Spiders are creatures you commonly see outdoor. There are various species of spiders which reside on the trees, bushes, and other outdoor spaces. However, you might spot spiders getting into your house through the opened entrances, seeking for food and shelter. In some countries in the United States, spiders have been a common house pest with rising population in the summer. Since humans’ phobia over spiders is also a common thing, homeowners tend to immediately seek for professional help when spotting spiders infestation at home.  In fact, broaden the knowledge about spider infestation might be useful to prevent further or re-infestation, so that you will not have to hire that costly exterminator.

Are home spiders dangerous?

In the wild, spiders live mostly on the tree branches and bushes. They are the predator to smaller insects and other spiders. Wild spiders, such as the black widows are extremely venomous and may cause death from a single sting. However, the case of black widow bites is not common and instead, rare. Home-invading spiders, such as the brown recluse spiders, on the other hand, are commonly harmless. They do bite when startled, but severe bites rarely happen because spiders must be pressed against the skin to be able to pierce it, which is less likely to happen. However, as pests, these home spiders are harmful because it may spread diseases it gets from the other insects they have eaten. However, the existence of spiders as insect predator also holds benefits, since they might eliminate certain insect pest colonies invading your house.

Spiders control at home

Controlling spiders at home may not be easy since this animal is not easily seen when starting to invade the house, but it is not impossible. Paying attention to how spiders live and survive is beneficial for getting rid of the creatures from the house. To perform spiders control and avoid the house from being infested by the eight-legged critters, you might need to put some things into considerations.

1. Find out the type of spiders infesting your house, especially if your residence is located around a wild forest or farms, and can be infested by a poisonous type of spiders.
2. Check for any existing spider webs and hence, the adult spiders inside and around the house.
3. Check all possible entrances from which spiders might get into the house.

When you are spotting a spider walking across the floor, on the wall, or on your house ceiling, you should pay attention that actually there might be more spiders residing inside the house. Although the critters are not deadly, they are still prone to disease transmission and may scare certain people, especially children. Hence, an immediate inspection should be done to perform an initial treatment to eliminate the culprits. Performing spider control can be done through several methods and steps.

Keeping spiders away

Keeping spiders out of the house is the most effective method in getting rid of this pest. Set your house into a place which is less liked by any insects and thus, spiders. By doing so, spider infestation at the house will be less likely to occur. To keep spiders away from your residence, you might need to:

Seal all possible entrances.

Spiders can find entrances to the house through small spaces between windows and wall, holes, and even ventilation. To prevent spiders from getting in, hence, you will need to seal all of these possible way-ins.

• Cover the ventilations with fine insect screens. This will keep spiders and other small insects away from the house. Clean these screens regularly, as dirty screens might invite insects to come, and thus, spiders to eat these insects.
• Tidy up the plant pots on the garden or patio. Regularly lift up these pots to remove any spiders which may hide in the gaps between the pots and the concretes. When watering vegetation, make sure you shower the spaces to encourage any hiding spiders to get away. You should also remove any wood piles and mulch around the garden, as these are a perfect hiding place for spiders as well.
• Trim garden bushes and excessive tree branches to avoid wild spiders from building nest attached to those. Water these bushes regularly to make sure no spider webs are built.
• Turn the patio or balcony lamps off at night. This can be helpful in keeping away the small insects which attract spiders. If you prefer to have some lights at night, turn on only the small garden lamp, instead.
• Seal all cracks and holes leading from the outside. Use caulk to seal in big gaps and cracks. Make sure no small insects are able to get in, since spiders are attracted to these insects and hence, try to find the entrance to follow its living foods.

Keep your house as tidy as possible

• Clean, tidy house gives fewer places for spiders to hide in. Spiders are getting into the house to find food and shelter like any other pests do. Messy houses with piles of old rags, clothes, and paper are the perfect living place for spiders. They are going to build the web there and reproduce.
• Dirty houses invite various insect pests, such as ants, flies, and other small ones. These small insects are food sources for spiders. Hence, when you have those insects invading your house, you will likely to have spiders as its predator as well.
• Vacuuming the entire house and mop the dusty areas might be the most effective cleaning methods for getting rid of both spiders and its webs. Wiping down the counters and couches is also recommended, especially when you can reach the hidden spots, as those are the spots spiders prefer to hide in.
• Avoid keeping old newspaper, paper, and fabrics in a cramp, dark spaces, as those are the criteria loved by spiders.
• Cardboard containers should be avoided and replaced by plastic-based containers to prevent bugs infestation, which can, in turn, invite spiders.
• Wipe off existing spider webs to prevent another spider infestation. Spiders eat other spiders, so that their webs may attract another spider eventually.

Killing spiders

Sometimes, no matter hard you are trying to keep pests away from the house, they keep coming in. when this happens, you may prefer getting rid of the pest by killing it. Various methods can be used to kill spiders and get rid of it from your house permanently.

1. Vacuuming spider webs and eggs to eliminate the entire population. However, large spider population cannot be easily eliminated by vacuuming.
2. Spiders are in fact beneficial in getting rid the population of small insects in the house. Thus, unless your house is severely infested, you might want to move the spiders outside whenever possible, instead of killing them. However, extermination will definitely be needed with a large infestation.
3. If you are sure that you have a dangerous type spider infestation, you might want to choose pyrethroid-based insecticide spray to kill the pest. However, spiders usually come into houses to find foods, so that a large infestation may be a sign of other harmful insect infestation which needs to be got rid of in the first place.
4. In a matter of large infestation, total fumigating needs to be done. Professional exterminators can perform fumigation on your request. However, the house will need to be emptied for a while. Fumigation is done by covering the entire house with a plastic tent and spray fumigating chemicals which can kill the spiders and its eggs. To do this, the house must be emptied for 2 to 5 days consecutively.
5. If you see the visible adult spiders, diatomaceous earth can be sprinkled around the areas the creatures are often seen. This powder will dry the spiders up and eventually kill it.

Regarding spider infestation, people are even reluctant to do extermination, since many of them regard the critters as harmful creatures. However, its infestation can be disturbing and with some poisonous spiders, it may be deadly. Hence, homeowners often choose folk ingredients to keep away the creatures, and peppermint oil is one of the effective deter for spiders. To use this oil, you can dab a cotton ball and wipe it off the cracks and holes to deter invading spiders. Other strong-smelled oil, such as eucalyptus and tea tree oil can also be used to prevent spiders from infesting the house.