5 Ways To Control Spiders Without Insecticides

Spiders are a common household pest, but few people enjoy sharing their homes with them. Insecticides are an effective way to kill spiders, but they can be dangerous, especially if you have kids or pets around. Here are five ways that you can control the spiders in your house without using insecticides. 

Control your clutter

Polls have shown that less than ten percent of Americans rate their homes as completely clutter free, while the rest have some degree of clutter. Clutter isn't just something that embarrasses you when guests come over; it also attracts spiders to your home. This is because your clutter gives the spiders a place to hide and breed. They lay their eggs in the safety of your boxes, bags, and papers, and before you know it, you have a big spider problem in your home. 

Seal entry points

From your perspective, doors and windows are the only way to enter your house, but to a tiny spider, the world looks a lot different. Tiny cracks and crevices in the exterior of your house look like welcoming doorways to a spider. Inspect the exterior of your house for these gaps, and when you find them, fill them with caulk. Gaps can be anywhere, but pay special attention to:

  • The foundation of your home;
  • The corners of your home;
  • The area around exterior pipes and wires;
  • Where decks and porches attach to your home;
  • The boundaries of doors and windows;
  • Vents in exterior walls.

Keep your kitchen spotless

Spiders aren't attracted to your messy kitchen, but other types of bugs are. Ants, cockroaches, flies, and many more pests can be attracted to the crumbs and spills in your kitchen, and those pests are food for spiders. If your kitchen is full of tasty bugs, spiders will be attracted to it. Even worse, a large population of prey items will support a larger population of predators, which translates to more spiders. Wipe your counters and sweep your floors after you prepare a meal, and try not to leave dishes sitting in the sink. 

Get rid of eggs and live spiders

When you find live spiders or egg sacs in your house, get rid of them. If there are a lot of spiders in your house, the easiest way to do this is with your vacuum. Suck up any spiders and egg sacs that you come across, and then dump the contents of your vacuum outside. It's important to not empty your vacuum into a garbage can inside your house because some of the spiders or eggs could have survived their trip through your vacuum. If you don't have a lot of spiders, a rolled up newspaper or a shoe will also work.

Resist the urge to transport the spiders outside, instead of killing them right away. You're not doing the spiders any favors, since most house spiders can't survive outdoors. They'll still die, just more slowly than if you'd squished them with your shoe. 

Use glue traps

Spiders like to hard in dark, undisturbed places, so you won't be able to get all of them with your vacuum or your shoe. For these spiders, you need to use glue traps. Glue traps are sticky traps that catch and kill spiders; when the spiders walk across them, they get stuck, and die. 

Place the traps in places where spiders are likely to be, like under your furniture, in dark corners, and along your baseboards. Spiders tend to travel along walls so that you don't notice them, so don't bother putting any traps in the center of your rooms.

If you have a spider problem, try these five methods to control them. If these methods aren't enough, hire a pest control company, like Ace Walco & Sons Termite & Pest Control, to spray insecticides around your house. They have the training required to use these chemicals safely, and will only harm the spiders, not your kids or pets. 


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