How to get rid of spiders in the house

To get rid of spiders in your home, start with a vacuum cleaner that sucks up spiders and cobwebs. Use a residual insecticide or call a professional pest control service. You can also try some home remedies like spraying menthol around the house or spreading diatomaceous earth in the nooks and crannies.

Table of Contents

Prevent spiders from entering the house

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Seal the house. Seal cracks and holes that lead into your home to prevent spiders from finding their way inside. ^{[1] X Research Source}

Use sealant to seal large gaps in doors and windows when closing. Seal around electrical wires, cables, faucets and electronic components, as all of this will lead out.
Replace or repair window panes. Spiders can easily find their way through even the smallest holes.
Cover air vents and fireplace chimneys with tight-fitting mesh.

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Do not turn on the outside lights. Although the light does not attract spiders, it attracts insects – a favorite food source of spiders.

Equally important is to block indoor light from entering windows with curtains or blinds.
Consider using a yellow light high pressure sodium lamp. This type of lamp is less attractive to insects and therefore less likely to create a food source that attracts spiders. ^{[2] X Research Source}

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Remove plants from the area around the house. If you’re having a serious spider problem, consider moving trees, bushes, vines, and other plants around your home to the other side of your yard.

Plants attract spiders because that’s where they hide. When they need to find a warm place and a new food source, they will crawl towards your house and enter your house through cracks.
You should also remove mulch, gravel, leaves, and debris near your home.

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Keep the house tidy. Cleaning the house will leave spiders with little room to hide, even if they have managed to sneak into the house.

Do not leave leftovers lying around. Food crumbs will attract other insects such as ants, which in turn will attract spiders.
Regularly sweep and vacuum the floor. Sweep the shelves, tables and chairs and avoid leaving dirty dishes out for more than a few hours.
Clear out clutter if possible. Old newspapers and piles of dirty clothes are ideal hiding places for spiders to breed in the dark.
Use plastic containers. Spiders have a hard time getting into tightly closed plastic containers, but paper boxes they can get in fairly easily.

Proven insect control methods

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Use a vacuum cleaner to suck up spiders and cobwebs. One of the simplest methods to get rid of spiders is to suck up the egg sacs and cobwebs when you see them.

This method works best when you’re trying to get rid of a few spiders. However, if you have a lot of spiders in your home, this method may not work.
You can use a broom to clean the spider web.
Instead of killing spiders, you should take them outside if possible. Spiders are useful animals for humans, and they are precious if you understand them.
Web spiders usually stay on the ceiling so they are less likely to fall victim to glue traps, but this trap is very effective for catching ground spiders such as jumping spiders or house spiders.
Keep the trap flat to avoid curling.
Discard the trap as soon as you catch some spiders.
Note that this method does not effectively eliminate spider eggs and webs, so you may need to combine it with another method.

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Use residual insecticide. ^{[3] X Research Source} Spray corners or crevices with a residual insecticide containing pyrethroid.

Use according to the directions on the product label to prevent poisoning for you, your family, or your pet.
Remember that of the thousands of species of spiders in North America, only two are capable of causing serious harm to humans (the black widow and the brown recluse). Other spiders can bite but only if they are threatened, and their bites are neither poisonous nor very painful.
Spiders are the best “pest” for insects that accidentally jump into their homes, as they destroy countless insects that can harm humans or transmit pathogens. However, if you have a lot of spiders in your home, it’s a warning sign that you need to act now, because spiders will not enter places where there is not much food.
Pyrethroids are a group of chemicals commonly obtained from the pyrethrum plant. This is an herb that belongs to the daisy family. Most household insecticides contain pyrethroids; some of the more common pyrethroids include bifenthrin, cyfluthrin, permethrin, and tetramethrin.
Synthetic bug sprays are generally not effective against spiders.
Understand limitations of residual insecticides. This poison only works if the spider crawls through the chemical after being sprayed. If the spiders avoid it, the chemicals won’t work.

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Call a professional pest control service. If spiders in your home are rampant and home remedies can’t get rid of them, a professional exterminator may use stronger chemicals.

Note that some insecticides are very strong and you will need to leave the area for several days until the effect wears off.
In general, it is better to keep spiders away or to keep them out of the house than to use insecticides. If possible, catch the spider in a paper towel or glass jar and take it out into the hallway, so you will avoid some other insects.

Folk therapies

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Drive away spiders with horse chestnuts. ^{[4] X Research Source} Put a few horse chestnuts in every nook and cranny of your home and where spiders are common.

Chestnuts, walnuts, or the fruit of the Osage orange tree are also said to be equally effective.
It is not known why this method repels spiders, and there is no scientific evidence or interpretation of this therapy.
Some people believe that horse chestnut contains a poisonous chemical that repels spiders thanks to its aroma. If that’s the case, poke holes in the chestnuts or cut them in half to let the aromas out.

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Spray peppermint essential oil around the house. Pour water into a spray bottle and add 15-20 drops of peppermint essential oil. Spray into every crevice and nook in the house. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

It is thought that spiders cannot tolerate the smell of menthol and will turn away when they smell it. Therefore, this method is most effective when spraying on the routes where spiders can enter the house.
To make it more effective, you can soak a cotton ball with undiluted peppermint essential oil and stuff it into crevices or hidden places where spiders might hide.
Try eucalyptus oil or tea tree oil if you don’t like peppermint. They also work like menthol and can be used in the same way.

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Spread diatomaceous earth around the house. ^{[6] X Research Source} Spread a thin layer of this powder around cracks, corners, windows and basements. Scatter everywhere you think spiders go.

This powder is made from natural fossils of aquatic creatures called diatoms. This substance is safe for people and pets.
When spiders crawl through the diatomaceous earth, their outer shells are severed and their body fluids leak out. Eventually the spider will dry up and die.
You can also protect your home and prevent spiders from entering by spreading diatomaceous earth around your house.

Advice

Spiders are more likely to enter the house in winter, so you should do a thorough cleaning once or twice a week in winter.
Pour peppermint essential oil into a spray bottle and spray around the house.
If you don’t want to use vinegar, the scent of lemon or eucalyptus can also take care of the problem.
Twigs and leaves of eucalyptus, a fragrant plant that can be purchased at craft stores and placed underneath furniture, actually repel spiders and other insects.
If you’re an animal lover, you might think about getting a cat. Cats have a hunting instinct, and many domestic cats turn to small animals like worms, insects, and spiders. However, it should be noted that this is not a wise choice if you are dealing with highly toxic spiders.
Spiders hate tobacco and lemons, so you can sprinkle tobacco soaked in water or lemon juice to keep them away.
Remember that spiders, although scary looking, are quite docile. As long as you don’t disturb them, they won’t bother you either.
Keep frogs as pets. Most spiders are afraid of frogs. Frogs will eat spiders and other insects that can attract spiders.

Things you need

Glue
Insect nets
Sodium vapor lamp
Vacuum cleaner
Glue Trap
Residual insecticide
Horse chestnut
Love Peppermint Oil, Eucalyptus Oil and Tea Tree Oil
Aerosol
Water
Vinegar
Diatomaceous earth

Steps

Prevent spiders from entering the house

Proven insect control methods

Folk therapies

Advice

Things you need

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