Spiders. How do I get rid of and stop spiders coming in my home?

Posted by Dexalon@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 85 comments

Tl;Dr: the title.

I can't take it anymore. I'm becoming a nervous reck. If you like spiders and you aren't bothered by spiders, fantastic, because I am. I wasn't bothered about them until I started to find them in my home absolutely everywhere. Over the last 2 years it's just got worse and worse. Just now I had the fattest bodied biggest "household" spider I've ever witnessed crawl over the back of my hand. It was however interesting to see that I shouted "Jesus!" when I was that kind of startled instead of swearing like I thought I would.

Please. I don't care about the price I don't really care what I have to do but I need to find a way to get rid of all these spiders. I can't move atm but I'm literally trying to, cause of this. This and the fact that the building is so poorly put together that quite a lot of the outside world finds its way in. They are in my shower, they are in my bedroom, they are in in my front room. The only place they never seem to be is in my kitchen. The one that crawled over my hand was when I was lying in my bed. So now that's going to be fun trying to get to sleep tonight.

I'm a big black guy in my mid-30s. I am completely in control of my faculties and I understand the complete lack of logic here. I have literally had a blade held to my throat in my own kitchen that bothered me less than that spider walking over my hand just now. I didn't have a phobia but I can feel it getting to that point.

Please tell me it's a miracle cure, something I can just plug or spray. I will happily choke on chemicals in the air, if I don't have to deal with any more spiders.

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DarylStenn@reddit

Embrace them and they’ll leave you be, funny things spiders, those who claim to be spider people don’t get any spiders in their house, whereas those who don’t like em are riddled, become a spider person and soon you’ll find they won’t give you the time of day.

Actually, maybe that’s cats, not spiders.

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RoseboysHotAsf@reddit

Because people who arent severely arachnophobic dont notice them

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moonwillow27458@reddit

they don't like conkers or the smell of peppermint, it's not a guarentee that they will keep spiders out of the house but they do help. i have a really bad phobia and last year i slept with a can of citrus scented fly spray - sprayed my room periodically and it seemed to at least keep them away from my bed

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Dexalon@reddit (OP)

I'm willing to try. I don't have a phobia, I just dont like them but it's getting to that phobia stage. I'm itchy all over and everything I see out the corner of my eye I think is a spider. I have a rotating fan in my bedroom and as the air touched my leg earlier, my leg hair obviously moved an I jumped out my skin thinking I was being scaled by spider.

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contrabardus@reddit

That's literally what a phobia is.

You have one.

Maybe not a completely debilitating one, but you do have one if this is your reaction to them. There are different levels of phobia, and yours sounds pretty standard. It's not extreme, but not minor either.

It is good to understand that phobias can't be overcome by rationalizing them in most cases.

I don't have a phobia of spiders, but have managed to successfully deal with a mild spider infestation for someone I know that does.

Lavender, mint, eucalyptus, and citronella are all plants with strong smells that spiders don’t like. If you can grow these outside of your home near to entrances and windows, do so.

Controlling spiders outside of your home can help control them inside as well. Don't go overboard and try to nuke your entire yard, it's bad for your yard to be completely rid of them. Just control them near entrance points.

These plants also work in pots, put them by windows or doors if you can grow them in places like that. They do need to be watered and have enough sunlight. A porch is also a good place for this sort of pest control.

Sprays that have these scents can also repel them, but don't last very long.

Put Diatomaceous Earth around doorframes and window sills, under appliances, and in other crevices. Spiders have to get in somehow, and this stuff will kill them [and other types of pests as well]. It is also pet safe when used this way, but don't apply it directly on them to get rid of fleas or ticks.

If you have a basement, put it around any potential entrance point down there as well. Be pretty liberal with the stuff when it is out of sight.

You can also buy spray stuff that will kill them for quite a while when applied to surfaces like windows. This stuff is toxic though so don't apply it in areas your pets like to be if you have them or overdo it, just out of the way potential entrance points that are difficult for you to access regularly.

A good spot for this kind of stuff is around the edge of an attic entrance of the sort you pull down, in the back of cupboards under the sink around drains, or behind large furniture in spaces too narrow for a pet to access.

It's not terribly difficult to de-spider your house for the most part if it's not a major infestation. If it is, you should probably call an exterminator, let them deal with it, and apply what I suggested as a preventative after the fact.

Diatomaceous Earth is probably the most effective long term solution I mentioned, but will need to be reapplied on occasion, especially in high traffic areas like around a front door.

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Gentlemansoup@reddit

Hes afraid of the spiders, when he sees a spider he becomes really spooked. A person with an actual phobia would think their life would be in danger. Or am I wrong?

