How to get rid of spiders in room.

How to Keep Spiders Out of Your Room (Natural Home Remedies)

So, you have some creepy crawly spiders in your bedroom. And you want to keep them out of your room.

  • Can’t stand thinking about all 8 legs crawling on your face at night?
  • Wondering if they’re hiding under your bed?
  • Scared of one dropping down from the ceiling right into your blankets?

Okay, I’ll stop.

Arachnophobia is real. I have it.

In this guide, we’ll cover the following topics:

  • Why you have spiders in your bedroom
  • What attracts them to your home
  • Why you see spiders appearing all of a sudden out of nowhere
  • Natural ways to get rid of spiders in your room
  • Techniques to repel and keep spiders out
  • And more FAQs

By the end of this page, you should have everything you need to know to get rid of spiders in your bedroom!

As always, if you have any questions at all, drop a comment at the end of the article, or feel free to send me a message!

Sound good? Let’s get those spiders out!

What attracts spiders in your room?

Spiders are attracted to three things:

  • Rooms with high humidity
  • Plenty of hiding places
  • A stable food source

Most bedrooms do fit these criteria and thus are perfect for common household spiders to nest in.

Humid rooms are favorable to spiders

If you live somewhere that already has higher humidity levels, this satisfies one of the most important factors that lure spiders into your home.

Your house is like a greenhouse and traps the moisture in the air, which then draws them in.

Humidity is necessary for spiders to properly develop and is critical for egg hatching.

Additionally, if your bedroom is next to a bathroom or has a bathroom inside it, the humidity may be higher due to showers, toilets, and sinks.

All of these are attractants to spiders and arachnids in general.

Hiding places attract spiders to your bedroom

Hiding places, clutter, furniture, wardrobes, and closets are all favorable areas for spiders to spin a web and hunker down for its next meal.

Rooms with a ton of clutter will provide ample environment for them to establish a nest and wait for prey.

This is why keeping your room clean is one of the best ways to get rid of spiders in your bedroom.

A steady supply of bugs to eat

Spider web outside.
Spiders will catch all sorts of bugs in your house- this is why they’re beneficial.

Lastly, a food source attracts spiders like no other.

After all, that’s what they do. Spin a web and wait for prey passively.

At least, most of them.

But some spiders will actively hunt prey, like the jumping spider, for example.

This usually goes hand in hand with a dirty or messy area.

If your room has a ton of food, trash, or debris, this attracts other bugs like clover mites, flea beetles, and booklice. The spiders eat those bugs, so they’re naturally attracted to your bedroom as well.

Do you see how one bug attracts another?

All of these reasons can be potential explanations for why you have spiders in your bedroom. We’ll take a look at ways you can control them and keep them out of our room.

Do spiders come near you when you sleep?

Sure, why not. Some spiders will actively hunt their prey and may come across you while you sleep.

Your bed is just another obstacle to them to possibly build a nest or scavenge for bugs to eat. They don’t mind that you’re on it, sleeping, as long as you don’t bother them.

But if this scares you, you’ll want to do something about it using various home control remedies to keep spiders out of your room.

When you kill a spider does it attract more?

Some people argue that the act of killing a spider only breeds spiders that are even harder to kill.

This takes an evolutionary standpoint that the dead spider can’t pass on its genes, but the ones that can hide and evade being killed do.

Regardless of the accuracy of these theories, killing a spider may attract more due to various reasons:

  • When a pregnant female is threatened or killed, she may release her eggs in a last-ditch effort. This may lead to more spiders in the household.
  • Killing a spider and leaving behind the body could also attract other spiders to the area as they consume it because they’re cannibals.
  • Or other bugs may show up like ants that eat the spider, which will then attract other arachnids that feast on said ants. It’s like a chain reaction.

What kills spiders instantly?

A spider in a bedroom.
Spiders will have no problem hiding in your bedroom.

Vinegar and water kill spiders upon contact.

Mix equal parts water and vinegar into a spray bottle and spray it directly on the spider. This will kill the spider immediately.

There are many different natural compounds that are used as spider repellent, but sadly, most don’t work.

Clean up the dead spider afterward to prevent attracting other bugs to the area.

How do you lure a spider out from under your bed

You can help lure a spider out from under your bed, dresser, or other furniture by using what it wants most- food.

Easy to obtain live prey include mealworms, crickets, and baby roaches.

All of these can be bought at local pet supply stores or online. You can place the bait nearby the spider so that it comes into view. The spider will then react to it and may come out of hiding to attack the food.

This has a very low chance of actually working though because spiders act on their terms. Most spiders aren’t active hunters and will rather wait for their food to come to them rather than attack it.

