If you aren’t a fan of creepy crawly things, you probably don’t like the idea of spiders taking up space in your home. While spiders can help take care of more irritating bugs, like houseflies and mosquitoes, they can also make you shudder.
In some areas of the country, you are more likely to have poisonous spiders enter your home. Keeping them out is a great decision.
- Peppermint Oil An Effective Spider Repellant To Control Them In Your Home
- The Problem With Pesticides
- Why Use Essential Oil As Pest Control?
- What Are The Most Dangerous Types Of Spiders?
- How To Make And Use Peppermint Oil Spray
- Is Peppermint Oil Safe To Use Around The House?
- Other Tips For Keeping Spiders Away
Peppermint Oil An Effective Spider Repellant To Control Them In Your Home
One of the best ways to get rid of spiders in your home is to get rid of the pests on which they feed. Peppermint essential oil like this can be effective for repelling spiders, ants, aphids, certain types of beetles, fleas and flies. Therefore, you’ll eliminate the problem as well as the food source that keeps them alive.
If you add other pest-repelling essential oils to your blend, you can target even more bugs. Even if the other oils aren’t effective for getting rid of spiders, if they repel other bugs, the spiders will starve.
The Problem With Pesticides
Even the Environmental Protection Agency recommends using preventative measures as the first step in pest control. One of the problems with chemical pesticides is that people don’t use them properly. Some people think using more of a chemical will kill more bugs. However, using too much pesticide can be dangerous for your health.
Pesticide labels list where the chemical may be used. You shouldn’t use a pesticide designed for outdoor use indoors and vice versa.
When no disposed of properly, they can pose a poison danger for children in your home. They can also leach into the environment. Help conserve the environment by choosing peppermint plants for a natural spider spray.
Why Use Essential Oil As Pest Control?
While many people don’t like insects and spiders, they also don’t like the idea of spraying noxious chemicals in and around their home. Essential oils are natural.
Although some may be dangerous if consumed by humans or pets, essential oils are considered to be minimum-risk pesticides by the EPA. You won’t be consuming the peppermint oil to get rid of spiders; you’ll be using it around the house.
The pesticides used to kill most insects may not affect spiders. According to About Home, when spiders move around, they keep their bodies suspended in the air. If the body doesn’t make contact with the pesticide, they won’t die. Spiders have no circulatory system to transmit pesticides from the bottoms of their legs to the rest of their bodies.
According to DeadPestz.com, the strong smell of peppermint oil is overwhelming to spiders. The spider doesn’t have to come into contact with the solution. Instead, it is repelled by the aroma.
This is good news to anyone who likes to let spiders live to kill off those other annoying bugs. They just won’t do it in your home.
Some people wonder if an anti-spider spray with peppermint really works If you’re not sure, here’s how to test it out yourself.
Pick two spots where spiders generally make their home. Vacuum or sweep the spiders and cobwebs away. Spray one area liberally with the oil.
Keep the other area free of peppermint oil. Keep checking the areas to see if the spiders return.
A blogger at This Big Happy tried this experiment on a porch with numerous spider-infested corners. She found the spiders stayed away from the spots sprayed with peppermint oil.
To use peppermint oil spider repellent effectively, don’t be stingy while spraying. Make sure the spray covers a wide area.
What Are The Most Dangerous Types Of Spiders?
As scary as they may look, most spiders won’t hurt you, according to Entomology at the University of Kentucky. Even spiders that can puncture human skin to transmit their venom are not as aggressive as you might imagine.
According to Spiders.us, there are more than 4,000 species of spiders in North America. Venomousspiders.net reports that only about 6 people die from spider bites in the U.S. every year.
Black widows are perhaps the most infamous type of venomous spider. The females have a shiny, bulbous black body with a telltale red hourglass marking on the underside of the abdomen. Black widow spiders tend to stay outside.
They may hide in the overlap of your fence or under rocks. Black widow spiders typically hide unless they’re provoked. If you jostle their webs, they may quickly appear.
Most people bitten by black widow spiders are affected when they reach into the spider’s typical hiding spot. Don’t place unprotected hands into a wood pile or abandoned flower pot. Don’t reach behind your fence posts without checking first.
If you’re planning to garden, spraying the area around the garden with peppermint oil may repel any black widow spiders hoping to spend the day with you.
The brown recluse is another type of poisonous spider. This spider isn’t as unique in appearance as the black widow. It may be cream or brown. It has a violin-shaped, dark marking on the section of its back where the legs attach to the body.
Brown recluse spiders also prefer to hide in dark spots. Victims are often bitten when they put their feet into shoes where the spider is hiding. The spider may also enter your bed as you’re sleeping.
It won’t bite you if it’s unprovoked. However, it will defend itself if you roll onto it.
Spraying the area around your bed can help keep brown recluse spiders away. You can also keep cotton balls saturated with peppermint oil under your bed and on your nightstand.
Peppermint oil is also effective when sprayed inside of shoes. You’ll help prevent brown recluse spiders from making homes in your shoes. As an added bonus, your shoes will be deodorized. The antibacterial and antifungal properties of peppermint oil can be beneficial for many foot and skin conditions.
Hobo spiders live in dry, arid regions in the western U.S. They can be identified by a chevron pattern on their bodies.
