How to Kill Spiders With Natural Methods

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

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There is something about a large spider crawling across a floor that can instill fear in the bravest of souls. Too afraid to step on it, you run for the nearest can of chemicals and spray until it's almost empty ,killing the offending spider while filling your environment with toxic chemicals. Read on to learn how to kill spiders with natural methods.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Food-grade diatomaceous earth (DE)
Protective facemask

Step1

Clean the spider-prone area. Spiders like clutter. It gives them more places to burrow and hide. Remove any unnecessary clutter.

Step2

Determine their favorite hiding place. You will note that spiders seem to like certain areas of a basement, garage or room more than others. Make a mental note of their hiding spots.

Step3

Sprinkle the diatomaceous earth on the ground around their favorite hiding places. If they like hiding on shelves sprinkle it there, too.

Step4

Sprinkle the diatomaceous earth around the outside of your home to keep spiders them from coming in.

Tips & Warnings

Diatomaceous earth is a naturally occurring ingredient that is safe for humans and animals to ingest. Farmers use it in cattle troughs to kill unwanted insects. When bugs walk through the diatomaceous earth, the DE causes their skeletal structure to disintegrate, thus killing them. DE works on all exoskeletal bugs, not just spiders.
Spiders and insects are small. All they have to do is walk through the DE and it begins to work on their structure. No need to sprinkle large clumps of DE around the house. When sprinkling on carpets, be mindful that vacuuming will create dust and spew it into the air. Sprinkle it in out of sight out of view areas (just like the places where spiders hide).
You can find DE in the garden section of your home improvement stores. Do not use the DE commonly used in pool filters. DE intended for pools contain chemicals that you do not want sprinkled around you home.
Do not inhale diatomaceous earth. Wear a mask. One of DE's properties is to adhere to anything moist. Breathing it in will cause it to stick to your nasal cavity and lungs
Dogs like to sniff, so be sure to sprinkle the DE under furniture or in areas where your pets cannot breathe it in.