We seem to be experiencing a sudden invasion of spiders in the house. It has been a cool wet spring here in central Illinois if that matters.

We don't have a dog currently, but there is most likely another Golden in the future.

What is safe to use in the house? What should I be doing outside?

Thanks

Why kill a non venomous spider outside?

We use Bifen around the boat and house (outside). Works well.

On the advice of a coworker I cut hedge-apple and put it in the corners. I only did that once so not scientific proof but it seemed to work.

Go to a roll your own DIY pest place
Order Onslaught spider and scorpion formula,

Spray in a sprayer around outside of home and up in eaves, I suggest goggles and a mask when spraying up.

Spray around baseboards as well, under sink etc.

It's not cheap but works very well.

Bifen, often sold as TalStar at tractor supply. Bifenthrin is the mai ingredient. Get a gallon sprayer and mix it 1oz to 1gal. You can spray it inside, I’ve been using it for 2 decades. It doesn’t have any odor either. It works on any insect.

Hedge Apples has been studied by University of Minnesota to have no effect. They even recorded several with bugs on them.

The only way to control spiders is to control their food source. Dont have other bugs around, spiders wont be there. I delta guard the outside and spray the corners inside. Way cheaper than orkin coming out monthly.

My cat hunts and eats spiders. Other bugs too. Occasionally pukes them back up so I take the good with the bad.

Sticky traps. Like the kind for trapping mice (which I will not do as it is inhumane for them). If the spiders are not isolated and widespread, the sticky trap works very well, and is non-toxic.

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Onslaught spider and scorpion

If you don't have DIY stores near you, it's available on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/MGK-100...e/dp/B0093NBOBE?th=1

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We seem to be experiencing a sudden invasion of spiders in the house. It has been a cool wet spring here in central Illinois if that matters.

It matters in the sense of why it's happening. All the rain forces them to seek shelter indoors, and also drives their prey species indoors as well. Win-win, except for you. Same thing happens here.

Release the Gecko's (and or lizards)

I keep a spider-friendly house. Little brown ones that build small webs in corners.

When I moved in to my new-to-me home there were lots of silverfish, many of them large. I hate those damned things. But with my spider-friendly policy there are no more silverfish.

There wouldn't be spiders if there weren't things for them to eat.

^^^ this

Not sure about every type, but in general preventive spraying doesn't get the spiders unless you hit them directly, because they do not have nerve endings on their feet. The toxins are not taken up when crawling thru a spray line like on insects.

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Originally posted by preten2b:
^^^ this

Not sure about every type, but in general preventive spraying doesn't get the spiders unless you hit them directly, because they do not have nerve endings on their feet. The toxins are not taken up when crawling thru a spray line like on insects.

I have heard this many times, but the new onslaught spider and scorpion solution claims to defeat that. And I can assure you this shit works. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

I just read something about peppermint oil… maybe do a test run on this. It shouldn’t hurt any pets, and I do agree they wouldn’t be there if there wasn’t food for them.

DIY confirmed that Onslaught is the premium, they want $85, it's $65 on Bezo's World.com

He also said that he personally uses Demon, $45 a bottle, and you can get it in 2 small packages that make 4 gallons each for $29, and you can get it on Amazon for $19.

Link Demon

13 years ago I bought a 1lb container of Cyper WSP (cypermethrin 40%) for $25 via Amazon. I probably bought it on the recommendation of someone here, I bet.

I use it only when necessary, though, as we prefer not to have any harsh chemicals around.. as much as we can avoid, anyway. It says safe for indoor use, keep people and animals out of it until it dries, I believe the instructions say.

Anyway, this winter and spring there has been an invasion of some sort of roach, people all over town are complaining about it. It's bad. I haven't used this stuff in a couple years but I mixed up a batch a couple weeks ago and spray the exterior of my home where the walls meet the ground/concrete. It works wonders. Look for areas where the bugs can enter the house, I have a couple of trouble spots where I suspect I could shoot some expanding foam to help.

Anyway, in the 3 days post-application we had to clean up over 200 dead roaches, all over the perimeter, but a good half of them from one specific area. Clearly the epicenter for my house.

We still find an occasional dead roach upon waking in the morning, so it is clearly working still. The container says to reapply in 3 or 4 months, can't remember which.

I've seen 3 dead spiders, all three black widows, so no bug loss. I haven't seen any of the little hair spiders get caught up, but they hang out higher on the walls and not normally the ground, which is fine with me, I'm ok with those guys around. The wife is very much not ok with the roaches, though. She takes comfort knowing it is all over town and not just us. Seems like maybe it was a generation hatch like cicadas do? Dunno.

I would certainly buy this stuff again if I run out of it, though I suspect I can't buy it anymore in the state of California. Luckily I've barely got put a dent in this container, it'll probably last me another 20 years. Not a bad investment at $25.

This is the exact stuff I have, no longer on amazon. Price is now $45. A steal.