Expert reveals top five tips for preventing a spider infestation this autumn

Recent research from pest prevention specialists, Pelsis Group found that the search term ‘arachnophobia’ had the highest average monthly searches in the UK compared to any other pest-related phobia.

Further evidence for spiders being the most feared is the fact that 21 per cent of Brits claim to have a phobia of the eight-legged critters, according to a YouGov poll.

With that in mind, it is clearly important for a large portion of the population to know how to prevent spiders from invading their homes during peak season. That’s why Sophie Thorogood, from the technical team at Pelsis Group has detailed her top five tips to deter spiders from your living space…

Seal off entry points

Spiders enter the home via gaps under doors and around windows so ensuring that a good seal around window frames and excluder strips fitted to the bases of doors may help to prevent entry. While it is unlikely you’ll be able to seal off every single point of entry for a spider, ensuring the major ones, such as gaps under doors, are blocked will go a long way to keeping the critters out of your living space.

Keep it clean

While not an entirely foolproof method for prevention, cleaning your home regularly can deter spiders from nesting, particularly if you are removing their webs. Vacuuming regularly is particularly important here as it will not only eliminate spiders, but also the eggs they have laid which will help reduce the numbers drastically.

Traps and vacuums

Traps and vacuums provide an easy and humane way of dealing with spiders where you can simply release them back outside, away from your home and completely unharmed.

The vacuum in particular is an extremely effective way of dealing with spiders, allowing you to easily collect the critters in almost any space, and the LED light provides the ideal tool to spot them in dark corners.

Use lemon-scented cleaners

The eight-legged creatures are strongly deterred by the smell of citrus fruits, so cleaning your furniture, skirting boards and window sills with lemon-scented cleaning products is an easy, natural method of keeping them at bay.

Minimise your outdoor lighting use

While spiders themselves are not attracted to light sources, many of the insects they feed on are, which in turn draws them towards outdoor lighting.

If left on overnight or for a prolonged period of time, this will likely draw a wide range of insects near your home and more often than not, they will make their way inside with spiders quickly following.

For more information visit: www.pelsis.com