With spider season approaching it's important to plan for the future in keeping these pesky critters out of your home. While there are a lot of products on the markets to spray away your problems these are usually expensive and filled with a cocktail of chemicals. If you have allergy sufferers, small kids and/or pets it's sensible to rely on the environmentally friendly and natural products before thinking of chemicals. We will be sharing our 7 favourite tips for maintaining a spider free home.
Essential Oils
The intense smells make a great deterrent to many insects including spiders and leaves a beautiful clean aroma when used.
Simply add a cup of warm water to your spray bottle and 10-15 droplets of your favourite essential oil including tee tree, citronella, lavender, peppermint, eucalyptus, rose, cinnamon and citrus. Spray around spider prone areas such as wardrobes, cabinets, corners, windows and damp areas in your home. Remember to continue to spray these areas every few days until the spiders disappear. This shouldn’t take long.
White Vinegar
A very common cleaning solution amongst the old-school cleaner of today. If you have found the web and want the spider to leave use a 1:1 mixture of vinegar and water then spray the web. Remember if you are spraying in an area that has high foot traffic it might be worth using one of the previously mentioned essential oils into the mixture to counter to vinegar odor. Spray it in the same areas as mentioned above until the problem disappears and if there is mixture left then give it a whirl in the bathroom to make your tiles shine.
Herbs, Spices & Cooking Powders
Just place your favourite herbs, spices and cooking powders such as dried mint, turmeric, cloves and baking soda around where you spider is living and watch as they slowly disappear. A word of warning of the fine powders of some spices, we recommend wearing a form of eye safety to avoid an eye rub.
Keep your house clean
Spiders are very particular when it comes to choosing a home. They always go for places that a small, dark and dusty. We recommend you keep your house as clean as possible to avoid any build-up of dust, and therefore insects, and therefore spiders. We recommend you remove the cobwebs as they occur. Cobweb Winder is the safest and easiest product for your weekly spider web clean.
Keep your perimeter clean
Spiders can be found inside and outside your home. Target the areas close to your home's surroundings such as wood piles, trash and debris. Spiders can build up in the areas that are covered from the elements and likely to be hiding other insects. Cleaning or organising these areas will reduce the risk of spiders accidentally taking shelter inside. If the cleaning is a hassle organise for the problem to be moved away from your home to a safe distance in the back or front yard.
Spiders hate Cedar
If you are thinking of mulching your garden soon it might be worth buying a cedar cut. Spiders aren’t too crazy about the smell of Cedar and will usually avoid areas with its presence. Make sure the mulch is maintained in order to continue to spread the smell. You can buy both essential oil and fragrant sticks of the lovely aroma to put inside your home.
Find their entry point
Spiders don’t always walk through the front door. The majority of the time small cracks and entrance points are where spiders make their way into the home. Grab your sealer gun and get low to find the small points that spiders can fit through. We always start with cabinets, roofs, floorboards, walls and anywhere where two building materials meet.
If you are having trouble with spiders or just looking for a new way of keeping them at bay try a few of the tips above. For your weekly cobweb clean up the Cobweb Winder is the product for you. Buy yours today!
If you have your own technique or natural cleaner that works wonders send us instructions and we will add it to the article!