They do like to make their way indoors. However, they are unlikely to travel up vertical surfaces. For this reason, they are more commonly found in basements or on the ground floor. If you live in an area where hobo spiders are found, you can concentrate your use of peppermint oil repellent on these floors.
How To Make And Use Peppermint Oil Spray
To keep spiders out of your home, make a peppermint oil spider repellant spray. Fill a spray bottle with water. Add at least 15 drops of peppermint essential oils like this.
The larger the spray bottle, the more oil you’ll need. The peppermint water should have a strong aroma if it’s going to keep spiders at bay.
Apply the pepper oil spray solution along floorboards, door openings and cracks in your home. Spray any area where a spider could enter.
If you have a concentration of spiders in a particular area of your home, place 5 drops of peppermint oil on a cotton ball and leave it in that area. Refresh the cotton balls every 2 to 3 weeks.
The spray and cotton balls should be directed toward the inside of the home. The spray won’t help you if it gets washed away by rain. Make sure you don’t put cotton balls in reach of children or pets that could choke on them.
You can also use peppermint oil to keep spiders away on a camping trip. Spray the ground around the exterior of your tent with the solution. Keep several cotton balls soaked with the oil near your head while you sleep. You can also place them near the door of the tent.
Peppermint oil also deters ants. Therefore, it’s handy to have around the cooking area of your campsite.
If you’re concerned about traveling with the liquid spray, saturate several cotton balls before you leave the house. Keep them in a sealed container, and remove a few as necessary. This is a great way to use a natural spider repellent when staying in a cabin, old house or even a hotel.
You can also wear peppermint oil on a diffuser pendant to benefit from its aromatherapy as you keep spiders away. The smell can help energize you and fight bacteria and viruses.
Is Peppermint Oil Safe To Use Around The House?
Peppermint oil can be dangerous if eaten. Keep peppermint oil away from children and pets.
Cats may be especially sensitive to peppermint. Ultimate Cat explains that although peppermint is in the same family as catnip, it can be dangerous when used around cats. Don’t place cotton balls soaked with peppermint oil in an area your cat can access. When spraying peppermint oil, make sure your cat does not ingest or roll around in the residue.
If you’re concerned about the safety of peppermint oil around children, consider using fresh leaves from a peppermint plant. Although it won’t be as effective as using 100% pure peppermint oil, you’ll still spread the scent in areas where spiders could hang out.
Crush a few peppermint leaves. Rub them in the areas where you typically find spiders. You can also rub them around cracks or leave them around door and window openings.
You can also make your own peppermint oil infusion. A homemade infusion contains less menthol than the 100% pure essential oil. This can help you rest easy when using it around cats or young children.
To make a peppermint oil infusion:
- Pack a small jar full of peppermint leaves.
- Crush them in the jar using a wooden spoon.
- Fill the jar with olive oil. It should cover all of the leaves.
- Let the leaves soak in the oil. This will take 2 days in the warm sun or 1 month in cool weather.
- Shake the jar every 12 hours while it’s steeping.
- Strain the leaves from the oil using a fine mesh strainer.
- Keep the oil in a covered container in a dry, dark place for 3 to 6 months.
Another recipe for making your own peppermint oil can be found in this video:
[video_lightbox_youtube video_id=”XMGG_NtamDQ” width=”640″ height=”480″ anchor=”https://ohsimply.com/wp-content/uploads/peppermint-oil-video-02282017.jpg”]
NOTE: You need to replace the value of “video_id” with your actual YouTube video ID. You can also control the size of the lightbox window by customizing the width and height parameters.
Unlike peppermint essential oil, this type of homemade infusion is edible. Therefore, it can be safer to use around pets and babies.
You can also make a tincture by swapping the oil for grain alcohol. A tincture may be more practical for spraying around the house. The oil can leave a greasy residue on surfaces.
Other Tips For Keeping Spiders Away
Peppermint oil can repel spiders trying to enter your home, but it is only one tool. If you already have an infestation, you’ll need to kill the existing spiders. One of the best methods is to simply squash a spider.
To prevent future infestations, in addition to using peppermint oil, keep the area around your home neat. Don’t leave piles of material like leaves, sticks or firewood near doors or windows. Trim any vegetation that makes contact with the house.
If you’re bringing firewood, plants or other outdoor items inside, check them for spiders first.
Caulk cracks from the outside. Even the tiniest crack around a window can give spiders access to the warmth of your home.
Use a pressure washer to clean your home’s exterior regularly. Spiders can hide under siding, in corners and in gutters. Pressure washing will kill the spiders and get rid of their egg sacs.
Keep clutter to a minimum in storage areas. Dark spaces not frequented by humans or pets make ideal places for a spider web. Clean out your closets frequently, vacuuming in all the hard-to-reach places and moving things around.
Peppermint oil is not a magical cure for keeping spiders away. If you have a problem with spiders in your home, you will need to take extra measures to kill them. Using glue traps and keeping your house free of cobwebs and clutter can help.
Other essential oils that could help get rid of spiders include: lavender oil, neem oil, coconut oil, tea tree oil, eucalyptus oil, citronella oil and cinnamon oil.
Food grade diatomaceous earth makes another great option for insect or pest control. It can effectively kill spiders, cockroaches, spider mites, bed bugs and other crawling insects in no time.
Once you’ve taken preventative measures to discourage spiders from making their home in yours, use peppermint oil regularly to prevent them from returning.