OT: How do you get rid of spiders without chemicals?

[casey0729]

I am so frustrated with the huge numbers of spiders in my house. At first I thought I was just lazy and needed to vac more but after I ramped that up, I have discovered that they just keep coming. I vac them up whole, I get the egg sacs, it just doesn't stop. I read somewhere that they do not like lemon so I lemon pledged and lemon oiled up to the rafters and nothing, they're still there.

I am in the midwest (MN) so no poisonous ones, but I am really frustrated at the webs all over the place. It is not just in the basement either. I don't want to spray because of my little guy.

Any ideas?


KC

[trentsmom]

Oh, how frustrating! I don't have any non-chemical suggestions. But if I had something like that, I would call the pest control company. I know when I've had strange critters coming into my house, they were able to spray outside the house to keep them outside where they belonged.

Also, I have a cat that eats bugs, so I just call for him when I find one. :) He always comes running because he knows he's getting a "treat!"

[writermama]

planet natural sells traps that say they work on spiders. here's one of the several types:

http://www.planetnatural.com/site/insect-magnet.html

I tried this when we had ants and wasn't impressed, but spiders might be different.

your best approach might be to figure out what they're eating and get rid of that. Also, you could try to keep them from getting into the house -- a natural powder like diatomaceous earth outside might keep them (and lots of other crawlies) out. Planet natural sells lots of options, but I don't know which ones work with spiders.

hth,

[madelinesmom]

We we moved in our house about 5 years ago we had a terrible spider problem... It was driving me crazy and I understand your frustration. We called Terminex and this is the line they gave us. Spiders can't be killed by anything other than a foot or a rolled up newspaper... What you have to do is kill whatever the spiders are eating... According to our Terminex guy the way it usually works is that the insect walks through the spray, powder, etc and then grooms themselves and then die. Spiders don't do this so they can't be killed by anything like a chemical or spray. So now we try to kill what the spiders are eating. We got on a quarterly thing with Terminex and got rid of other things and the spiders went elsewhere...

http://www.terminix.com/information/pestlibrary/?fuseaction=category&pestCategory=Spiders#Tips

Here is their website, if you see the type of spider you have you can get more info about it...


Good Luck with this... it is very frustrating...

Jane
Madeline and Emily's Mom
1/20/03 11/29/05

[jillc]

Hi,

I wish I had some suggestions for you for non-chemical options, and I'll be watching the responses you get for ideas, too!

We have the exterior of our house & yard treated monthly by a pest control company. Every couple of months, I have them treat the tracks of our sliding glass doors. Nothing else inside. We do get the occasional spider in the house, but I've never found webs or egg sacs, etc.

One thing my Dad keeps reminding me about is to keep the screens for our sliding glass doors shut. He also suggested covering a garage vent with a piece of screen material to keep bugs out of the garage.

Good luck!
Jill

[sdbc]

Spiders don't really cause infestation--they just come in from outside. There's no way to stop this if you live in a wooded area.

We catch spiders and put them outside when they come in. If they are small, we sometimes just let them stay...

Sue, mommy to Aurora (Rory) born 5/13/04

[mommy_someday]

Just FYI, my mom used to suck up the spiders with her vacuum cleaner since they have a fair number of spiders and she dislikes handling them. Then she discovered that the eggs were hatching and spiders were multiplying inside her vacuum! Needless to say, she stopped using her vacuum and so did I. I hope someone has helpful information for you. I know spiders are useful, but they give me the shivers!

[zen_bliss]

we had awful spider issues in an office i had years ago. after reading up on the web, i got a bottle of citronella essential oil from whole foods and daubed it all along the ceiling & baseboards. it seemed to help. from what i'm reading here, it probably just deterred all the bugs, so the spiders went elsewhere for food.

[holliam]

Okay, I guess I'll confess. We like having spiders in the house. Provided they aren't poisonous (which is actually a possibility where we are so we always check), we consider them to be good roomates. They generally eat other unwanted bugs, and DD loves them.

So, the best non chemical solution we've found is cohabitation. ;)

For what it's worth, we don't spray for any bugs in our house or yard. The bunnies and birds all love our grass! :)

Holli

[cmdunn1972]

KC, your post is so timely! I just killed two spiders this morning, and one of them was no small critter. (Think wolf spider sized.) As I was killing them (and frantically getting DS out of the way), I was also wishing for a better solution.

I have heard that spiders (and other unwanted critters) like moisture. So, it might help to get a dehumidifier if you think that may be the root cause of the problem. Also, if there are any piles of leaves or yard debris close to the house, that attracts them since the piles trap moisture.

HTH!

[nfowife]

No advice, but want to commiserate! I vacuum multiple times a week and there are always small spider webs in the corners. We live on a wooded lot so I know there isn't much we can do about them, but I don't like them! I have noticed that the more I vacuum (like 3 times a week) the less they seem to be coming back.

[casey0729]

Thanks for all the advice - and commiserating!! I talked with a contractor yesterday who is going to do our windows and siding this year and he told me that there are a number of reasons why I have such a huge number of spiders. We live on a fairly wooded river bluff (but not on the river side), our house was built in 1971 and has vertical cedar siding on the outside and in some places on the inside. It's old and is warping a bit. That makes it easy for the sowbugs to get in and spiders love sowbugs. Also, it is easy for any spider to get in, whether they eat bugs or not. I also have a lot of wood in my house and they like that too. He also told me that getting plastic storage bins with lids instead of cardboard boxes is essential to keeping your spider population down. They love cardboard and wood.

So, we're replacing the windows and the siding this fall. I am talking my husband into at least removing the inner cedar from the upstairs. I don't mind hunting the spiders but if I could get it to a manageable one-floor hunt, it would be easier on me. I do have better things to do, I am not sure he realizes that!!! I guess I could train DS to hunt them, but he's only 17 months old. :-) Then I am heading to IKEA to get some storage stuff.

I have heard spraying outside is not good because it kills the outside spiders that eat your bugs that kill your plants/flowers.

I was reading the cleaning thread and maybe I will try the vinegar/water solution and add lemon essence or oil or whatever it was and see how that works.

I will keep everyone updated on my hopefully decreasing spider population. I killed a really meaty one yesterday. Yuck! I'd get a cat but have family that have allergies. Maybe they should come over and kill my spiders!!

KC

DS 5/11/05

[Fairy]

Have you tried, "Heeeere, spidey, spidey, spidey, spidey?"

[gatorsmom]

i live in Minnesota too (white Bear Lake) and we have a ton of spiders too. I can vacuum them up one day and they are all back the next. I wouldn't recommend any chemicals (just because I'm pro-environment) but I would just recommend to keep vacuuming as much as possible because at some point, something's gotta give.

Also, FYI, I lived with a family in France for a while and the grandmother there said that spiders in the house are a sign that the house is "healthy". In other words, nothing there is going to kill off the spiders OR hurt or poison your children. So THAT's a GOOD thing (that's what I tell myself at least).

Just be thankful you don't live in the south- then you'd be fighting cockroaches, not spiders! ugh!