Clean your house to say bye to pesky spiders for good

Halloween is still far away, but you don’t need the drama of finding huge spiders lurking in your bathtub or under your bed just yet. If you’re an arachnophobe, finding an eight-legged creature in your house can set you on edge for days, giving you that horrible feeling that there’s something crawling across your body, even when there isn’t.

You can often be left wondering where on earth they come from and how something so big managed to scuttle across the floor and onto your wall without you noticing. It’s claimed that bringing conkers indoors can help to keep spiders away, but there is in fact no evidence for this. There’s no need to start sealing up all the cracks in your walls and around your windows though, as something as simple as keeping your home clean could put them off coming inside altogether.

Get rid of cobwebs

The first place to start on your spider-banishing spree is by getting rid of any cobwebs in the corners of your rooms. Use a broom handle or your vacuum to clear them, so that any new spiders creeping inside don’t have a ready-made home waiting for them. If the idea of touching a web makes you shudder with horror, remember that you can always call in the professional cleaners, who will dust and vacuum all of your home’s nooks and crannies for you.

Have a good tidy up

Dark, hidden corners are a haven for spiders. If you don’t want to move a stack of magazines to find one hiding underneath, don’t give them the opportunity. Having a thorough tidy up and de-cluttering as much as possible will give spiders fewer places to lurk. 

Clean your windows with ammonia

Spiders detest ammonia, so if you want extra reassurance that one isn’t going to climb in through your window and crawl across your face in the middle of the night, clean your windows with a solution made from ammonia and water. To get rid of any smears once you’re finished, apply kerosene to scrunched-up newspaper and go over the windows again. You don’t have to worry about the kerosene making your house stink or leaving you coughing, as it will evaporate straight away. However, it will leave a pretty powerful repellent for spiders and other creepy-crawlies in its wake.

Take advantage of the scents spiders hate

Ammonia isn’t the only substance that spiders can’t stand. They also tend to run from citrus smells, so slice a lemon into quarters and place it underneath your window to stop anything with eight legs from creeping inside. It’ll also leave the room smelling beautifully fresh – just remember to replace the slices with new ones every few days. Peppermint is another scent that spiders hate, so make a homemade air freshener from peppermint oil diluted with water – place it in a spray bottle and your house will soon smell gorgeous to you, but horrible to those spiders you want to repel.

© MillaG5 Cleaning Agency