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contrabardus@reddit

You are wrong.

It is an abnormal or irrational fear or aversion of something.

Note the use of "or" here and not "and", it can be both, but doesn't have to be. The thing a person with a phobia fear might something perfectly rational to be afraid of, but the way they are afraid of it might be considered excessive or abnormal.

As an example, most people have a perfectly rational aversion to dangerously venomous spiders like Black Widows, but are perfectly fine with seeing them and even being near to them. They just won't try to interact with them and will avoid disturbing them. (Or may take care to kill or remove them depending on where they are.)

Someone with a phobia will be excessively stressed by simply seeing a spider like that, and will have an abnormal aversion or fear to them even if they are within a safe distance of them.

Note the inclusion of "aversion" in the definition, which is why "homophobic" is a correct term despite many claiming it's not because bigoted people are not " afraid" of gay people.

They are averse to them and irrationally dislike them, so "homophobic" is not a misnomer as many people claim.

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Gentlemansoup@reddit

That’s actually fair enough, guess I have it

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bastionmin14@reddit

holy shit thank you so fucking much, heavy arachnophobe here, i spray my room occasionally with mint but it never really seems top work much, likely cause i dillute it to spray better, but this is gonna help me so fucking much, thank you

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Akeyl_Elwynn@reddit

I sprayed my room so much with peppermint that a type of blue mould grew on the window frames😭 but like you said, it doesn’t do much.

I was looking up earlier ways to spider proof my house and read an article that suggested using an engine lubricant (wd-40) on the outside of the windows because it makes the surface slidey and their webs don’t stick. I don’t know if it works but I’m willing to try even the most outlandish solutions to get rid of the nasty creepers.

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bastionmin14@reddit

i've recently gotten some small potted lavender plants, with some lavender leaves in bags, the pots on my windows, and one bag in each corner of my room, had them for like the entirety of october and so far only a singular spider has arrived, concors are also somewhat good \^\^

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OkDance4335@reddit

Phobias are unreasonable. Spiders are literally little monsters. I’d say that’s reasonable!

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Tarquinandpaliquin@reddit

We're in the UK, spiders are utterly harmless and will sometimes eat mosquitos, flies, moths. Okay mostly the ones in my house just eat each other. I'm much more worried about mosquitos coming in and sucking my blood (currently 3-1 to me this year). Especially because the malaria line is only getting closer. I do wish the spiders would actually pull their weight in that regard though.

False widows were hyped up. You probably should kill them though because they're invasive.

I think spider phobia is partly because we have an instinct to be creeped out because our ancestors lived near dangerous spiders and partly because we learn it from other people freaking out about them.

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AimForYaBoat@reddit

Forgive my ignorance, but we have mosquitoes in the UK??

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Tarquinandpaliquin@reddit

Yeah, we definitely do. Iceland doesn't and a bunch of uninhabitable places don't. That's about it.

As I said I've killed 3 this year and ne left a red smear when I did.

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AShawnyBoy@reddit

Came back to say Iceland now has mosquitoes!

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Akeyl_Elwynn@reddit

I always thought being an island that’s a bit further out would have helped with keeping pests at bay😅

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Akeyl_Elwynn@reddit

We do… unfortunately, they seem to love me and I get bitten non stop in summer😭

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DeadlyAngel84@reddit

This is the way I react all day every day, I literally check everywhere for them, the feel of air, or stray hairs touching me has me jumping a foot and sweeping myself down. It is definitely a phobia, and I agree it seems ridiculous sometimes, and it doesn't feel logical to be so scared of something essentially so small (that can't hurt me, like everyone always tells me) but what might not make sense to others, makes perfect sense to you.

I completely feel your pain at being so jumpy and I too always look for remedies and ways to keep them out, because being hysterical at the sight of one gets too much sometimes. Please if you find something that works, let me know! I need it!

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Akeyl_Elwynn@reddit

People keep reminding me they can’t hurt me to which I always answer that dying from a spider induced heart attack is hurting me…

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Akeyl_Elwynn@reddit

I’ve been researching how to make my place spider proof for the last three hours today and I came across an article that claimed that if you spray a lubricant used to maintain engines on the outside of your windows their webs can’t stick to them. Haven’t tested it yet but I just bought the spray. I’ll link the article.

https://www.idealhome.co.uk/house-manual/cleaning/wd-40-spider-web-trick

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Akeyl_Elwynn@reddit

I’ve tried the peppermint but unless you spray half the bottle directly on them it doesn’t seem to work for me😭

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LowerOrganization973@reddit

I know it is gonna sound nuts but I went up to snakes in the wild already, I probably even wouldnt mind a bear if it was a few feet away but there's just something inherently creepy about every and any kind of spider-one ray of hope I can share to fellow arachnophobiaites? - the one time I was sleeping- maybe I had "spidey-sense" or something going on because I swear, a spider was about a hair's width away from touching my face and I woke up JUST IN TIME to get away from the blasted thing.

