Pet & Animal: How to Keep Spiders and Scorpions Out of Your House Using Natural Products

Spiders and scorpions are pesky intruders that belong outside. They make houses dirtier by building webs and nests, and some can even be dangerous with poisonous bites and painful stings. Needless to say, you probably don’t consider them welcome guests in your home. With a little effort and regular cleaning, you can keep spiders and scorpions out of your house by spraying natural repellents and using other natural remedies.

EditSteps

EditUsing Preventative Sprays and Powders

Purchase essential oils. Essential oils, while quite pleasant smelling to humans, have been proven very useful in repelling spiders and scorpions. The smells can be overwhelming to their sensitive senses and keep them from infiltrating the area.^[1]
- Some of the most effective essential oils in combating spiders and scorpions include peppermint, tea tree, neem, and citrus.
- Some recommend lavender for use in repelling spiders and scorpions, but results are mixed. It’s probably best to focus your essential oil purchases on peppermint, citrus, neem, or tea tree.
Make a spray. Create your own spider and scorpion repellant by making a spray to use around your home. In a clean spray bottle, combine 5-7 drops of essential oils (you can use peppermint, lavender, tea tree, or citrus) with some warm water.^[2]
- Spray the mixture around your home, focusing specifically on areas that spiders and scorpions prefer like under furniture, in corners, around mounted light fixtures, and other out-of-the-way spaces.
- You can also add a teaspoon of white vinegar or eco-friendly dish soap to make the mixture additionally effective.
Use diatomaceous earth. Diatomaceous earth is an inexpensive powder composed of the fossilized remains of diatoms, a kind of algae. It works as a repellant for spiders and scorpions (and other bugs) by absorbing all of the moisture out of its surroundings, including the unwanted pests infesting your home. This causes the spiders and scorpions to dehydrate and die.^[3]
- Simply sprinkle the diatomaceous earth around areas where you notice the pests – under furniture, in the cellar, and around windowsills.
- Make sure you purchase the food-grade diatomaceous earth to ensure that it is safe for use in your home.

EditWiping Down Surfaces

Wipe down surfaces. Place a few drops of eco-friendly dish soap on a paper towel or sponge and wipe down some of the surfaces in your home. Pay special attention to difficult to reach places like the tops of cabinets, ceiling fans, and the backs of mantles or shelves.^[4]
- Alternatively, you can use a few drops of vinegar or essential oils to wipe down the surfaces in your home to repel spiders and scorpions.
Invest in some eco-friendly dish soap. Dish soap has long been used in the fight against scorpion and spider home invasions. Keeping your counters wiped down with eco-friendly dish soap will go a long way in protecting your home from spider and scorpion invaders.^[5]
- While regular dish soap may include some unsavory chemicals that you don’t want to go smearing all over your house, most eco-friendly versions are readily available and contain more natural ingredients.
- When choosing eco-friendly dish soaps, make sure you steer clear of harsh, potentially toxic preservatives. Instead check the label for paraben-free preservatives like methylisothiazolinone, benzisothiazolinone, or phenoxyethanol.
Clean with vinegar. The strong smell of vinegar works very effectively at repelling scorpions and spiders. The acidic makeup of the vinegar makes these pests want to avoid coming anywhere near it. Pour a few drops of vinegar on a paper towel or sponge and wipe down your counters and other surfaces in your home.^[6]
- You should use white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or malt vinegar for best results.
Focus on barriers to the outdoors. When using the spray or wipe down method, be sure to focus on any regions that could provide access to your home from the outdoors. Spray or wipe down baseboards, windowsills, and the casings of all doors that lead outside.^[7]
- These areas are the places where spiders and scorpions enter your home. So if you make them unappealing to the pests, they may retreat and stay away from your house.

EditEliminating Factors that Contribute to Infestation

Dust your home regularly. Scorpions and spiders thrive in dusty corners and unused spaces that accumulate dirt. One of the easiest ways to keep your home free of these invaders is to dust the surfaces of your home regularly. Try to thoroughly dust your home once every week or so, with extra in-depth dusting once per month.^[8]
- You can use one of those long-handled feather dusters for the hard-to-reach areas of your home.
- Make sure to get the tops of cabinets, ceiling fan blades, baseboards, and remove any cobwebs that might have appeared around the ceiling and air vents.
Vacuum. Use your vacuum once every week or so to vacuum your entire house. This will help eliminate the creation of dirty floor areas for spiders and scorpions to hide in. Vacuum the floors thoroughly, making sure to cover the entire space – even the corners of rooms and on the stairs.^[9]
- If you don’t have carpet, you can consider sweeping or mopping to clean the floors instead.
- Remember to move furniture so that you can vacuum under it. Spiders and scorpions love the dusty areas under couches and coffee tables.
Organize your storage spaces. Spiders and scorpions love to hide in undisturbed, out-of-the-way parts of your home. Some of the most common places to find these little pests are in spaces that you use for storage – like the top shelf of your bathroom cabinet, the bottom of your closet, or that drawer in the kitchen you use for all of your miscellaneous junk. Try organizing these spaces so that there is less clutter, giving spiders and scorpions fewer hidey holes to get comfy in.^[10]
- Use plastic storage bins with sealable lids to store and organize various items in your closet.
- Throw away things you don’t use – such as old bottles of perfume and lotion in the bathroom, old makeup supplies, or old kitchen utensils – to minimize the clutter and create more usable, open space.
Seal cracks. In order to keep spiders and scorpions out of your home, you’ll need to minimize their access to the interior of your house. This means sealing up any exposed cracks that could offer them entry to your home. Use caulk and a caulk gun to fill in any cracks you see in your walls – inside or outside.^[11]
- You can purchase caulk at any home improvement store.
- Make sure you get the caulking material fully inside the entire crack.
- Let it dry completely before touching it. This usually takes about 24 hours.
Use cedar chips. Scorpions are naturally repelled by the scent of cedar oil. So a great way to keep them out of your yard and away from your home is by spreading cedar chips around your yard.^[12]
- You should be able to purchase cedar chips at any home improvement or garden store.
- Simply sprinkle the cedar chips around your yard – in flowerbeds, around the base of your house, along sidewalks, around the perimeter of your fence, etc.
Remove debris from around your home. Another major thing that attracts spiders and scorpions is a messy yard with lots of places to hide. Once the pests are in your yard, it won’t be long before they start infiltrating your home. Maintaining your outdoor space will help prevent spiders and scorpions from getting inside your house.^[13]
- Rake up leaves quickly, remove tall grasses and weeds, and keep necessary outdoor storage (sheds, stacks of firewood, etc.) as far from your actual house as possible.