Virily Editor
Spiders are among the most common household pests, known to strike fear into the hearts of many unsuspecting and arachnophobic residents of your home. Spider infestations usually peak during the hottest season of the year, due to their unique mating customs.
Because spiders are associated with poisonous bites, having a pest control professional detect a spider infestation in your home tends to spark fear. While unpleasant, only a select few species of spiders have venom that’s poisonous to humans. In fact, most spiders that invade your home fall into the non-poisonous category. Therefore, there’s no need to be alarmed.
Though rare, spiders like the brown recluse and the black widow spiders can still infest your home and pose serious health dangers. If you live in an area known for its poisonous spider species, pest control efforts become all the more vital.
Identifying a spider infestation in your home is easy. The most common sign of spider infestation is the presence of spider webs in the corners of your home. If you remove the webs from time-to-time but still find that new spider webs have been formed, you’ll want to recruit experts like this that can mitigate the infestation with a few simple steps.
To prevent the infestation from getting out-of-hand, quickly scan the room for spider webs every during your routine cleaning rituals, so that you can start treating the spiders before they multiply. If an infestation worsens, your family may be exposed to poisonous species, resulting in pain, blistering, vomiting, or even death.
Professional treatment options
Once you spot the signs of a spider infestation, your first instinct should be to call a pest control provider. Pest control providers are professionals who guarantee results-driven treatment, primarily through the use of chemicals. However, not all pest control providers are equipped to handle spider infestations.
Before making the initial point-of-contact, you’ll need to research a pest control provider’s menu of services. This will help you ensure that you hire the right professionals for the job, and get your money’s worth of services. Warning, most pest control providers will agree to mitigate a spider infestation having any experience in this area. To verify that your pest control provider is well-versed in spider infestations, review their website to confirm that spiders are listed in their pest control services.
DIY treatments
If you’re hoping to avoid the cost of pest control services, you can also treat spider infestations yourself. Some methods to eradicate spiders will involve a fair amount of work, while other methods won’t require much effort at all. In some cases, all it’ll take is a quick mixing of a few household ingredients in your kitchen, and you’ll be good to go. Some of these do-it-yourself spider control tips include:
Use essential oils
Essential oils are extremely effective at eliminating pests, especially spiders. Rather than investing hundreds of dollars into professional pest control services, you can rely on the basic household ingredients most homeowners already have stocked in their pantries.
For spider treatment, peppermint oil is the most effective. Dilute peppermint oil in water to create a spray. You can also add liquid dishwashing soap into the spray to boost the spider-eradicating properties.
You can create enough spray for two weeks of use. After applying this peppermint mixture to your plants and window cracks, properly store the spray to make the essential oil last longer. With a quick online search, you can find more ways to make your essential oils last longer. If you don’t regularly purchase peppermint oil, lavender and tea tree oil are also useful in warding off spiders.
Organize items neatly in your home
Spiders thrive in an unorganized home. If your attic or garage is unorganized and filled with clutter such as stacks of clothing, old magazines, newspapers, and books, it’s time for some spring cleaning.
To declutter your overflowing drawers, you can donate clothes to charity to help families in-need suffering from the recent spikes in unemployment. To further organize your home, you can throw away old newspapers and magazines or upcycle these materials into new crafts.
Keep the rest of the house organized by neatly folding clothes immediately after laundry day, and always store loose crackers and cereals in tightly-sealed containers. When organizing boxes and old items, make sure to wear long gloves in case your home is infested with biting spiders.
Do repairs around your home
Your home could have pre-existing cracks in the walls or gaps between your windows and doors that can pave the way for spiders. Thoroughly inspect the entire exterior of your home and repair any cracks on the walls or windows. You can also install door sweeps to seal spaces at the bottom of every door with outdoor access. Devote similar attention to the sides of doors and the space all around your windows.
Thoroughly clean the house
Spiders love to build their webs in dark corners of your home. These pests also tend to linger around areas where dust has accumulated.
To prevent an infestation, regularly remove any spider webs you notice in your home’s corners and use a vacuum to thoroughly dust the house. Vacuums suck up the egg sacs of spiders, preventing them from multiplying. Empty the vacuum immediately in a plastic bag, seal it, and take it outside as part of the trash. If left in the vacuum, the eggs can still hatch and can cause a re-infestation.
Avoid stacks of firewood
Stacks of firewood stored inside your home or around the property are an excellent breeding ground for spiders. Only purchase an amount of firewood that you can use immediately to avoid spiders from infesting your home.
The presence of spiders can indicate a larger pest problem in your home, as these spiders feed on other household pests such as flies and mosquitoes. Take the necessary precautions and recruit the experts when your DIY efforts don’t suffice.