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Cheeseoid_@reddit

I relate to this a lot. Growing up I lived in a bungalow in the countryside and we used to have some fat daddy spiders that would find their way in. I’d be paralysed with fear, lose sleep, not be able to walk freely round the house without checking each room first like a low budget detective

My mother was at her wit’s end from me waking her at all hours to remove them.

We tried the conker thing and it seemed to work very well, appearances massively reduced and gave me huge peace of mind also.

We have always had cats but they were useless and too slow. When I lived by myself in a Victorian terrace I’d throw giant pillows at spiders, trample them, and wait for my boyfriend to visit to clean up the wreckage

Basically it changed how I live; I now only seek to live in new-ish properties, flats on high floors, and recently renovated property that is easy to clean and minimises places for the c*nts to hide although I appreciate this isn’t something that can be done “easily”

Try the conker thing, try the peppermint thing, it won’t hurt and it might give you peace as it did with me.

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seaurchin2009@reddit

I found my way to this thread 3 years later, after I’m in an infested apartment on the 7th floor in a building that’s only 7 years old🥲

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Aggressive_Help_2603@reddit

Hooover with bags is your friend and solid power to it so they die ehen they get sucked into the bag

One with long pole attachment of course

Hoover daily.

For peace of mind with clothes store them in plastic see through boxes while you get it under control

Seal gaps at bottom.of doors etc with draught tape

Can stuff gaps with backing rod and wire wool

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Shot-Quiet7332@reddit

Well, you are going to have to caulk. Then use DemonWP or pestos or mix them. (Amazon, tractor supply or the co-op) if you are totally anti chemical a lizard of some sort uncaged will sort those spiders in short order. If money is not an issue peppermint spray will work but must be frequently reapplied. (And that spray ain’t Cheap) the Bayer (in the blue bottle; Lowe’s or Home Depot) is good for around exterior windows etc although I mix up DemonWp and Pestie together. That works well. Before you all get on to me about chemicals I am living rural and since I don’t want a snake or chickens in the house and don’t want my people bitten I am GOING TO SPRAY.

As a side note. Recluse and wolf spiders will not co exist. If you have and can tolerate the wolf spiders let them alone. They are mighty hunters and will not tolerate recluses. It is unfortunate that they are huge, hairy and frightening. But: a BIG wolf spiders is a seasoned warrior and your friend.

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CelesteJA@reddit

Use a spray called "zero in clothes moth killer", it's INSANELY good at killing spiders, I accidentally found out. I sprayed that stuff weeks ago, and I'm still finding spiders that have been killed by just walking into the room I sprayed. I think it must linger on surfaces and walls, because I have not found a live spider in my home since.

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S0nofaL1ch@reddit

B-but why kill the spoiders 🥺

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seekndestroy33@reddit

Try getting bit by one and still suffering from neurological damage a year later 🙃

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Any-Dig4524@reddit

It’s hard to understand if you haven’t physically experienced arachnophobia. When I walk around my house, I don’t want to have to risk literally jumping up in the air and running the other direction (yes, like a cartoon)

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spicyukuleles@reddit

I’m worried about spraying my entry ways with peppermint oil and encouraging the ones in my house to stay

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OceanFlow2001@reddit

I’ve had my bedroom painted dark green and dark fuchsia mostly the green , and I heard dark colours especially green attract spiders … found that out after 🙄 but I swear I’ve not seen one spider since and it’s been like a year or 2 maybe more ! And I used to search my room nightly ! Still do when winter comes and when they alerted us about the false black widows!😳 still nothing ! Touch wood * but they say that light colours deter them more but I had my room white for ages before and I got them all the time ! And I know people say it’s because you can see them more clear with light colours than dark , no cause I look thoroughly ! So yh just wanted to say lol

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DoIKnowYouHuman@reddit

Only one definitive way to solve this, soak the place in diesel, light it, and walk away to a new life in the Antarctic where there probably most likely maybe aren’t any spiders

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Dexalon@reddit (OP)

It crossed my mind.

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Reddit-Sellouts7707@reddit

Citronella oil/incense

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myfriendamyisgreat@reddit

incense you say? specifically citronella or just any?

