It’s that time of year again, when women all over the country begin burning their houses down to get rid of the spiders.
I jest, of course. Only this guy burned his house down to get rid of the spiders. (Don’t be that guy!) The rest of us just joke about it!
As fall settles in, spiders begin to make their way indoors, looking for a comfy home for the winter. Now, I am a friend of nature. I don’t mind spiders at all–outside. I can even let a few harmless wolf spiders take up residence in areas where I don’t see them inside, as long as they are doing their job and keeping the insect population inside my home at a minimum. But because we live in the woods, every fall it feels like we are literally invaded with mama spiders looking for a warm place to lay their eggs. Um, NO. No, no, NO!
Because spiders DO serve a useful purpose (killing other insects and eating them) I don’t want to kill them. I just want to repel them, and keep them out of my house. I have done a little research and then some experimenting, and found a couple of tried-and-true tricks that will help keep your home spider free!
Eliminate drafts in the home. Where there are spider webs, there is air flow. A energy auditor taught me this one: where they see spiderwebs, they know there is a draft somewhere. Spiders build their webs in the middle of air flow, because they catch more prey. So they seek the source of the draft, and seal it up. Spiders move on to somewhere else!
Use osage apples. Collect osage apples (also known as hedge apples) in the fall and place them along areas where spiders may enter or where you may be seeing spiders. The oils in osage apples are strong repellants of spiders.
Use a mint-citrus spray. My favorite–and most effective tool I’ve found–is to use a citrus-mint spray on surfaces where spiders are likely to enter the home. Spiders have taste buds on their legs, and they are not fond of lemon, orange or peppermint. I make up this spray, and spray it around window sills, door frames and anywhere spiders are likely to congregate. (Click here to find where to buy essential oils that are effective and safe.) I do this once a week, and the spiders have chosen to stay outside where they belong!
Ingredients
- 20 drops Peppermint essential oil
- 20 drops Lemon essential oil
- 2 tablespoons liquid castile soap
- 1 spray bottle
- 3 cups of water
Instructions
- In the spray bottle mix together the castille soap and essential oils, then add water to fill to the top.
- Shake well to mix.
- Spray in areas where spiders are likely to enter your home: window sills, door frames, cracks, etc.
This post is in honor of my many cincymom friends who just LOVE spiders.
I needed this in a big way. Thanks!
This is fantastic! Living rural we have tons of spiders this time of year especially and with kids and dogs my husband and I hate to use the harsh chemicals. I am going to give this a try this weekend. Pinning 🙂
I cleared out our basement after YEARS of unuse and have had to kill more than a few spiders. My intense fear will not let them live! Plus they look like black widows to my untrained eye so that equals automatic death. I’m not sure where there might be air drafts in my cave-like basement but I definitely need to try something to keep them out of my space. Thanks for the great tips and recipes!
Thankfully we don’t seem to have the spider problem! Must depend on where a person lives. We just got back from my aunts house and there were spiders EVERYWHERE. They were the exact kind in your picture. Perhaps I should send this to her? Or perhaps that would seem rude? Great ideas either way 🙂
I REALLY need this!!