Okay, let’s be real, the pest population in your home is much greater than your actual sightings of them.
Most spiders try to avoid humans altogether, but we still get them in our homes and gardens at epic
proportions sometimes. Not to mention, they like to visit us in the shower, our beds, and surprise us
with their creative webs on our windowsills.
Unless you live in a bubble, there is no way to be 100% pest free. Spiders are extremely clever, small,
and difficult to eliminate. But there are a few things you can do to keep their populations down and
under control. We have some great tips to doing your best and keeping the arachnid population low and
out of sight.
Should You Have Spiders Professionally Exterminated?
Because spider behavior isn’t the same as all pests and other insects, trying to treat the problem yourself
can be a cause of frustration and a waste of money. For instance, how do you poison a spider? Their
bodies don’t touch the ground, they don’;t eat off the ground or groom themselves with their mouths
either, so the typical way they would pick up pesticide isn’t the usual. Their webs are up high and/or out
of sight completely, so pesticide sprays and bombs may not find them altogether.
So, should you hire a spider exterminator? There are varying factors to this question, depending on
your location, your available income, your level of spider activity, and more. You may also decide that
you need to call the exterminator if the spiders are poisonous or particularly resilient ones.
Even weather plays a factor in that moisture helps nurture spider eggs, giving them a higher success
rate of hatching. From the early weather of spring to the heat of mid-summer adult spiders are driven
out of their nests and into your common areas more often.
If you’re very sensitive to chemicals or don’t want pesticides used around your home and property, you
may not want an exterminator. However, there are green companies that can possibly help you with
your spider infestation in a manner less toxic to you, your pets, and the environment.
Extermination companies will usually come out to survey your problem with an inspection, identify the
species, and build a removal plan. They may even work on preventative measures outside the home to
keep the spiders out. They’ll probably begin with one treatment and then reevaluate with a follow-up
visit to see if you need more treatments.
Typically you might invest in a quarterly treatment plan, but some companies provide a year-long
contract where if you call again in 12-months time, they will treat your home again for no additional
charge. No matter what, ask around first or view online reviews. Look for a licensed pest control
professional or company with years of experience, rates, and methods you’re looking for.
Prevention Techniques For DIY Spider Elimination
Eliminating spiders from your home and preventing them from re-infestation is a multi-layered,
ongoing approach.
1. Start Outside First
You can eliminate spiders inside daily and be re infested just as quickly if you’re not also treating the
areas where they get into your home. If you give them a place to hide or an entrance, they’ll take it…and
move their entire family in too.
A. Keep up with the landscaping. Tall grass and piles of leaves and debris are perfect nesting grounds
for arachnids. Consider trimming bushes and thick trees that are quite close to the exterior of your
home.
B. Firewood stacked against your home can be quite a source of all kinds of spiders. You’ll also want to
think about whether you should move plants and flowers further away if they are continually covered in
webs.
C. Check the exterior (and interior) thoroughly for cracks, crevices, holes, and gaps around the
foundation, windows, door frames, etc.
D. Frustrate them as much as they frustrate you by sweeping away their webs the moment you see
them. If you continually force them to rebuild, they may decide to move on to greener pastures.
2. Contact Kill Or Manual Removal From Indoors
Depending on your stance, you get to decide. But when you see a spider in your home, it needs to be
removed from your home through whatever means you can tolerate, be it your shoe or a free ride to
your garden.
3. Use Peppermint Oil
You can purchase peppermint oil online or in most grocery stores and many pharmacies. Grab a bag of
cotton balls too. Spiders generally stay away from the peppermint, so a mixture of peppermint oil with
water in a spray bottle can be used inside and out, all over your home. You can also soak cotton balls in
it and place them in strategic areas like vents where it’s hard to treat infestations otherwise and yet it’s a
portal you know they’re using to enter your living space.
4. Cleaning Your Home
A well cleaned, decluttered, and maintained home is your best defense when trying to prevent spiders
from taking over. Cleaning is key to keeping their numbers down.
A. Remember, moisture is their friend, not yours.
B. Keep piles of clothes and other cluttered areas in ship shape so they have fewer places to build webs
and hide.
C. As with your home’s exterior, you also want to remove webs the moment you see them indoors. The
more you frustrate them, the more likely they are to move on.
D. Eliminating other insects removes their food source, so clean and vacuum often to keep your food
debris (like crumbs between appliances) and small insects to a minimum. Don’t encourage other insects
to breed, hang out, and become spider food later. Treat flies like they’re directly feeding your spider
foes; get rid of them fast.
We hope this article helps keep your home free of unwanted spiders and invite you to call us with
your housekeeping needs! We’re glad to help you keep your home sparkling while you fight the good fight against house spiders. Contact us today!
