9 Things That Kill Spiders (and 6 That Them at Bay)

I love all creatures on Earth, great and small. Well, actually, that love has limits, and the limit starts with spiders. Scuttling, hairy, fanged, eight-legged freaks! Ugh, they make my skin want to crawl right off my body!

If you’re like me or one of the millions and millions of people who suffer from arachnophobia, you’ll stop at nothing to get spiders out of your home and keep them out. But if you start sweating at even the thought of having to get one out of the bathtub with a cup, you need to lock in and read my handy guide here.

Here, I’ll share with you nine ways you can easily kill spiders, including safe and all-natural methods, and six things you can do to keep them at bay. Take a deep breath, be brave, and we will get into it.

White Vinegar

White vinegar is, now as ever, a tidy homesteader’s best friend. It works wonders for making DIY cleaning products and works just as well for quickly, easily, and safely taking care of spiders from a distance.

Five percent or stronger white vinegar will easily kill spiders large and small, though it won’t necessarily do it instantly, so keep that in mind. All you need to do is load it into a spray bottle, set the nozzle to stream or spray depending on how close you care to get or how good a shot you are, and then give the target arachnid a spritz.

This won’t hurt you, kids, or pets at all, but keep in mind that it could potentially damage paint or other finished surfaces, especially if undiluted. Think it through before you spray!

Borax

A mainstay in the laundry room, your great-great-grandma knew that borax can also be repurposed for insect defense. Yeah, spiders aren’t insects, but you get my meaning.

It turns out borax is extremely toxic to all kinds of critters, either by ingestion or prolonged contact. Spiders are unlikely to eat the stuff, considering it’s not easy to make a bait that will attract them, but if you sprinkle borax by likely spider entry points and hiding places, they will die soon after crawling over it a few times.

This is another safe and super simple method of disposal, but if you have pets or little ones, do take care so they can’t reach it themselves.

Diatomaceous Earth

Handy to have when working in the garden, diatomaceous earth, more commonly called DE, it’s one of the best and safest all-natural insect killers you can get, and it can provide prolonged protection for pennies on the dollar.

I’ll spare you the science lecture, but all you need to know is that DE is essentially the fine, sand-like powder made from the shells of ancient marine crustaceans called diatoms. It reliably kills bugs by lacerating their exoskeletons, so they dehydrate and die.

As expected, you can sprinkle or scatter it anywhere that spiders might live or crawl, and after passing through it, it’s only a matter of time until they expire. Super safe and all-natural, this is one of my favorite kinds of spider protection.

Ammonia

Ammonia is a noxious chemical but one with many helpful uses around your home and garage. In a pinch, you can use a splash of ammonia or spray it out of a sprayer to kill spiders basically on contact.

Obviously, ammonia fumes can be harmful at worst or nauseating and irritating at best, so only use it when you’re out of other options and have good ventilation. You don’t need me to tell you that this stuff can wreak havoc on fabric, paint, other finishes, and more, so use it with extreme caution.

Dish Soap Spray

You might have a spider under your sink right now, but the irony is that the substance you’ll use to dispatch it is also under your sink.

Common dish soap, like Dawn, Palmolive, and others, works a little like DE to kill spiders and insects; the strong detergent erodes the cuticle protecting their exoskeleton and eventually causes death. Simply mix up a generous shot of dish soap with a little bit of water, put it in a spray bottle, and go to town.

The spider won’t die instantly, but it won’t take long, so even if it runs off, you can rest easy knowing that it’s on its last legs. As expected, this is just about as safe as it gets!

Glue Traps

Glue traps, in the form of special double-sided tape or glue boards, are commonly used for protecting homes against mice and snakes, but they work just as well on spiders and other creepy crawlies.

The sticky, tacky glue will trap spiders as soon as they touch it and often hopelessly snare them when they try to pull themselves free. It’s poetic justice when you think about it; many spiders trap their prey in sticky webs, so turnabout is fair play if you ask me.

Fly Swatter

As scary as they might be, you should remember that, to the spider, you are a titan. Hitting one with a swatter is basically like dropping a building on it, and if you’re willing to get your hands metaphorically dirty, a fly swatter is all you’ll need.

One good swat, or two, will utterly crush a small spider or gravely injure a larger one, preventing escape and making it easy for you to clean up the carcass.

Bug Spray

Sometimes you just don’t want to mess around with improvised solutions. If you’re okay with potentially questionable chemicals being in or around your home, don’t hesitate to reach for an all-purpose bug spray for taking out a spider.

There are many formulations out there, but they all do basically the same thing: directly attack a bug’s nervous and motor system. This typically results in immediate incapacitation. Use judiciously: many such products advertise themselves as being safe for people or pets, but you are right to doubt the claims of these big chemical companies.

Bug Fogger

For serious infestations you want to tackle yourself, if you’ve got the nerve, reach for a bug fogger. Basically, this is a wide-area bug spray treatment that can completely fill a single room or multiple rooms in your home, permeating walls, interstitial spaces, and other hidey-holes to completely eliminate the arachnid menace.

This approach, though sometimes necessary, is a major pain: you’ll need to move out all your stuff or at the very least cover it with impermeable plastic, set off the fogger, and then evacuate while it does its grim work.

6 Things That Will Keep Spiders at Bay

Just like with every other problem in life, preventing the problem in the first place is the best way to go. It’s possible to keep spiders out of your home entirely with a little diligence, elbow grease, and the following tactics…

Keep Your Home Clean and Tidy

There’s a reason why ill-kept or abandoned homes are always covered in cobwebs: spiders love to take up residence where they won’t be disturbed!

Stay on top of routine chores and the occasional deep cleaning, and I promise you’ll notice far fewer spiders in and around your home.

Keep Doors and Windows Closed

File this one under “no duh.” While it is true that most spiders are tiny and can squeeze through tiny openings, most don’t even have to do that.

Open doors and windows are an obvious invitation to spiders. If you don’t have a good reason for keeping either open,
close ‘em up. If you like the extra ventilation, invest in screens.

Prune Plants Next to Your Home

Overgrown shrubs and other plants make it easy for spiders to hang out near your home, and spiders that hang out near your home will often find their way inside. Pruning your landscaping plants is the outside equivalent of keeping the inside clean and tidy; it will shoo away the spiders.

Seal Gaps and Cracks That Permit Entry

One of the best and most cost-effective approaches is also one of the most laborious, and that’s why the average homesteader doesn’t want to do it. But you’re not the average homesteader, right?

Grab your caulking gun, weather stripping, and any other supplies you’ll need, and then set about sealing up doors, windows, vents, and other penetrations where possible.

Keep Porch and Deck Lights Off as Much as You Can

So, so many insects and arachnids are attracted to light. They just are. Whatever your reasons, keeping exterior lights on over your porch or deck will only serve as a lighthouse to spiders, which will flock to it. Other bugs will do the same, providing a ready food supply for the spiders and giving them all the reason they need to hang around.

Spray Essential Oils at Entry Points

Did you know that many essential herbs, or rather the aromatic compounds they contain, are essentially all-natural insecticides? It’s true! Lavender, basil, rosemary, citronella, and more can all be the bane of spiders. Even a whiff of any of them is enough to send them scurrying in the other direction.

This is a family-safe method of repulsion that you can feel good about applying liberally. Simply spray an all-natural essential oil around doors, windows, and all other openings as you would a perimeter bug spray. Repeat at least once a month and reapply after a hard rain once it dries out.