Be sure you don’t move or are within view of the spider. Just your presence may be enough to keep the spider hiding under your bed.

Why do spiders come out at night?

Spiders come out at night because most of them are nocturnal (active at night) rather than diurnal (active during the day).

This is why you often don’t see them in your house until the evening hours roll around. Then they’ll come out of their hiding places and go right on their webs to wait for prey.

Most species are nocturnal because this helps to avoid being eaten by other predators since most of their natural enemies are daytime species.

Because of these reasons, you may not catch a spider crawling around your room until you wake up at night. It’s also why spiders always seem to appear on your bedroom ceiling during the evening.

Why are there suddenly so many spiders in my house?

Spider on bed.
Spiders can appear out of nowhere, seemingly overnight.

The most likely reason is because of the breeding season.

Spiders have a predictable period when they mate and deposit eggs. The eggs will hatch afterward depending on temperature and environmental conditions.

However, there are always averages and the baby spiders will emerge around the same time.

As they disperse from the adult female’s web, they’ll scatter off and fend for themselves. They’ll continue to eat and feed and molt, which will have them grow bigger over time.

When they’re all adults, you may notice a ton of spiders seemingly appear out of nowhere. This could be one possible reason why you have so many spiders in your room suddenly.

Another reason is that spiders correlate with their food source.

When it’s pest season and bugs are out and about, spiders will do the same.

Since spiders feed on crawling, flying, and any other type of bug out there, bug populations are synonymous with spider populations.

The more bugs are out, the more spiders will be as well. Peak bug season in the US is during the summer months when temperatures pick up and the days are longer.

This is when you may notice a sudden surge of spider sightings around your home.

How do you know if your house is infested with spiders?

There are some easy telltale signs that your home is infested with spiders.

The most common ones are the following:

  • Spider webs on your ceiling, porch or deck, plants, dressers, closets, furniture, etc.
  • Visible spiders concentrated in a single room
  • Spider eggs or shed shells
  • Abandoned webs
  • Dead spiders
  • Lose legs lying around
  • Dead bugs warped in a white webbing
  • Running into webs often or webs hanging from the ceiling

It’s not hard to tell if you have spiders in your room or household. In fact, you probably do as they’re one of the most diverse species on the planet.

Unless you live in extreme environments, you probably have a few spiders hiding in your home, garage, basement, attic, and bedroom. Older homes with cellars are also prone to spider problems.

Should I kill the spider in my room?

Well, you probably want to.

That’s why you’re here, right?

Spiders are considered to be very beneficial to have in the house because they help catch and eat other bugs.

So they’re janitors that work for you 24/7. For free.

But if you’re afraid of them crawling on you while you sleep, you should probably kill the spider in your room. Or relocate it if you’re not too squeamish.

You can easily catch it in a jar using the old newspaper and jar method (put the jar over the spider and cover it by sliding a newspaper under the jar lid). Or you can vacuum it up and release it outdoors.

What do you do if there is a spider in your room at night?

If you have a spider hiding in the corner of your ceiling at night and you can’t go to sleep, you can vacuum it up.

That’s the easiest way to kill the spiders on your roof that are difficult to reach. Any shop vacuum or hose attachment should do the trick.

Note that they can live in the canister or vacuum bag, so you’ll want to empty it after you suck it up.

But if you go to sleep and ignore the spider at night, then please do so. They’re beneficial to have around.

How to get spiders out of your room naturally

Spider on indoor plant inside room.
You can help get rid of them and keep them out with home remedies.

Here’s how you can use a variety of methods at home to get rid of spiders in your bedroom.

Most of them are natural, organic techniques that can easily keep the spiders away.

Try a few of these home remedies and see what works for you- remember that there’s no “best” way to get rid of spiders.

Each situation is different and requires a different approach.

My advice to you is to try a few different remedies out and use them in a combination at the same time. This provides the most effective spider deterrent and eradication plan.

Spray vinegar

Vinegar has long been a natural home remedy for spiders.

Simply mix water and pure vinegar in equal parts. Pour into a spray bottle. Then spray it directly into cracks and crevices around your room.

This is handy for places like your windowsill, cracks between the baseboards, or under door gaps. You can also spray your vent inlets.

Vinegar quickly dissipates and the solution only lasts a few days at most. So you’ll have to constantly reapply it to keep spiders out of your room.

However, vinegar makes an effective natural solution to prevent spiders and keep them away from your room. Vinegar is one of the best natural spider repellents that you can easily make at home.

And it’s a smell that spiders hate for sure.

