4 Effective Ways to Spider-Proof Your Home for Good
Have you noticed the creepy crawlies starting to invade your house? Even if it’s not winter season yet and the weather is not humid, you can still see them coming and making themselves at home in the nook and cranny of your dwelling. Not a good sight to behold, right?
Spiders love the comfort of warm, dry houses. They like the dark corners too. Although they are mostly harmless and great to keep the home free from other insects, no one likes a spider and their webs hanging all over the house.
If you don’t want spiders lurking around, try these five effective ways to spider-proof your home for good. These tips will make you free from squeamishly grabbing these eight-legged critters and throwing them out the nearest window.
1. Remove webs.
This is a very simple way of eradicating spiders. Regularly checking for spider webs and removing them can stop spiders from sneaking around and reproducing in your house.
Web removal can be done by wiping down your windows and frames or using a soft duster or a vacuum cleaner.
2. Maintain a clean house.
Spiders love to hide in the nooks and crannies. With too much clutter in the house, they find it more enticing to stick around. To avoid this, you must maintain a clean, clutter-free house.
Cleaning means you have to check the windows, get a vacuum, dust the furniture and appliance. Spiders frequently visit dusty areas with many cobwebs. If you have piles of wood and other debris in your garden, as well as unused or faulty furniture inside the house, keep them to a minimum or store them away from the house. Also, don’t let the trash pile up inside. If having lots of containers can’t be avoided, use glass ones rather than card boxes. Glass surfaces are slippery, which will make it difficult for the spiders to climb and build a web.
For an extra clean house, you can also consider a regular house washing in Sydney. Regular cleaning service like this not only increases the value of your house but also keeps the spiders away. A clean home looks less inviting to them. They won’t have the chance to build up their webs if it’s well maintained.
3. Use candles or spider-repellent sprays with a strong odour.
After cleaning the house, you may want to relax with and diffuse some relaxing scents. They will make your house smell good and scare spiders away at the same time. Spiders hate strong odours; they are overwhelmed by them. They don’t like the smell of cinnamon, peppermint, eucalyptus and even citrus. They sense this smell with the tiny hairs on their legs.
You can place cinnamon candles in areas where you commonly see spider webs or spray strong-scented oils. If you have just used lemons, keep their peels and rub them in places where they usually hide. Or simply eat oranges regularly. They don’t stick around with a citrus smell.
Another home remedy that may ward off spiders is vinegar. Spray a vinegar and water solution in cracks and gaps to prevent them from coming in. Don’t worry about the smell; it goes off as it dries. You can also mix the solution with ground pepper.
3. Keep a pet.
Pets are perfect to prevent pests from infesting your place without using chemicals. Most cats and dogs will go after anything that moves. They are natural hunters. Having them at home could be a good way to deter spiders from being comfortable in your place. They could have fought off those unwanted crawlies even before you noticed them. If you don’t have one yet, you should consider investing in a pet now.
4. Check and fix openings.
With their small size, spiders can easily creep into your house through the gaps between walls, under doors and in any opening they can find. They can also go through utility openings like cable TV wires, outdoor faucets, gas and electric meters, dryer vents and outdoor electrical receptacles. Check these openings and see how they can be fixed.
Gaps, holes and cracks can be filled with foam, caulk, steel wool and cement. To prevent spiders from moving in through your exterior doors, you can use caulk to seal their outside edges. For the bottom track of sliding glass doors, foam weather-stripping can be used to line it.
Tears and rips in your windows and screen doors are also openings for spiders to get in. Make sure to fix them using a repair kit from a local store. You should also try covering your roof, attic and crawl space vents with wire mesh, but be careful when you do this because the wire mesh can have very sharp edges. With all these entry points blocked, you are spider proofing your home well.