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GordonShumwayMKIV@reddit

i will joint you, can't take it anymore. i rather deal with polar Bears then Spiders.

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The0nlyRyan@reddit

You realise diesel doesnt burn like that right?

She'd just have a really stinky house lol.

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_Its_Me_Dio_@reddit

i think it will burn if you wick it it wont burn as a liquid though, like how olive oil will burn if you put it in a wick

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deleted_by_reddit@reddit

No spiders in Iceland if you want a more hospitable destination.

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Lonely-Conclusion840@reddit

Sold

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kingschorr@reddit

Most original joke I’ve ever seen what a big help

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Is-this-my-life76@reddit

I’m also terrified of spiders so I understand exactly how you feel. A couple of years ago, a woman in our block of flats had this sickly looking dog that was covered in fleas. They ended up in every flat and we were being eaten alive. In desperation, I took to Amazon and found a spray called Indorex. One tin of it will cover a 3 bedroom house and kills everything for at least 6 months, including spiders. I always have a tin of it ready for when the effects wear off and I start seeing spiders in the house again.

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9Lives420@reddit

If there’s any chance your still active on here after 3 years, could you put a link with which one on Amazon it is, there’s a bunch, thankyou

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Potential_Duck_703@reddit

We are in the same shoes :D I just had an encounter with a big fat daddy!😭🙀🕷️ [indorex] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Virbac-Indorex-Household-Long-Lasting-Protection/dp/B00U17H0S2/ref=asc_df_B00U17H0S2?mcid=8cec26a5a060331589df2e970cb34ca9&tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=696350872239&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11857825657727027676&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046152&hvtargid=pla-858855351324&psc=1&hvocijid=11857825657727027676-B00U17H0S2-&hvexpln=0&gad_source=1)

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Is-this-my-life76@reddit

Hi, here you go. Good luck!

https://amzn.eu/d/0VrpIIA

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Clarence-DrC@reddit

They say spiders are more scared of you than you are of them. I’m only really scared of the big ones but if they’re supposed to be scared of me why do they always make themselves seen by crawling on me 😭

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Equivalent-Quote-470@reddit

Angry Playdoh works very well lol

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alexberishYT@reddit

Lots of “friendly” and “natural” solutions being suggested here. Peppermint isn’t gonna do a damn thing haha.

Basically you want a chemical called permethrin, which shuts down their nervous system.

In the US we had much stronger options available to us, but this is what ive found in the UK that actually works:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rentokil-RKLPS136-Insectrol-Insect-Aerosol/dp/B000TARC7A/ref=mp_s_a_1_11?crid=1N6IG0NDHI7YP&keywords=spider+killer&qid=1660110930&sprefix=spider+%2Caps%2C107&sr=8-11

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spider-Creepy-Crawly-Insect-Killer/dp/B073W2MHWT/ref=mp_s_a_1_12?crid=1N6IG0NDHI7YP&keywords=spider+killer&qid=1660110930&sprefix=spider+%2Caps%2C107&sr=8-12

One says insect killer but I’ve sprayed it on spiders heaps and it kills them instantly. Little spiders die after 3 seconds, giant spiders will start having spasms and then die after 10 seconds max (but most importantly: they can’t move/run away while they’re dying)

Anyway, spray this stuff along anywhere you think they’re coming in and you won’t see any spiders at all for 4-5 weeks. (Because if they walk across it, they will die instantly)

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Tbee93@reddit

Came here many years later but I'm going to try this, thank you so much. Looking for INHUMANE LETHAL ish y'know lol peppermint oil did not do a thing for me. Hard to find any other suggestions

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Unique-Staff-2644@reddit

https://amzn.eu/d/eJ5GUoQ

That is the stuff that has made my house spider free for the past 4 years.

If anything it might be too strong .. it seems to have killed all insects outdoors as well .. spiders .. bees .. ants .. anything.

Highly recommend.

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PomegranatePopular92@reddit

😳

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Hot-Significance7798@reddit

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Novalie@reddit

As someone with a severe spider phobia and also with a lot of giant fat legged spiders in my flat: get glue traps. Put them on the floor along the walls in every room, you'll catch most of the ones running around as they like to follow the walls. Now several years later I rarely see them anymore. If you see any thin legged ones, don't kill them if possible, they hunt and kill the fat ones.

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yetanotherhail@reddit

Glue traps kill everything though, even the thin-legged ones. It's a horrible, agonising death, too.