Note that vinegar may damage some surfaces, such as paints, varnish, and more. Do your research to see if the surfaces you spray are safe for acidic solutions first.

Vinegar also can kill spiders upon contact.

So if you’re squeamish about smashing that one in the corner of your room, use a spray bottle on “jet” mode and spray the sucker.

Use peppermint oil (or other essential oils)

Peppermint spider repellent.
Peppermint can help keep jumping spiders away from your property.

Peppermint oil is a strong-smelling essential oil that can keep spiders out of a room. There has been debate about its efficacy, but if you’re desperate to rid these critters, then why not give it a try?

The problem with it is that it smells. Very strong.

Unless you like the scent of peppermint all day (and night when you sleep), you should avoid using it directly in your room.

But rather, outside your room to repel spiders and keep them out.

You can spray around your widows and weatherstripping to make a natural barrier to spiders so they don’t find their way into your bedroom.

Otherwise, if you don’t have windows or can’t do that, dilute a mixture to where it’s bearable to smell and spray it into corners and hiding places where you suspect spider activity.

Here’s a quick recipe for your own repellent:

  • 20 drops of peppermint oil
  • 5 cups of water

And here’s how to use it:

  1. Mix and spray around the home, once per day.
  2. Reapply every week or when spiders appear again.

You can add more oil or more water if you need to adjust the concentrations. Don’t overdo it.

Even the slightest tinge of scented oil will keep spiders away. Peppermint oil makes an all-natural substitute that’s very effective for spiders, but also household flies, leaf beetles, and even thrips.

Consider swapping the oil for tea tree, cinnamon, or basil to keep the spiders guessing and prevent them from adapting to one particular scent.

Note that some people and pets can be sensitive to specific oils, so do your research first.

Use orange peels

Spiders hate the smell of oranges, so you can use the rinds around the home.

Besides, oranges smell great and are an excellent natural, toxin-free approach! Just cut up an orange, eat it, and save the peels.

Take them and place them around your room in strategic locations:

  • Next to windows
  • Under door gaps
  • Within the closet, dresser, or wardrobe
  • In the corner of your room
  • Under appliances, heaters, fans, computers, etc.
  • Around furniture, beds, tables
  • Under your bed

The peels will be effective at repelling spiders for as long as they emit a smell.

They dry up in hot weather quickly, so they’ll need to be replaced. Just toss out the old peels and put fresh new ones.

Do NOT use a humidifier to try to extend their efficacy because the moisture content attracts a ton of other bugs with hard exoskeletons. You may end up seeing grasshoppers coming into your house and mold mites eating your food.

Alternatively, you can try other citrus fruits like lemon and lime peels to repel spiders from your bedroom.

Place chestnuts around your bedroom

Chestnuts repel spiders.
These are said to repel spiders.

Chestnuts are a natural remedy for spiders and can help keep them away from your room.

Buy some large horse chestnuts at your local grocery store and place them next to entry points like windows and doors.

The natural scent of these chestnuts will make them go away. You can slightly dent each one with a hammer to release the aroma after the shell is cracked.

They last for quite some time and require no upkeep.

You can use up to 6-8 nuts per room. Don’t overdo it because you want the smell to be localized, not to fill the whole room.

Place cedar chips

Cedarwood chips or cedar blocks can both keep spiders out.

They’re messy and you’ll want to use a nylon sock to contain them.

Buy some cedar chips and squish them into a nylon sock. If the chips are too fine, strain out all the small pieces in water so they don’t make a mess in your bedroom.

Then palace the sock under your bed, next to doors, or on windowsills to keep spiders out of your room. You can also use cedar blocks on a piece of newspaper to achieve the same effect.

Cedar is nice because it lasts quite some time and doesn’t need any maintenance, similar to chestnuts for deterring spiders.

Just watch out for toddlers and pets as they can choke on horse chestnuts.

Remove them manually

Spiders can easily be eliminated by using a vacuum.

You can use a handheld shop vac or an upright one with a hose nozzle. This is perfect for those that are squeamish and can’t stand to even get close to one.

Some spiders are fast and will dodge the vacuum as soon as you come nearby, such as jumping spiders which can disappear from you in a blink.

Other spiders, like daddy long legs, will stay in one place until disturbed and move slowly. They’re also very light and you can suck them up without difficulty.

Then you have dangerous spiders like violin spiders and black windows, both of which you should avoid handling or vacuuming.

Note that some spiders aren’t killed when you suck them up into your vacuum bag or canister and can escape.

Pregnant ones may also release all their eggs, which can harbor dozens of small baby spiders which will find their way out of your vacuum and back into your house.

