Natural Home Remedies for Riding
Yourselves of Spiders
Sorry Folks no pictures of Spiders here
- I can't even stand those much less the real things.
Yes, I do suffer from a bad case of Arachnophobia! I've
been "afraid" of them for as long as I can
remember but at the bottom of this page you can read the
story about how I became terrified of the horrid
creators... OK you spider lovers I know YOU believe
spiders are helpful because they eat/feed on other
insects but you know what? I can deal with any other bug
far better than I can spiders. The following information
was collected from friends, family, and the research on
Natural ways to ride my home and yard of this pesky
intruder.My personal favorite is #6 - Kill them!
A little added note- don't count on teenage sons to
understand a mothers fear of spiders.
I've gone through this with 3 sons and have tolerated
everything from boys lightly running their fingers over
the top of my hair making it feel like a
"spider" in my hair to the latest "umm Mom
you might not want to open that container on top of the
barbecue". That was the latest compliments of my
youngest at 14 years of age. Rather than kill and dispose
of the as he put it "bigggg one"
he caught it in one of my sandwich containers and left it
right where I couldn't help but walk past it every time I
left the house. After several requests that he GET RID OF
IT he was so kind as to throw the whole thing container
and all into the bushes where no one but ME weeds and
will eventually come across again. He did inform me the
spider was now dead but also added it was the biggest one
he'd ever seen…..
Steps to Natural Spider Control
1. Find out how they are entering your home. Find and
seal all cracks in basement walls and in window casings
and doorways. If there is just a tiny crack in your
house, spiders will crawl through.
2. Clean any places there are lots of spider webs, clean
both inside and outside. Use a broom to sweep down if
inside or use water to remove them outside.
3. Keep clutter picked up inside the house so spiders
won't have a place to hide. They won't stay in an area
that is completely smooth and clutter free.
4. Make your house unfriendly to other bugs. Spiders eat
bugs, if their dinner isn't handy, there's no reason for
them to hang around.
5. Inside the house, look under beds, couches, and other
furniture for hiding places and clean out with a broom.
Any spiders can be sprayed with an indoor spray formula
(described below).
6. Essential oils:
Rose oil
Citronella Oil
Lavender Oil
Cinnamon Oil
Peppermint Oil
Citrus Oil
Tea Tree Oil any of the above oils will kill spiders and other
insects on contact!
A Natural Spider Spray Formula for inside the house: To
get Immediate Relief from spiders inside the house buy 8
oz bottle of Peppermint or Lavender Soap, or any other
natural soap. Go to your local drug store (I've found a
great supplier at the local arts and crafts store) and
buy 1 oz of Essential oil.
Add 5 tablespoons of the soap per quart water. Add 5
tablespoons of any natural citrus oil to the quart water
which you added the soap and label it spider control
spray. Add to sprayer and spray inside house where
spiders are seen. Should be done as often as needed. This
is not a long term solution but will provide you
immediate help.
You can also add 1 drop of any of the above (depending on
preference to you) to 1 quart of water:
Test for strength.
7. Spray outside the house: Spray outdoor trash and
recycling bins with any natural soap. Use the same
formula as in #4 to spray the containers and the area
around it with. You can also use any natural citrus based
cleaner at 1 oz per quart water. Spray around the outside
of the house and along any places that you see too many
of them.
8. Wear long sleeved shirt and long pants when cleaning
up in areas you know have brown recluse spiders. Have
spray bottle ready with spray formula.
9. Clean up around the outside of the house and garden.
Less trash, less spiders. Less places for them to hide
in. Do spring cleaning every year and get rid of piles of
wood etc that you are not using. You will be glad you
did.
10. Keep your trash bins away from the house because
spiders will stay around them, hoping to catch the bugs
that are attracted to them.
11. Remove old vegetation or wood from against the house
foundations. Spiders like to hide in these things and
often find entrance from there.
12. Trim back trees, bushes and other vegetation from
touching the house walls.
13. Keep pet food tightly covered to keep from attracting
bugs which attract spiders. (Don't leave pet food in a
dish all day.)
Some Additional Suggestions:
Put oil of pennyroyal on a cotton ball or scrap
of cloth and place where you see spiders. (Use
this with caution it is said that pennyroyal can
be harmful to humans and pets. Personally I've
never had a problem with it and actually love the
smell.)
