Suggestions that work for dealing with big spiders when home alone due to a severe spider phobia

[Noshadelamp]

I had a bad experience with a massive spider last year and since then I have a terrible phobia of spiders.
I tried hypnotherapy last year but it didn't work.
It's causing me so much anxiety, panic attacks and OCD behaviours.
I feel like I've lost my mind!

I'm fine leaving smaller ones alone or removing them myself but the bigger ones are my problem. I can't get close enough to them to use a container or even spray them.

My DH is going away for work soon and I will have to deal with any spiders myself.

Any suggestions for effective removal at a distance or instant killing as a last resort.

I've seen the long handled catchers on Amazon but some reviews saying not big enough or cut off their legs, wtf! I don't want them to suffer.

I have a spider catcher thing with the brush at the end. By the time I find the thing they’ve hidden themselves and I spend the whole night thinking I see movement 🤦🏻‍♀️

I’ve also tried it a couple of times and the spider runs before it is trapped, so not keen on it. Might try a spider vacuum instead.

We had to use Indorex spray (available on Amazon or from a vet) all over the house when we adopted a rescue dog who arrived with fleas. We didn't have a single live spider in the house that year. I'm badly phobic as well, so this was a relief to me and I now give a quick spray around the doors, windows, under the sofa etc. whenever our dog has her monthly flea treatment.

It might it if needs 5 mins in a vacuum to be definitely dead.

Hit it instead then.

I can absolutely recommend the friendly spider course at London Zoo. I was terrified & couldn't even look at a picture but am now fascinated by the little guys & happy to catch them with a cup & card & pop them outside.

that's awesome @LostThestral , well done!

Unless youve got a cat like my last one. She never caught mice or birds, but very kindly brought me enormous hairy spiders the size of side plates, which she dropped onto my duvet on two occasions. They were still alive. 😳😳😳

I completely understand this as I'm also terrified of them following a bad experience many years ago.

I now have multiple approaches:

Seal all windows with tape in late summer so they can't get in.
Spray everywhere with Indorex
Use a variety of essential oils or conkers anywhere they might hide.
Contact spray to try to kill them before they run off and hide
Keep a leather fly swat at hand for the smaller ones that are on walls.
Keep heavy shoes close by to stamp on any on the floor.
Long nozzle on the vacuum cleaner for any on soft furnishings or the ceiling.

I used to have a really sticky can of hairspray that froze them solid so they couldn't run but these days most hairsprays are ineffective. If anyone knows of a 1970s style firm-hold hairspray that would do the trick please let me know!

My Bedlington terrier x cocker is an awesome catcher of large spiders once they are on the floor. But getting a dog to deal with a spider problem is maybe a little OTT!

I have a long handled thing with a nylon brush and it's brilliant, best tenner spent on Amazon - no way could I go in with a glass and paper for the really big ones, but equally won't kill anything when there's an alternative. I used to be terrified of them but it's got better over the years - you have my sympathy.

I’ve got the Amazon brush type one as well and have never hurt a spider with it to my knowledge. I was quite horrified when my kitten dropped a spider on the sofa beside me the other day. Fortunately it was dead but was still a shock. She looked quite offended when I threw it out the window.

I have a high ceiling over the stairs where they sometimes appear late at night and are difficult to catch as we have to get the stepladder out and either vacuum with a long attachment or knock down with a bamboo cane before catching in a jar. I was thinking of trying a laser pen to knock them down but the laser I have is a measuring device not a pen, and doesn’t work other than to make them move on the ceiling. Thinking of getting a higher powered laser pen. I would then catch it with the jar and card method which I’m able to do. I put the jar lid on tightly and they can be chucked out in the morning.
There is also a narrow space down the side of the wardrobe which I can only get to with the dustbuster with a long tube attachment. I don’t like vacuuming or dustbusting as they can survive in there for days and run out when its emptied. but this is the only way in such an enclosed corner.

Shocked by the amount of posts on here saying to kill them and the methods you’ve used. Hairspray?! How vile are you lot!
I have a phobia too but would never wish harm on something so small which has its place in the ecosystem.

Hoover, then let it run a while so they choke in the dust. A big book. Hairspray. All depends where they are. They are welcome outside in my garden, not in my house

@stepmum86 what are your methods to deal with them directly yourself, with a phobia? The spider catchers in my experience are useless and the spiders escape inside the house. Worst possible scenario.
Edited typo

Or you could read Charlotte's Web. (This is a serious suggestion, btw. It stopped me being scared of spiders).

However, I do sympathise - I love spiders now and would definitely be your friendly neighbour spider rescuer. However, I have an absolute deep-seated phobia of mice and R-T (can't even type that), so much so that I would not even try hypnotherapy because I don't want to think about them, so I do understand the feeling.

I had a phobia - so bpught a spider catcher. They're not useless, I use mine all the time. Could not spray hairspray on one, or choke it slowly - the idea of that makes me feel sick, and for the first 40-odd years of my life I was genuinely terrified of the big ones.

the big ones are actually the most docile spiders & have terrible eyesight

long handled broom- the rougher the better or the Dyson handheld with the long extension. Forget trying to save them.

I have these: one upstairs and one downstairs.
They are very good.

You’re an embarrassment.

Ardap spray from Amazon. I won’t go into detail because like me you’re arachnophobic, it got to the point where dr’s prescribed me sleeping tablets but we had a giant spider infestation, I’ve used Ardap (sprayed windows, skirting boards and door frames) for over 3 years now and I’m too scared to say I haven’t seen one since (but I haven’t) please let it stay that way 🙏🏻

Came here to say this. These are truly fantastic when scared of spiders.

How cruel is that, spiders are lovely.