Mission: Kill the spiders

drinkinstout

Does anyone know of a good spider killing/deterrance type of spray?

The situation is this: I live in the basement of my house and would like to open my windows at night. (We have A/C but it costs too much to run it) BUT there are a lot of spiders around the outside of my house, especially near/on/inside my basement windows. I've torn out all the weeds, removed all lawn "garbage" and trash and cleaned up most of the area around the house but there are still a lot of spiders and they are multiplying like mad.

I want them gone but don't really want to pay some dude in a white hazmat suit to come take care of them - is there anything you wonderful knowledgable people know of that will help?

Species-wise, they come in several flavors... Mostly Hobo and Wolf but a few Widows (and those brown ones that resemble Widows) can be found too. (The daddy-long-legs don't really bother me)

Spackle

I don't know if it applies but can you spray something that deters and kills spiders when they wander through it? We had something done to our chimney and balcony doorway to keep these yellow jackets away and it's worked.

An exterminator came out to do the spraying.

also, I did NOT know there were Widows in Colorado Spriings

Peter Principle

Window screen? Cheaper, longer lasting, almost zero toxicity, does not kill the spiders (spiders kill other nasty things that want to get in your house), does not kill the predators that eat spiders (which also kill other nasty things that want to get in your house).

drinkinstout

got screens... they get in. especially when they're babies. They can even squeeze in when the windows are closed apparently (I'm getting new windows in the fall)

Peter Principle

Glue traps? I don't know if they make it, but some sort of insect tape (I'm thinking something like fly paper, but single sided, designed to catch crawling insects).

arcath

Nuke the site from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.

I hate spiders

I have not had any problems with screens, but I'm not in a basement either.

Xenocide Geek

get a cat.

seriously, you will never have spider problems again. cats love those guys.

witch_ie

This is a bit of a home remedy, but here goes. Get some rosemary oil, cotton balls, and plastic sandwich bags. Put the rosemary oil on the cotton balls and then in the bag. Leave the bag open. Place these around your room wherever a spider might enter or hide. The theory goes that spiders and fleas (since they're related) hate the scent of rosemary and that they'll avoid it.

Jimmy King

I've been using Ortho Home Defense Max. It seems to more or less work. I live in a very spidery, wooded, area. The spiders in and around my house are minimal, as opposed to before I started using it, where there were 3 black widows chilling in the doorway to my deck.

marty_0001

drinkinstout wrote: »

got screens... they get in. especially when they're babies. They can even squeeze in when the windows are closed apparently (I'm getting new windows in the fall)

Wiley buggers. I don't know about you guys in the US but here in Oz we can buy really, really fine mesh screens. The teeny tiny bugs that are attracted to light used to get in through our normal screens at night. Not anymore.
But they do reduce airflow as compared to normal screens though.

New windows are a good idea.

Is there some sort of electronic dealy you can buy - I see them advertised on infomercials now and then. You plug them into a socket and they use sound (I think?) to repel anything that has more than four legs. Not sure if that just applies to stuff inside your walls though.

bigpanda

Not sure if all the ultrasonic devices are bunk, but the ones my parents bought for their place didn't work at all. I finally convinced my mother to ditch them when I showed her the spider eggs that were laid in one.

I've also heard that they won't come around if you have a cat as they pick up it's scent and flee, but can't back that up with any hard facts.

bigpanda

Just ran a quick search and from what I saw, I'll second again a cat along with frogs, birds and ladybugs (maybe setup some bird feeders in the vicinity of your windows or those toad houses to attract some frogs. Ditch any paper or cardboard. Also read that the hedge oranges/apples work along with lemon pledge. Also vacuum often as they hate a clean environment. Sticky paper might help too so you know where the concentration of them are coming from.

Good luck and god speed. I hate spiders too. More than anything.

bigpanda

Last thought is to get rid of any possible food source for them. If you tend to be a bit of a slob that's not going to help matters as it will probably attract ants, moths, etc. so make sure your place is clean and tidy.

Blake T

Go to the hardware store, have a chat with them, tell them you require a surface spray for spiders.

They should be able to sort it out.

Harakhti

Straight peppermint extract, a dash of dish soap, and water in a spray bottle. We've been using it against our insect invaders. We spray around doorways, porchlight etc.. where ever the little buggers congregate. It works relatively well at repeling most insects.

A con about it though is it wears off somewhat quick. So you'll probably end up spraying every other night or so.

