How to Kill Spiders

Most spiders are hunters that wander in after other bugs, so you usually see one at a time rather than a swarm. The way to get rid of them is not to chase each one, it is to treat the cracks and corners they travel through with a powder that kills them and makes the home less appealing to the next one. Here is how to do both.

The plant-powered spider killer

The tool that actually kills spiders in the home is a powder they have to walk through. Puff a light line of Dust to Dust into wall cracks, along baseboards and around the garage and basement edges with the Insect Buster. It works like diatomaceous earth but kills faster: a spider that crosses it picks up the fine dust and dries out. Dust to Dust is labeled to kill the common house spiders: the American house spider, jumping spider, brown spider, wolf spider, hobo spider, cellar spider, false widow spider, black widow spider, grass spider and daddy long legs spider. Leave it where they travel and it keeps working as long as it stays in place and visible. When you are ready to clean it up, sweep it with a broom or a vacuum fitted with a HEPA filter, since the fine powder can pass through a standard filter and damage the motor. (Choosing a spider treatment: Finding the best spider spray for my home.)

Make the home less appealing

Spiders come indoors for the insects your home attracts, so keeping those insects down makes it a poorer hunting ground and fewer spiders move in over time. A mist of Six Feet Under along baseboards, window frames and doorways kills those insects on contact and leaves a repellent barrier for up to 30 days.

Kill spiders and keep them gone

• Dust where they travel: puff Dust to Dust into cracks, wall voids and garage and basement edges with the Insect Buster.
• Leave it working: keep the powder down where spiders cross it, and top it up only where it is gone.
• Clean up safely: when you remove the powder, use a broom or a HEPA-filter vacuum, not a standard one.
• Reduce the insects: mist Six Feet Under along baseboards and windows to keep down the bugs that draw spiders in.

Related: How to get rid of spiders in the house and Natural spider control.

Shop the full Spiders collection.