighting
At night, beetles hang by the lanterns because they keep you warm. Spiders go where there are insects to eat. This is why SF Gate ‘s Christy Roddy recommends keeping street lighting to a minimum. Set the outdoor lighting to turn off at specific times, or leave it on only at the main entrances. The less light insects paint, the less interest the spiders will have in your home.
Drive them away with home remedies or pesticides
If you’ve tried everything and still have spider hotspots in your home, you have several options when it comes to deterrents. If you don’t want to use pesticides, peppermint oil and vinegar are known to repel spiders : mix ½ cup vinegar with 1 ½ cup water, then add about 20 drops of peppermint essential oil. Spray the mixture onto porches or any other problem areas in your home. If you don’t have peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil will work as well.
If you’re ready for heavy artillery, most home improvement stores sell pesticides that can kill spiders on contact and leave behind residues that trap them. Personally, I’ve had great success with Ortho Home Defense Max , but if you check the ingredients of similar products, they all do the same for the most part. When nothing else works, it’s probably one of them.
This article was originally published on October 20, 2015 and was updated on May 19, 2021 to reflect current Lifehacker style guidelines.