Hit a cricket with the spray bottle this morning. It leapt away and was dead when it hit the ground. Your mileage with it against arachnids may vary as we've yet to test it against them. We haven't seen many though, so maybe it is working against em...

Etch

Definately go with the kitty. Spiders and mice and such will generally go away from just the smell. For good measure though, get some sort of insect repellent too, but with the cat you should be able to get away with a relatively weak one.

drinkinstout

well I've got 2 cats and I keep the room and area outside fairly clean

they just... don't care

so I'm gonna stop by Lowes on the way home today and purchase some weapons - with a 100 degree weekend coming up I want to be able to open my windows in the evening.

Thanks for the suggestions guys - I might try some of the "home made" solutions later

hank94jp

The solution is quite simple, actually. Two words (I think) : antipersonnel mine. I prefer to use M18A1 Claymores. They've become a little bit harder to find over the past couple decades, but I believe you should be able to get your hands on a few without too much trouble. These should work very well, though you may have to make a few...adjustments...to better suit your objective. The firing method would presumably be the biggest issue for you. There are multiple triggering options you could use such as remote detonation, pressure release devices (I recommend the M5), tripwires, strikers, IR sensors, or acoustic/vibration sensors. Review the options, I'm sure you'll find something that suits you well. As for placement, I would recommend placing the M18A1 as close to the window as possible (but obviously not facing it) in order to maximize the casualities inflicted in the blast radius. The standard Claymore should be letal anywhere up to about 160 feet in a 60 degree arc in front of the mine. Oh, and as one last pointer...when you're out shopping, make sure you buy the more recent M18A1's with the knife-edge style sight. It's more accurate, as the older models had a pretty crummy slit sight that mucked up the blast radius.

By the way...you might want to keep your pets inside. Unless you want to paint your lawn red.

Cimmerii

hank94jp wrote: »

The solution is quite simple, actually. Two words (I think) : antipersonnel mine. I prefer to use M18A1 Claymores. They've become a little bit harder to find over the past couple decades, but I believe you should be able to get your hands on a few without too much trouble. These should work very well, though you may have to make a few...adjustments...to better suit your objective. The firing method would presumably be the biggest issue for you. There are multiple triggering options you could use such as remote detonation, pressure release devices (I recommend the M5), tripwires, strikers, IR sensors, or acoustic/vibration sensors. Review the options, I'm sure you'll find something that suits you well. As for placement, I would recommend placing the M18A1 as close to the window as possible (but obviously not facing it) in order to maximize the casualities inflicted in the blast radius. The standard Claymore should be letal anywhere up to about 160 feet in a 60 degree arc in front of the mine. Oh, and as one last pointer...when you're out shopping, make sure you buy the more recent M18A1's with the knife-edge style sight. It's more accurate, as the older models had a pretty crummy slit sight that mucked up the blast radius.

By the way...you might want to keep your pets inside. Unless you want to paint your lawn red.

Normal spiders, Hank, not genetically mutated, laser wielding, 10 ft tall, poison spitting arachnids of doom. In which case pets would be toast anyways, not to mention small children.

OP: Go with what Lowe's suggests, and use the peppermint/soap mixture around the inside if needed, and directly on the screen itself.

Good luck.

Omnimon

I hate spiders more than anything in the world. A female wolf spider approached my fiancee and I when we were on the patio one night a couple of month's ago, it apparently saw us and tried to scrunch her big butt up next to the door (she was carrying babies on her back). Within a couple of seconds of spotting it we were both standing on our chairs, luckily I had come armed with ICBMs (sandals). I had two shots, but the thing was so big (and I'm such an athletic, masculine, chair-standing hunk) that it took only one shot to kill her. I had to use the other sandal to kill the egg sac. It made icky noises.

Back to the OP: I have a cat and he does well indoors, as far as keeping them out, get a fine mesh screen... reduced airflow, but no worry about bugs.

SpecialMiek

Me: I'd get a fan. Cheaper than AC and you can point it right at yourself. And best of all no spiders.

Otherwise, pop the cash for an exterminator. I always say why do it yourself when there's a guy that's been trained by scientists to get the job done proper - cost'd probably be minimum.

Also, try glass jars with sugar at the bottom...or is that for roaches?

Afty

Ug !

Spiders are the worst, luckily in england we don't get many bigguns.

I tend to just hoover them up and plug the holes they come in by (blutack !), i hope god isn't a spider enthusiast