How to Keep spiders out of your house

Every once in a while I'll hear a scream from another room of my house. I'll run through the house to the source of the scream and it's one of my kids screaming because there's a spider. I shake my head in dismay, grab the little bugger (the spider, not my kid), and release him into the wild.
No matter what you do, spiders will get in. Here is a list of ways to limit the number of the little guys that stay for a visit.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Keep the humidity in your house low.
   If you don't know the humidity in your house, buy a hygrometer. The humidity should be about 35 percent. Spiders need water to survive. Without water in the air, they will dry up quickly and die, that is, if they don't make it to your bathtub or sink first. Low humidity will keep some of the spiders out of your house.

2. Keep the other bugs out.
   Spiders not only need water, but food as well. If you can keep the other bugs out of your house, you will keep the spiders out of your house. If you are able to lower the humidity, the other bugs will stay out as well.

3. Dust and clean often, and pay attention to the details.
   Spiders like to hang out in undisturbed places. If you clean your house frequently and thoroughly, you are less likely to create appealing places for spiders to hang out and you will keep the spiders out of your house.

4. Use plastic containers for storage.
   Spiders are attracted to cardboard boxes, probably because of the moisture content. So skip the cardboard boxes and use plastic instead for storage to keep the spiders out of your house.

5. Reduce the clutter.
   As I sit here writing this and see all the clutter around me, I no longer need to wonder why I have spiders. The more clutter you have, the less ability you have to clean it thoroughly, therefore the more spiders you will have. The spiders have more places to hide and you will not be able to keep spiders out of your house. So, have a garage sale and you will have fewer spiders.

6. Look for apparent openings into your house and seal them.
   Are your door and window seals broken, rotted, or missing? Is the hole around the water spigot sealed? Do your window screens have holes in them? Is the sill plate and rim joist in your basement sealed? Is the garage door sealed when it's closed?
   Even if you seal every opening in your house, some spiders will still get in, but if you close up the obvious holes, you will keep the spiders out of your house.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't kill spiders. They are very important to control the population of bugs. Just do the things above to keep the spiders out of your house.
• If you can live with them, leave a few spiders in your house. They will get all the other bugs that wander in. My basement is bug free because I always let a few spiders hang around.
• If you have lots of spiders, expect to have centipedes as well. Centipedes hunt spiders.
• I bought a mini bug vacuum to suck up the spiders. It works great and doesn't hurt them at all.
• Some spiders are poisonous, particularly the Brown Recluse and the Black Widow.

[mikelb]

on 10/4/2009 Funny introduction. I have a fair number of spiders in my house. I will try some of your interesting tips and sensible sounding tips. Thanks. -- MikeLB

[sta-c]

on 9/19/2009 thanks for the good advice. i dont want to kill the monsters but i certainly dont want them watching me sleep. yug

[lifeengineer]

on 4/23/2009 Good tips to keep spiders out of the house.

[stjohnswood]

on 4/2/2009 Excellent ideas. Thanks

[Bfastattiffanys]

on 3/24/2009 Great tips on keeping spiders out of the house. *****