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Novalie@reddit

Only if you leave them in there, you can even release them from the traps if you spray them with water

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killing-me-roughly@reddit

Really? I am thinking of buying these but feel bad about the horrible death. Do you just take them outside and give them a mist-spray of water? And then they run away happy like?

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Novalie@reddit

It worked on my traps, but I can't promise that it will work on all of them.

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killing-me-roughly@reddit

Ah nice one, thanks for coming back to answer :)

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Active-Pair9510@reddit

I certainly need to see this.

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Only-Tomorrow-pray@reddit

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CustardCreamBot@reddit

Your post has been removed.

Rule 3 of /r/AskUK says that users must Google The Question before posting.

/r/AskUK is not a replacement for search engines and we cannot act as your researchers - if you struggle to find the result of your question using Google or other search engine, make sure that you use all the tricks and tips available and try again.

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Reluctant_Waggle@reddit

How ironic that this thread is one of the top google results...

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Sussurator@reddit

It’s clearly not removed? What’s going on.

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Reluctant_Waggle@reddit

duno, but it seems like it got removed and then restored later, and it can only be accessed via Google but not from the subreddit? so it's a bit of a useless thread of that's the case since only people asking the question will tend to see it...

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Karmaisthedevil@reddit

This is a top Google result, good job mods.

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Gasper6201@reddit

Gtfo

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Sussurator@reddit

What did you do? I’m going to get conkers and some flea killer, expanding foam and sealant then hope for the best t minus one month until our next infestation if last year is anything to go by

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Suspicious_Disk_9513@reddit

You're not going to like my suggestion - the last flat I lived in, we barely had any spiders or flies, this was due to the 3 tarantulas - fight spiders with spiders?

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Tsupernami@reddit

My grandad always said, if you have spiders, then you don't have mice.

So, get a mouse and let it loose?

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Sussurator@reddit

And if you have mice you don’t have rats

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SatisfactionThese588@reddit

We used to live in a really old cottage (circa 1720 built) and when we moved in it was a daily occurrence to see spiders the size of a golf ball touring round the rooms as if they owned the place. My wife (who is not a fan of spiders) would be jumping around the place as if someone was setting her feet on fire.

Found a load of conkers- put them in every corner. Never saw them again 👍

Good luck, if it doesn’t work. Move house 👌

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elephant_charades@reddit

I'm not British so forgive me - what are conkers?? I tried to Google it but it was followed by spiders and I don't want to shatter my phone

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SaulEmersonAuthor@reddit

It's the seed of the Horse Chestnut tree.

The tree sheds these in spiked green balls.

The 'conker' is inside the spiked ball.

(One year later!)

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Holiday_Wolf@reddit

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Holiday_Wolf@reddit

Following

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SpazticMemez@reddit

Move to Antarctica no spiders live in antartica

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FallopianTubeRaider@reddit

Thats what the spiders want you to believe

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DrZonino2022@reddit

I saw a Reddit post today that said spiders experience REM sleep and could possibly dream. Weaponise this. Create a house of horrors that would give any arachnid nightmares for the rest of its life. Take captives. Disembowel some, dismember others - always leave one witness alive to spread fear. Make tiny chainsaws. Make sure they don’t sleep more than 10 minutes at a time. Make a face mask out of husks and webs. Become terror. Become legend. Your acts of psychological warfare will be passed down from generation to generation until, one day, you will never see so much as cobweb again.

Then the flies.

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throwawaychef33@reddit

I like your style.

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Bluest_boi@reddit

what worked for me is:

-silicone caulk small gaps around things

-used expanding foam for larger gaps

-Polly filler for cracks in bricks

-draft excluder/bug stopper on amazon

-in places where silicone may not work you can get self adhesive bathroom sealant strips

-mesh window screens/mosquito mesh

-and if the gap in your door frame is large you can get draft sealant foam strips that compress and block gaps when the door is closed

since all of this restricts quite a lot of airflow for one room i also bought a velcro AC seal for windows, allowing fresh airflow without any bugs getting in. Hope this helps!

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pastina2@reddit

I hire someone to come and spray spider repellent on all the windows and door frames of the house every 4 weeks in the summer. He uses a product called Terro spider killer. It does seem to really help. I also don’t open the windows at all unless there is a Velcro netting. Good luck OP. I can’t imagine how awful it must be to have so many spiders in the house. I really struggle with fear of spiders since I unfortunately watched the movie “Arachnophobia” when I was about 4 years old. I hate them.

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bigcateatsfish@reddit

Spiders are very helpful and safe animals. They help to reduce mosquitos in the home.

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WelshRobz@reddit

bruh THIS is the google result... so funny how reddit mods remove posts like this what weirdos lol