You want to dispose of the bag or empty the canister when you’re done.

Larger spiders with hard shells will withstand the cyclonic force of vacuums much more resiliently compared to smaller ones that are thin and nimble.

Seal up all cracks into your bedroom

Spiders can only get into your room through a crack somewhere.

The most common points of entry are under doors, through vents, or windows. You should inspect your room and make sure there aren’t any possible entry points.

This can help keep spiders from coming inside.

Here are some common areas to check out:

  • Damaged weatherstripping on your windows
  • Torn or ripped window screens
  • Unsealed HVAC vents
  • Portable air conditioning units
  • Cracks between the window and window frame

You should replace, seal, or caulk any of these areas to prevent further infestation.

Trim or remove outdoor plants

Jumping spiders lawn.
Keep spiders out by keeping clean!

Plants that are right outside your bedroom window can be a huge attractant for all sorts of bugs.

This is especially true for dense foliage that’s been unkempt for some time. It collects all sorts of dust, pollen, dead bugs, and other food sources for a variety of pests.

Spiders are no exception.

They’ll gladly establish a web right in the leaves to catch food.

You should trim or remove these plants entirely. Any foliage that grows to a point where it touches your window or is right next to it should be pruned.

You can also spray a vinegar mixture, use neem oil, or try peppermint oil.

As usual, test the solution on a small part of the plant before applying it to the entire thing. And watch out for pets and people who may be sensitive to these mixtures.

Sprinkle diatomaceous earth

Diatomaceous earth works very well. You can sprinkle it all over the plants that border your home’s perimeter.

And you can toss it into cracks, patio doors, crevices, crawl spaces, voids, and other areas that spiders can enter. The powder will dry out spiders so once they touch it, they’ll be killed within a few days.

Buy pure food-grade, natural DE, and use it in small quantities. The layer of dust should be visible, but not solid white.

So sprinkle a fine layer of it but don’t overdo it. Spiders may avoid walking over it if they get suspicious.

Avoid clumping of the DE because spiders may avoid contact with the powder.

Keep your room clean

Vacuum to keep spiders out.
Vacuum regularly to keep the spiders out.

Simply doing regular maintenance of your bedroom makes it less appealing to spiders because of two reasons:

They have fewer hiding spots due to reduced clutter

Other bugs are less likely to hide in your room, which means spiders have no food source

Doing things like sweeping, vacuuming, and dusting on a schedule will keep your room in tiptop shape. Make sure to do this at least weekly when time allows.

Here are some other tips:

  • Dust your blinds or curtains
  • Regularly wash your bedsheets
  • Clean all furniture, dressers, closets, etc
  • Don’t store anything under your bed
  • Dispose of all clutter, junk, and other unnecessary objects
  • Never leave clothing or accessories on the ground
  • Use an air purifier to remove airborne eggs and debris
  • Keep the relative humidity in your room low
  • Clean the ceiling and walls with a microfiber cloth or extended vacuum hose

You can also combine regular cleaning with a natural spider repellent, like chestnuts, essential oils, or vinegar.

Continue this until all the spiders are gone.

This may take time because there may be eggs left behind that’ll continue to hatch.

Never leave food out

Your room should always be free of food. NEVER leave any food out overnight.

This means after your Netflix binge, you should put away that salsa or seal up that bag of chips.

Food is an obvious attractant for all sorts of bugs, and since spiders eat bugs, you’ll end up bringing both to your room. A double whammy.

The same goes for food crumbs. After you eat, vacuum up and clean any crumbs you drop on the ground, bed, furniture, or couch.

Clean up spills

If you drink in your room, clean up any droplets or spills right away.

Spilled sugary drinks and alcohol can leave behind residues that’ll attract ants and other bugs that eat up the sugar left behind.

This will then lead to further infestations of spiders.

Even the smallest single drop of some beverages can bring bugs to your bedroom. So clean up everything.

Or better yet, don’t drink in your room.

Remove indoor plants

Spiders infest homes because of the indoor plants.
Spiders will often spin their webs on your indoor plants.

Spiders may nest on indoor plants that you have in your bedroom.

You should remove them for the time being to rule out that they’re not the cause of the infestation.

Some spiders will spin their webs between the leaves on plants, and they can also use the soil or stem to lay eggs. The leaves can be a very attractive area for a spider to deposit eggs or spin webs because it’s natural to them.

Do a thorough evaluation of your plants, or just remove them and put them in another controlled room.

If you notice that the spider encounters drop and suddenly you have fewer occurrences, then the plates could be the culprit.

You may want to relocate them or dispose of them and replace them.

