4 Cool Tricks For Keeping Spiders Out Of Your Home
Got spiders in your home but don't want to resort to chemicals and expensive treatments to get rid of them? Fortunately, there are a number of really effective ways of keeping these pests from hunkering down and calling your place "home." Here are four simple tricks for keeping the arachnids away so you and your family can play, worry free.
Know Where They Hide
A great tool for ridding your home of spiders and keeping them from coming back is knowing where they love to hide, and these are the most common places where you'll find them.
- Under Your furniture. Spiders will set up camp and hang out where it's dark and quiet and they're least likely to be disturbed. And one of the best places for that is underneath your furniture. Chairs, couches, and beds are popular hiding spots for all sorts of bugs. To keep them away, sweep and vacuum regularly underneath your furniture.
- Among the Clutter. Everyone has that one area of the house that tends to collect "stuff." And if it stays undisturbed long enough, it may attract a few unwanted critters. Keep your home free of junk and clutter, and you'll reduce the chance of having spiders invade your space. Also, regularly sweeping ceiling corners to eradicate small, hard-to-see webs can help tremendously.
- Underneath Your Sinks. Like all animals, spiders need water, some species more so than others. So if you have a leaky pipe, there's no doubt it will attract bugs. Keep the area underneath your sink clean and dry, fixing any leaks you notice ASAP.
Use Natural Repellents
You may not want to use chemicals to keep bugs and spiders out of your home, especially if you have pets and children. Fortunately, there are a number of perfectly safe and effective repellents you can use.
- Peppermint/vinegar spray. Spiders naturally hate peppermint and vinegar. So using a combination of both as a spray can work like a charm. Mix 20 drops of essential peppermint oil with ½ cup vinegar and 1-½ cups water. Spray around your home at common entryway points near doors and windows and under sinks where they can sneak in from a crawlspace. You can even spray some underneath the furniture if you know they tend to hang out there.
- Citrus spray. If you dislike the smell of peppermint, you can alternatively use a citrus-based repellent. Simply rubbing orange or lemon peels around windows or spraying a diluted solution of orange essence works well, too. Lemon-scented dusting spray has also been known to repel spiders.
Keep the Outside of Your Home Spider Free
One of the best ways of keeping spiders out of your house is to investigate the exterior of your home for spider "breeding grounds." You know where spiders love to hide indoors. Well, they tend to like similar things outside, too. Places that are dark, quiet, undisturbed, and damp are popular spider hangouts, so anything you can do to minimize this environment, particularly up against your property, will give you a better chance at keeping those critters out. Leaves, grass clippings, piles of wood, cut-up shrubbery, and standing water should all be eliminated or, at a minimum, moved as far away from the foundation of your home as possible.
Mind the Weather
There seems to be a myth that spiders are more likely to enter your home during the winter because they're trying to escape the cold. But if you see a sudden influx of arachnids this time of year, there's usually a logical explanation. Fall is mating season for spiders, so the phenomenon you're actually witnessing is more than likely males in search of a female.
For that reason, you'll need to be more aggressive from late summer to early fall, keeping an eye out for them and taking the precautions listed above to eliminate any spiders you see around your home.
For more information and help, contact a professional pest control company, such as Godfather's Exterminating, Inc., and ask about natural repellant options.