What to do when giant spiders invade your home as numbers on the rise across UK
It’s entering spider season, and it feels like the eight-legged creatures are getting bigger year on year - so the Mirror has put together the best ways to keep them out of your home.
The wide ranging solutions range from lavender to chalk and will be important going into September - the season where spiders usually start coming inside. For those with arachnophobia, or if you generally aren’t a fan of the insects, prevention rather than reaction is the best method.
Following an unusually wet August in the UK, spiders sightings are shooting up across the UK. Although giant house spiders can bite, they likely won't harm you. Spiders tend to do anything they can to get away from humans - pardon the cliché, but they’re more scared of us than vice versa.
So without further ado, here are some of the best ways to keep spiders out of your home:
1. Strong smells - lavender, mint, citronella
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Spiders are not fans of strong smells, particularly those from lavender, mint, citronella, or eucalyptus, according to YorkshireLive. Best case scenario, you would have it growing in your garden near your windows. However, another good idea is to sprinkle one of the above around your window sills and door frames may help ward off the arachnids.
Mint can be bought from a supermarket for just 65p. If you have a garden, it is a good investment to buy a mint plant and let it grow - not only will this help keep spiders away, it will give you an unlimited mint supply.
Lemon and citronella can be bought in spray form, which may be easiest as an anti-spider defence mechanism. These can be bought for only £5 to £7.
2. Removing webs
As long as you aren’t too squeamish about spider’s webs, their frequent removal can be beneficial in keeping the home spider-free. Eventually, the spider will decide it is a futile place to build its home if it keeps getting torn apart, and will move on elsewhere to spin their web in peace.
3. Chalk
Funnily enough, spiders taste with their feet. And one thing they certainly aren’t fans of is the taste of chalk. So drawing a line of chalk around your bed, near doors and window sills, and around any other entrances to the home will help keep the spiders away.
Interestingly, if you ever see a spider on the move it will almost definitely be a male - because female spiders tend to stay in one place. It is when a male is searching for a female mate that you are most likely to come across them when they leave their hiding spaces. In turn, those you see which don’t move are more likely to be female.
And one perhaps unpopular word of advice: avoid killing spiders. Spiders can be very good at trapping and keeping at bay other insects which may invade your house - and one spider is less intrusive than ten flies. If you need to remove a spider, use an old-school glass and paper - or you can invest in a ‘spider-grabber’ which helps to keep them at arm's length.
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