If you don't want to deal with spiders, but hate the idea of exterminating them after they invade your space, there are several techniques you can use to keep them away. Some techniques will limit the number of spiders that frequent your yard, while others will simply keep them away from your home. Read on to learn more.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Method One: Keep Spiders Away Outdoors
Step 1. Remove waste materials from your garden
Most spiders like to hide in dark places, and waste materials offer them the perfect hiding place.
- Remove piles of dead leaves and grass clippings, piles of wood, boxes, tires, wooden planks and empty containers from your garden.
- It is especially important to remove waste materials from the perimeter of your home's foundation to keep spiders away. If you want to keep them away from the garden too, though, you should remove these items altogether.
Step 2. Don't grow weeds and tall grass in your garden
If there are no waste materials present, the spiders will move on to frequent bushes, tall grass and weeds. Weeding and cutting grass will reduce the number of spiders in your garden by creating a less welcome habitat.
You don't have to remove the bushes entirely, but you should at least avoid planting them near the foundation of the house, to limit the number of spiders that will venture inside
Step 3. Limit the number of items you keep outside
Boxes and sacks of items stored in sheds and garages are another great hiding place for spiders. Reducing the number of items you keep will also limit the number of spiders you will find.
- If you want to store something outside, put it inside a sealed plastic container instead of a cardboard box. Sealed containers prevent most spiders from entering, so you will find fewer nasty surprises waiting for you when you reopen them.
- Check the boxes you kept outdoors before taking them indoors.
Step 4. Remove the cobwebs when you notice them
When you see a spider web on the wall of a building or somewhere in your garden, break it to discourage the spider that built it from returning.
- In most cases, you will need to remove the spider web with a broom, rag, or water pump.
- If you are close enough to an electrical outlet, you can use a vacuum cleaner to remove cobwebs or egg sacs.
Step 5. Avoid using outdoor lighting
Although outdoor lighting has nothing to do directly with spiders, the lights will attract many insects, and their presence will lead to an increase in the spider population.
- Use outdoor lights as little as possible.
- Orient the lights away from your home to attract bugs and spiders away from the walls.
- Switch to yellow light bulbs. Weaker light is less attractive to insects and may not attract as many as bright white light.
Method 2 of 3: Method Two: Keep Spiders Away From Inside the House
Step 1. Seal the cracks in the walls
Apply silicone putty in cracks you find in your windows and doors, or along the foundation of your home.
- Most spiders enter buildings through cracks and openings. Sealing them will prevent spiders from entering.
- You can purchase putty from a hardware store. Follow the instructions on the package to prepare and apply the grout correctly.
- When applying the putty, make sure the cracks are completely filled and covered.
Step 2. Install tightly woven nets, insulation strips, and door ties
These are other openings used by spiders to enter your home.
- Insulating strips and door ties seal openings at the bottom of doors and windows and on their sides. Door ties are especially important because you can't use putty to cover openings under entrances.
- Tightly woven nets are also essential. Spiders can penetrate openings in loosely woven webs, and so can many insects that spiders feed on. Install meshes on windows and ducts.
- Repair holes in the nets as soon as you notice them. If you can't fix them, replace the mesh. Otherwise the spiders and insects will be able to enter the house through that hole.
Step 3. Remove the stacks
Spiders love hiding places indoors as well as outdoors.
- Do not leave piles of clothes, newspapers, towels, blankets or shoes on the floor.
- If you leave something on the ground, shake it when you pick it up to ward off unwanted spiders.
Step 4. Put the items you keep in sealed plastic containers
Store unused clothes, Christmas decorations, spare blankets, and other items you don't use for long periods in sealed containers to prevent spiders from finding shelter.
- Do not use cardboard boxes. If you are forced to use them, cover all openings with packing tape.
- Properly storing items is especially important in dark cellars or attics.
- You can also store garden tools and sports equipment in sealed containers. Included are rollerblades, gardening tools and clothing, ski boots and sports uniforms. If you don't want to store these items in plastic boxes, use plastic bags with a good seal and no holes.
