Most spiders are creepy–but harmless. Most people don’t appreciate sharing their homes with spiders. They scare people with their quick movements and weave webs that make your home look and feel unclean. Keeping them out makes for a more comfortable home.
Spiders are predators that kill and eat other insects. If spiders constantly try to get into your house, you may have other insect infestations. It is easier to keep spiders out of your home than to get rid of them after they move in.
Spider-Repelling Scents
Spiders smell through their legs. Walking through a scent they do not like keeps them from returning to that area. Indiscriminate spraying around your house will not drive spiders out of the house. They just find a more pleasant location in the house.
Vinegar
Mix white vinegar 50/50 with water in a spray bottle. Spray it on any likely spider entry locations. Window and door sills, baseboards, wall penetrations, gaps, and cracks are the most obvious. If you have spiders in your house, use vinegar spray to keep them out of certain places like bathrooms, bedrooms, and kitchens. Reapply the spray weekly to keep the vinegar smell strong.
Chestnuts
Horse chestnuts repel spiders. They are most effective when placed on window sills, close to doors, along baseboards, or in any other location where spiders might enter, spin webs, and build nests. Using chestnuts to deter spiders is a generations-old solution proven to work by modern science.
Horse chestnuts contain a poison called esculin that can cause death if eaten raw.
Essential Oils
Many essential oils repel spiders. The oils also add a pleasant fragrance to your home. Choose your favorite aroma from this list. Mix about 20 drops of essential oil in a 32-ounce spray bottle and apply it to window and door sills, baseboards, and anywhere you see spiders. Adding a few drops of dish detergent to the mixture kills spiders when it is sprayed on them.
- Peppermint.
- Tea Tree Oil.
- Eucalyptus.
- Lavender.
- Clove.
Concentrated essential oils are toxic and can harm small children and pets if ingested in sufficient amounts. Some people may have an allergic reaction to certain oils.
Cayenne Pepper
Spiders are not repelled by the scent of cayenne pepper but by the hot taste. Sprinkle the pepper in locations where you see spiders traveling or spinning webs. When they eat the cayenne they will move on.
Cedar
Spiders are repelled by the smell of cedar. Placing small cedar blocks, shavings, or sawdust at natural entry points like window and door sills or in unfinished basement corners repels spiders. Cedar odor does not dissipate quickly–meaning your cedar deterrent does not need to be replaced very often. You can also mix cedarwood essential oil with water and spray it in the same locations.
