July 21st, 2020 by Sarah Miles

On the whole, spiders are harmless creatures and yet they strike fear into the hearts of many. This can result in people being able to remove them with a glass and paper right through to abject terror and needing to leave the room. Most of us though, regardless of where we sit on the scale of arachnophobia, would prefer them not to be in our home.

While here in the UK they’re not likely to bite, and even if they do they’re very unlikely to be able to cause much harm, there are a few very practical reasons why we might want to keep them out: the webs that they spin can make the place look dirty plus they’re home to the dead flies and insects that they’ve been spun to capture. If you have CCTV you will no doubt have noticed that they love to spin their webs across the cameras; this is because they’re drawn to the insects that get trapped around these devices. It can be a big problem as it can obscure the footage which effectively renders it worthless. Spiders have even been known to trigger burglar alarms when passing directly in front of sensors.

So, what can you do? Spiders are actually very useful creatures and can keep down flies and insects, especially in the garden, so killing them is not the best course of action, plus who wants bits of squashed spider smeared on walls and floors? (A hygiene issue in itself). The strategy that works best for both spiders and their haters is to deter them from coming into the home in the first place. But how do you do that?

Spiders can enter the home via the smallest nooks and crannies so you can never hope to seal your home from them entirely, plus, during the summer they will just enter through open doors and windows anyway. Luckily, understanding certain characteristics of spiders can help us create a ‘hostile environment’ for them and make them think twice about setting up home with us.

Deter with scent

Spiders are actually very sensitive to smell. Their legs are covered with hundreds of tiny hairs which help them climb. Studies suggest that these hairs also facilitate smell and taste and therefore they can become overwhelmed by certain scents which they then try and avoid. Old wives’ tales suggest that they are averse to the scent of mothballs and conkers so some will leave them on window sills but you may not wish to have them lying around your home and they wouldn’t help deter them from many parts of the house such as in the corners of ceilings. More scientific research has discovered that one smell that they definitely don’t like at all is peppermint. While you could dose your home with drops of peppermint oil, this could get expensive, may mark furniture and fabric and you could end up with a home that permanently smells like toothpaste. Luckily, there are a number of specifically formulated, spider repelling products that use the peppermint smell that are practical and non-damaging to use in your home and whose smell is barely detectable to humans.

Spider repellent sprays, such as Xterminate Peppermint Spider Repellent Spray, can be sprayed freely around the home, even on plants, and won’t harm resident pets. While you’ll barely be able to smell it, it will keep working for up to 3 months.

Destroy their webs

The most common way to get rid of spider webs is to dust away with a cloth or vacuum them up. Of course, this will destroy the web and anything caught within it but it won’t necessarily prevent the spiders coming back and spinning new ones. However, a cobweb remover spray will. Specialised spider web removers can be sprayed on any surface to hygienically break down the cobweb, plus any captured insects and spider droppings, plus it will leave a spider repelling barrier that prevents them from coming back.

Insect Clean Web Free Spiders Web Remover 500ml

Price: £13.99

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Stop them from climbing

Another strategy to have in your spider repelling toolkit is to deny them the ability to climb. Spiders seem to defy gravity, being able to run up walls and across ceilings, and they need to be able to do this to build their webs at high points where they can best attract flying insects. To do this they use the tiny hairs on their legs which help them grab the minute gaps on surfaces – a bit like spider Velcro! Many who want to deter them from their CCTV cameras smear the casing in something slippery like Vaseline but this is messy and has to be reapplied regularly, plus you can hardly cover your walls in it. A mechanical spider repellent is a better option in these cases. When sprayed on surfaces, it creates a coating of microscopic bumps and holes. This makes it very difficult for the spider to traverse it; creating a ‘wading through treacle’ effect and forcing them to give up.

While spiders are seen all year round, they can be particularly prevalent around the end of summer as this is their mating season and they will be looking for somewhere warm and dry to build their nests ready for mating. It’s, therefore, a good idea to be well prepared and do what you can to prevent them from choosing your home before this, though of course, you can treat your home at any time.

500ml Spider Free Insect Repellent Spray

Price: £14.99

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Spiders are one of the good guys really, in the general scheme of insect pests, but that doesn’t mean you want them in your house. The good thing about all these strategies is that they won’t harm the spiders; they’ll just let them know they’re not welcome here!