- Seal all food for animals and people. Spiders are not interested in these foods, but they are often delicious meals for the insects that spiders eat. For this reason, keeping food closed in sealed containers and bags will allow you to attract fewer insects, and consequently fewer spiders.
Step 5. Vacuum regularly
You should regularly clean the areas where you live, but every couple of weeks you should also clean the areas where spiders like to hide.
- Dusting and vacuuming allows you to remove adult spiders and their eggs, preventing them from hatching and producing lots of small spider mites.
- Vacuum under furniture, inside closets, under radiators and along all baseboards.
- Dust off the top corners of the walls and other areas that are not frequented by people and pets.
Method 3 of 3: Method Three: Spider Repellents
Step 1. Use essential oils
There are many essential oils that are considered spider repellents. If you mix these oils with dish soap and warm water, you can create a repellent that can keep most common house spiders away.
- Peppermint essential oil is the most popular option, but you can also try tea tree, cedar, lavender, or neem essential oils.
- The idea behind this method is that the essential oils mentioned above have strong odors that are unpleasant for spiders.
- You will need to add some dish soap to make the solution more effective. The soap breaks down the oil molecules, allowing the oil to mix better with the water.
- Use 5-10 drops of essential oil. Pour them into a 500ml spray bottle and fill the bottle to the brim with warm water. Put the cap back on the bottle and shake to mix the solution.
- Use this spray along openings that can be used by spiders to enter, including window frames and door openings. Reapply the solution every few days, or as soon as you can no longer smell the scent.
Step 2. Perfume the access points with a lemon fragrance
You can do this by rubbing lemon peels into the area or sprinkling with diluted lemon juice.
- Cut a slice of lemon and remove the pulp. Rub the peel on door and window frames so that these areas are fragrant.
- Alternatively, you can mix equal parts water and lemon juice in a spray bottle and use it to spray the solution on exposed cracks, door or window frames.
- As with essential oils, lemons should keep spiders away thanks to their strong scent.
Step 3. Sprinkle some horse chestnut fruit around the perimeter of the house
The seeds of this tree have long been used as a repellent against spiders.
- Collect some fruit and line them up around the perimeter of the house on the inside and outside walls. Doing so should discourage spiders from breaking through your barrier and entering your home.
- Change the fruit every few weeks to prevent them from rotting and causing other problems.
Step 4. Let the aroma of cinnamon spread throughout your home
Light cinnamon scented candles or burn cinnamon oil in a diffuser.
- As with many other home remedies, the principle of this remedy is that spiders find the strong smell of cinnamon repellent.
- As a result, anything that will spread the aroma of cinnamon in the air can be used as a spider repellent. You can try cinnamon baked goods, cinnamon oil, scented candles and bubble baths and deodorants.
Step 5. Make a solution of coconut oil and vinegar
Fill a spray bottle with this solution and spray it at access points and hiding places.
- Combine one part coconut oil with two parts wine vinegar in a spray bottle. Cap the bottle and shake well to mix.
- Spray this solution in door and window openings and in dark places where spiders can hide.
Step 6. Use chemical insecticides only to get rid of possible spider prey
Most insecticides and chemical repellents do not work against spiders.
- You can try a specific chemical repellent against spiders, but you will likely have better luck with a chemical treatment to eliminate their prey.
- Determine the most abundant food sources in your garden, and purchase an insecticide or repellent specific to those insects.
- Read the instructions on the package carefully to apply the substance correctly. Wear protective clothing when applying poison, and do not let it come into contact with pets and small children.
Warnings
- Note that natural spider repellents offer only limited results. There is no scientific evidence to support the claim that natural repellents work against spiders, and these techniques are generally considered popular belief.
- Wear gloves when moving boxes and containers that are in dark areas, such as the warehouse or basement. Spiders may already frequent those areas, and a thick pair of gloves will allow you to avoid bites.
