Natural Spider Control

Natural spider control works because spiders are easy to discourage. They want dark, still, cluttered spots near a food supply, so take those away and most spiders simply go elsewhere. Add a plant-powered product where they travel and you cover the few that stay. Here is the plant-powered approach.

Make the house uninviting

The most natural spider control is habitat, not chemistry. Clear the clutter where spiders hide, sweep down webs and egg sacs, cut back plants and mulch against the foundation and keep other insects in check so the home draws fewer of them. Swap bright white outdoor bulbs for warmer ones that pull in fewer bugs at night. Do this and you remove the reasons a spider chose your home in the first place. (Are the webs telling you something? Do cobwebs really indicate a spider infestation?)

Plant-powered products that finish the job

Where you want a treatment, reach for plant-powered tools rather than a fogger. Dust to Dust is the spider killer: puffed into cracks, corners and wall voids with the Insect Buster, it works like diatomaceous earth but kills faster, drying out any spider that crosses it. It is labeled to kill the common house spiders, including 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. It keeps working while it stays in place, and when you clean it up you sweep it with a broom or a vacuum fitted with a HEPA filter. To keep down the insects that draw spiders in, a mist of Six Feet Under along baseboards and windows helps, and both are safe to use in a home with pets and children in a way a synthetic fogger is not.

Natural spider control, step by step

• Declutter the hideouts: clear boxes, corners and storage where spiders settle.
• Sweep the webs: knock down webs and egg sacs indoors and along the eaves.
• Kill where they travel: puff Dust to Dust into cracks and corners with the Insect Buster.
• Clean up safely: sweep the powder with a broom or a HEPA-filter vacuum, not a standard one.
• Reduce the insects: mist Six Feet Under for the bugs that attract spiders and dim bug-drawing lights.

Related: How to kill spiders and How to get rid of spiders in the house.

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