  • If you see webs on the plants, that’s a sure sign that they’re using them as nesting sites.
  • If you don’t want to throw out the plant, you can spray it down with vinegar, neem oil, or soap water.
  • Vinegar should be mixed with water in equal parts.
  • Soapy water just needs a few drops of dish soap and a cup of water.
  • Neem oil is more complicated- you just need a few drops per liter of water. But neem can damage plants and some people and pets may be sensitive to it. So do your research before using it. Follow product labels at all times.

Vinegar and neem (and soap) can all be harmful to foliage so test them on a single leaf first and see what happens.

After 2-3 days, you can apply to the entire plant if no damage shows up.

Lastly, you can apply a layer of diatomaceous earth around the rim of the plant container or directly into the soil.

This helps dry up bugs like lice, roaches, silverfish, and household beetles.

Reapply the spider repellent as necessary.

Reduce lighting

Spiders are attracted to flying pests, which are attracted to light.

If you keep lighting to a minimum, you’ll reduce the number of bugs like flies and mosquitoes, which will then reduce the number of spiders.

Get it?

This means turning off outdoor lights like patio lights, pathway markers, and other lights. If you have lights outside that are right next to your room, this is a prime target for spiders.

They’ll spin webs around the light to catch bugs to eat, and they may wander right into your bedroom!

And the same goes for indoor lights. You can use curtains or blinds to stop flying pests from buzzing around your bedroom window.

This should help stop spiders from establishing webs around your window which will lead to fewer spiders in your home.

Use sticky tape

Sticky tape and traps can be effective for catching crawling bugs like spiders and their food.

Any bug that walks over it gets stuck and trapped.

This is useful for spiders because bugs that are trapped act as bait.

When the spider walks over, it gets stuck on the trap as well. So you can eliminate both spiders and bugs from your room with these traps.

You can find them at local hardware stores or online. They come in both double-sided tape and trap versions.

Get one that’s made for spiders specifically so it has the right bait if you’re going for a trap.

Otherwise, use as directed. You can apply the tape around your window frame, door, and other areas that spiders are active.

The traps can be used under your bed, in your closet, or outside your room in the plants or on the windowsill.

Watch out for trellises and climbing plants. They provide a bridge to your room directly from the outdoors. You should use traps or spider repellent on these pathways into your house.

Hire a professional exterminator

Lastly, if you don’t know what to do, hire a licensed pest control company to take care of it.

They’ll assess the situation and provide you a treatment plan to control the spiders.

Most companies will offer you a free quote so you can call around, read reviews, and hire the best one.

Try to find one that uses alternative approaches, such as natural or organic spider control methods.

After all, you don’t want to be around pesticides 24/7.

How to keep spiders away while sleeping

Spiders in your bed can be frightening, but you can help reduce the likelihood of this happening with a few home remedies.

Since spiders can climb walls, hang upside down, and drop down from the ceiling on a web, it makes it difficult to fully stop them from crawling on you when you sleep.

For starters, you can use sticky tape. This is tape sold at hardware stores made to catch bugs and is basically double-sided tape, but stronger.

You line it around your bedposts (or whatever is holding your bed up) so that any crawling spiders will get caught on it.

If you have wood floors, you can also make a perimeter of tape around your bed, but be sure to get tape that doesn’t damage the finish.

Your bed can be protected from spiders with natural repellents like essential oils and vinegar. You can literally get a container and fill it up with vinegar and water.

The scent alone will keep spiders away from you when you sleep.

Lastly, take a nylon sock and fill it up with chestnuts or orange peels and place them around your bed frame.

The aroma smells pleasant to us humans but will keep spiders away while you sleep.

Further reading

Here are some references you may find helpful on your quest to eliminate these pests:

Did you get rid of the spiders in your room?

Spider on a bedroom plant.
Be patient. And try not to freak out.

By now, you should have a solid foundation to start managing, controlling, and eradicating any spiders in your bedroom.

No one wants to wake up to a nasty spider crawling all over their bedsheets in the middle of the night.

Although spiders are beneficial, some people just can’t stand them (blame the arachnophobia). Thankfully, they’re not too difficult to eliminate.

And you can do so using some natural home remedies. It’s all about keeping your room clean, doing regular upkeep, setting up some traps, and using some spider preventatives like chestnuts, essential oils or vinegar.

With some effort (and patience), you should be able to get rid of the spiders in your bedroom.

Do you have any questions? Were you able to eliminate them permanently?

Let me know in the comments section below.

Or if you found this guide (somewhat) helpful, please let me know!

Thanks for reading.

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