Borax in shallow lids or just sprinkle on the
floor under couches or beds or wherever the
problem area is.
Baking soda... same as borax.
Kerosene. Use it on window screens and sills as
well as doorways. (Kerosene is flammable until it
evaporates, so keep it away from flame or heat.)
Eucalyptus leaves in closets, drawers and under
large pieces of furniture
Use osage orange (also called hedgeballs or mock
oranges).
Chestnuts Proved Effective: Put chestnuts around
the exterior walls of every room in the house as
well as on all the windowsills.
A Good Use for Tobacco:
1) Get a package of pipe or chewing tobacco, soak
it in a gallon of boiling water until it cools.
Strain the liquid into a clean container. Put a
cup of tobacco juice and 1/2 cup lemon dish soap
into a hose-end sprayer and spray. This works on
all kinds of bugs.
2) Put a package of chewing tobacco in a quart
jar of water, and let the jar sit out in the hot
sun for a day so that the tobacco has a chance to
steep slowly. Then strain the mixture into a
sprayer. This mixture is poisonous and can
actually be absorbed by the skin, so be careful.
It can also be absorbed by the leaves of plants,
so don't use it on food crops.
Spiders and Lemons: I don't know if this is true
or not but someone said that spiders have their
taste buds on the tips of their legs and that
they hate the taste of lemon pledge. Dust your
windowsills and doorframes with lemon pledge,
both inside and out, and any areas where they
accumulate.
My Story Involving Spiders:
It is said that Brown Recluse spiders are known
for their reclusive nature and avoid humans.
There are however times that they do bit people.
I know this is a fact because I was bitten not
once but numerous times. Although about 50% of
Brown Recluse spider bits are "dry" -
that means no venom is injected and nothing
happens to the bit victim. I wasn't so lucky! In
my case for the first 24 hours I thought fleas
had bitten me on my chest. There were 5 or 6 tiny
bumps that itched like crazy. Being horrified of
the thought of having my chest scared up I did
everything under the sun to avoid scratching. It
was all to no avail though, I didn't scratch but
the small spots continued to itch.
By the second day the pinhead-sized bumps turned
into nickel sized open sores, I had NOT scratched
them once. By the 4th day they were quarter sized
and an area about the size of a grown person's
hand (fingers extended) was raw flesh. The
itching continued.
It was about this time that I was talking to a
friend on the phone. After a short conversation I
told her I was going to have to get off the phone
and find something to put on my chest because the
itching was unbearable. She asked me what was
wrong and I told her. I'd never heard this friend
"panic" but I could hear it in her
voice as she ordered me to get to the hospital
"right now".
Well, I really didn't want to make the trip to
the hospital for several reasons. I hate
hospitals, I didn't have insurance, and I really
didn't feel like looking like an idiot going to
the emergency room for a couple little flea bits.
So to delay a bit I called my Mom instead. Mom
mind you is a registered nurse so figured she
would know what to do for this annoying itching.
When I described the situation to Mom there was
silence on the other end of the phone for what
seemed forever.
When she did finally speak I could tell she was
crying but being typical "MOM" she
attempted to put up a brave front for me. In a
shaky voice she said, "Well Faith I've
always known you were strong but until now I
never knew just how strong." At first she
had me totally confused but eventually she went
on to explain that people have died within 48
hours of being bitten, that the poison actually
destroys tissue. With the bites being on my chest
it was a miracle that my heart and lungs weren't
effected.
Looking back now I can only believe that God just
wasn't ready to take me home yet! Since that time
I have paid a lot closer attention to His voice
and what plans He might have for me. Learning
from others and being thankful for the
opportunity.
Information on Brown Recluse Spiders:
Most Common Situations for Bites-
1. Putting on cloths that were left on the floor
and the spider crawled in
2. Picking up something without looking that is
in a secluded or rarely visited spot.
3. Rolling over in bed on a spider that climbed
up bedding that was touching the floor.
Indications of Bite:
¨ 1st 24 hours the bite appears no worse than a
flea or mosquito bite.
¨ Begins to blister in the center.
¨ Blister breaks open leaving an open, oozing
ulceration (24-36 hours).
¨ Reactions include severe headaches, nausea,
vomiting, soreness, and "flu-like"
symptoms.
¨ In extreme cases: skin grafts, amputation, and
possibility of bone marrow failure may occur.
