Q: I am looking for a spider deterrent for my patio area. I have pets and so do not want to use chemicals or toxic products. I do not want to kill the spiders, I would prefer a homemade solution that I could spray or apply around the "people" areas of my garden.
Any ideas?
Hardiness Zone: 5b
Danamango From Montreal, Canada
A: Danamango,
If you get rid of the insects they eat, you will eventually get rid of the spiders. I have seen the following home remedies for repelling spiders. I've never tried any of these myself, but they certainly sound interesting. If you (or anyone on this site) try one of these methods, let me know if it works!
Ellen
Try making a spray mixture of dishwashing deterrgent and water. I don't know about spiders but no insect likes the taste of soap. I use this in the garden and it works just fine.
I tried dried lavender (about 3 Tbsp.) mixed with vinegar. (About 2 cups.) Let it sit for a couple of days. I poured it around my porch and let it drip down to the ground. Never saw a single spider for 2 years in or out of the house.
Chestnuts do not work. I even tried something you plug in to an electrical outlet, it didn't work. I am going to try the lemon thing. Thanks. We have brickwork on our deck, they love it.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you The lemon pledge worked ..... amazing. Thanks again. I also bought lemon oil, so am going to try that with water and a little detergent, as it will go further. I used two cans of lemon pledge around my sun deck. worked like a charm. Just not sure how often I have to do it, but I guess the spiders will let me know.
I've yet to try the chestnuts but friends that swear by it say the important thing of it is that there fresh picked chestnuts and only work for the season.
I have a major, major case of arachnophobia and just moved into a ground floor apartment (not the smartest idea, I know). I placed several chestnuts at my doors, windows, in closets, and nooks and crannies. I also sprinkled red pepper flakes at doors and windows as I heard this can be a good deterrent.
Very unfortunately for me, neither of these things worked! There was a big one in my place just a few days after moving in so I am going to try the lemon pledge and lemon oil route. I also want to try and avoid poisons as I have respiratory problems.
I'm trying to keep spiders out of my shed. I've tried vinegar, lemon curd, pepper and conkers all of them don't work.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Is there a plant, oil, lotion, etc. that will keep me from getting bitten by spiders?
By liddycoat from Wenatchee, WA
One thing is don't drink things like pop or things very sweet, it makes your blood sweet which is what they want. This will also help with mosquitoes too.
Are you sure that you are getting bitten by spiders? are they abscesses/boils instead? It is more common for people to have repeat abscesses/boils than repeat spider bites.
Yes I'm sure that we are definitely being bitten by spiders. And no I don't like sweets really, occasional fresh fruit is about as sweet as i can handle most of the time.
If the spider problem is in your home, you should see about fixing that before you do anything to discourage them from biting you. Being prone to spider bites would severely creep me out and I'd be looking to get rid of them before anything else.
A spider bite or two is normal once in awhile but if you're getting more than that then you need to stay away from areas where spiders hang out and populate or, as Spanish Girl mentions, if they are in your home you need to rid the inside of your home of the spiders. There really isn't anything that is going to stop them from biting you other than staying away from them.
Can someone give me some ideas to help me keep spiders out of my home?
By Geraldine from Milford, CT
Try to go through your place & seal up any tiny cracks that may allow any critters to get in through. Also don't leave doors open buy for a second.
Spiders don't like peppermint. Put peppermint oil on cotton balls and set them out where the spiders come in or where you see them.
Spiders hate lavender. Spray areas using a mix of lavender oil and water (1:5 or to your strength; I love lavender so mine is pretty potent). I've also used commercial sprays with lavender that have done the job. Great for your linen closet too!
Of course sprigs of lavender around would work too.
Peppermint oil works. I also sprinkle peppermint essential oil on my tiles while mopping.
I have spider mite sacs all over the ceiling of my front porch. Not even spraying them with a hose works to get rid of them.
By Billie
Are you certain these sacs are from spider mites? Please see this description:
"Spider mites are not true insects, but are classed as a type of arachnid, relatives of spiders, ticks, and scorpions. Adults are reddish brown or pale in color, oval-shaped, and very small (1/50 inch long) about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. Immature stages resemble the adults except only smaller.
Mites live in colonies, mostly on the underside of leaves, and feed by piercing leaf tissue and sucking up the plant fluids. Feeding marks show up as light dots on the leaves. As feeding continues, the leaves turn yellow, and may dry up and drop off."
Spider mites are a common problem in gardens and agriculture and do not live in sacs on buildings as they need plants to survive. You have several options:
1. Take a sample of the sac and insect to your local county insect control department for identification and suggestions how you can resolve your problem.
2. You can purchase natural or awful bug spray to try to kill the insects. Once the insects are dead, you can remove the sacs from your front porch. However, if you decide to remove the sacs on your own, be sure every insect is dead. If you do not know what insect made the sacs, you may risk bites from some very bad spiders-brown recluse, black widow, etc.
3. Your best and safest option is to have a pest removal service remove the sacs. They will identify the insect and be able to safely remove it. This will protect you and others from possible bites.
Well, we don't have any dangerous spiders here, and if there are egg sacs or webs, I just sweep them down with a broom. If you felt they were dangerous, you could burn them or bag them up and toss them in the garbage. Most spiders are actually beneficial, as they eat a lot of insects. The spider mites I am familiar with sometimes infest house plants, and they are not beneficial, but they are very tiny and gotten rid of with an insecticide soap or something similar.
I see peppermint oil keeps mice away. I have been told it also stops spiders if put round windows and door ledges. Anyone heard of this and do you mix it with water and at what ratio?
My husband, an entomologist who keeps various spiders in his home office, doubts the idea that spiders can be repelled with peppermint oil. However, there are many sites that support this idea so a very easy online search for "how to make spider repellent peppermint oil" produced many replies. You can try a search yourself or this great site to start:
everydayroots.com/
I manage an apartment complex in a rainy area and there are a lot of spiders (especially pumpkin spiders). I'm having to knock down webs daily. I am trying to find a repellent that will not harm children, adults, cats, or plants that can still be effective when wet and can be used to cover large areas.
By Malinda
Hedge apples if you can find them spiders hate them place them around the affected area sure they grow in most of the Midwest.
What is a natural spider repellent?
By Budd from Fox Lake, IL
Try this...
add 1/2 oz. coconut oil to one quart of white vinegar
Coconut oil may be found in the grocery store in the baking section or in the snack section next to the popcorn oil. Health food stores will also carry it. It is solid at cool temperatures so you may need to warm it to a liquid form. Pour into a spray bottle and shake well to mix, then spray away. Be careful around delicate linens or furniture, it may stain. Best use is for outdoors, basements, garages etc.
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Is there a natural, safe repellent that I could put on the house so that the spiders won't get established?
