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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask how to get rid of house spiders?

156 replies

Davincisvault · 11/08/2020 11:44

I mean the massive ones that come in from now til end of Oct/ Nov.

Honestly the fear is quite honestly taking over my life Sad I’ll probably have to seek some sort of hypnotherapy but has anyone successfully managed to rid their house of them? I know people say about those plug in things but then often other people say they’re useless.

I have been using Indorex the last couple of years. Last Year I thought I’d conquered them as I only saw 1! Moved house since then and sprayed the whole house, window sills etc about a week ago but since then have seen 3. I just want something that works!

OP posts:
Manolin · 12/08/2020 22:57

@Somethingsnappy

Yes, we let the cellar spiders stay for the above reason! I like them....they tend to stay in one place for the most part and they move quite slowly, taking care not to frighten us Grin. I've found house spiders in their webs, three times their size. It's said that if you left them long enough, they'd eat all the other spiders in the house. They have a special place in my heart.
Yes, they rock! Pholcidae

We have some in different parts of the house, normally opposite corners of a room. They come out in darkness and hunt the massive black ones who don’t stand a chance. They locate and then track them down via their scent. Quick, clean, efficient night-hunters.

CharlottesComplicatedWeb · 12/08/2020 23:22

BettaWare... Spider Stop. It’s basically oil of cloves in a spray. We used to get whoppers. No more 😊

CharlottesComplicatedWeb · 12/08/2020 23:27

SpiderStop won’t harm/kill them. You spray skirting boards/windowsills etc and they hate the smell. It just keeps them away.

Thespideryoutriedtokill · 12/08/2020 23:37

Hoover them up, throw the hoover out in the garden and then set it on fire.

Change your name, Pack your bags, get your passport and leave the country so their spider kids and cousins can’t find you... ever.

CharlottesComplicatedWeb · 13/08/2020 02:45

@Thespideryoutriedtokill. Yes, hoover them up and bury the hoover 6ft deep in the garden.

Zoflorabore · 13/08/2020 03:00

I have a very heavy Next Directory at hand at all times Blush petrified.

Pixxie7 · 13/08/2020 03:09

I use the plug in insect repellent plugs, touch wood seems to keep them away.

SeaMayweed · 13/08/2020 07:29

I vacuum them up and I can't even feel sorry for it. That's my privilege as an apex predator. They'd have me if they could

wow.

mamamilkmachine · 13/08/2020 07:52

@Rainbowchampagne 🤣 I've been doing the exact same thing, shaking everything! It was huge and it covered her cheek when it ran across her face, I feel like I failed her letting it happen but it all went so quickly, and I killed it before she woke up so she never knew!

Original poster
Davincisvault · 13/08/2020 08:26

Just ordered some Spider Stop!!

OP posts:
GladAllOver · 13/08/2020 08:52

Reading all the above it sounds as if some people are almost proud of being frightened of these harmless, beneficial creatures.
If you really do have a genuine spider phobia, like any phobia it can seriously affect your life. So get it treated - there are several ways to do it.

SweetPetrichor · 13/08/2020 09:15

My gran used to swear by conkers. We used to have to go and collect enough to last her through the year! I don't know if it worked but she seemed to think it kept them away...but then she was getting old and short sighted so she maybe just didn't see them!

If you can tolerate them, a cellar spider will eat other spiders. But - despite keeping pet spiders/tarantulas myself - I still find cellar spiders a bit creepy! I remove them form the house and let the others stay, haha.

LakieLady · 13/08/2020 09:27

After hypnotherapy, you won’t feel the need to kill them so invest in that instead

This, or CBT.

I had six sessions of CBT for bird phobia so severe I thought I was going to have to stop driving (the urge to duck below dashboard level when a bird was heading towards the windscreen was becoming overwhelming, and whenever it happened I had to pull over for 15-20 minutes to recover).

I'm still scared, but nothing like as bad as I used to be. I don't mind the birds coming within a few feet when I'm gardening and when a blackcap flew in through an open window last summer, I was able to calmly leave the room and wait for it to leave again.

I really recommend it, it was an absolute lifechanger for me. Phobias are bloody awful things to live with.

Spiders are good imo because they eat flies etc. We have loads in the autumn, some of them stay around long enough to get names.

wizzbangfizz · 13/08/2020 09:33

Hypnotherapy didn't work for me

Flylilly · 13/08/2020 09:42

Not helpful I know, but funny

To ask how to get rid of house spiders?
Bellesavage · 13/08/2020 09:45

We leave the spindly ones too, only this morning did I find a massive massive brown thick legged spider dead in one of their webs. If I'd seen that fecker alive I'd have had a heart attack. Even dead it gave me goose pimples

SeaMayweed · 13/08/2020 10:08

@GladAllOver I couldn't agree more. I've been really saddened by some of the comments on this thread.

BessMarvin · 13/08/2020 10:13

Questions!

1 how on earth do the thin ones eat the huge ones? I mean where does it go? They don't have the stomach space.

2 this London zoo thing. How do you actually find out about it and get the courage to do it? I'd love to not be terrified. But surely there are photos. And when you go, actual spiders?!

Not feeling clever or proud of fear of spiders Confused

Frazzled13 · 13/08/2020 10:26

@BessMarvin I just googled it, and there are no pictures of spiders at all on the website. It is £150 though.

It's all very well people saying there are ways to fix your phobia, but hypnotherapy and courses aren't cheap. I'd love to not be scared of them, but I can't spend £150 on it.

Byronsmummy · 13/08/2020 10:57

Get a cat. My 2 kills anything that moves. I am horrendously phobic to the extent that if I'm 'trapped' I shake, cry and feel sick! Oh and let's not forget the blood curdling screams when I first encounter one. Blush

Somethingsnappy · 13/08/2020 12:03

Somethingsnappy

Yes, we let the cellar spiders stay for the above reason! I like them....they tend to stay in one place for the most part and they move quite slowly, taking care not to frighten us grin. I've found house spiders in their webs, three times their size. It's said that if you left them long enough, they'd eat all the other spiders in the house. They have a special place in my heart.

Yes, they rock! Pholcidae

We have some in different parts of the house, normally opposite corners of a room. They come out in darkness and hunt the massive black ones who don’t stand a chance. They locate and then track them down via their scent. Quick, clean, efficient night-hunters.

This cheered me up! I hadn't realised they were so proactive....I assumed they just waited on their webs.

Actually, as you seem to know a thing or two about spiders, I wonder if you'd be able to answer my question (or anyone else who is reading this and knows...)? If the cellar spiders hunt by smell, is it at all possible that their smell (or any other way they may detect them) might deter house spiders from coming in the house (if there are plenty of cellar spiders). I saw a huge house spider last night, on its way up the stairs, and I wondered if it may have been heading up there as there are fewer cellar spiders upstairs than downstairs? I have loads of other questions too, but I'll leave it with those for now!

Somethingsnappy · 13/08/2020 12:05

Sorry, the above question was for Manolin, whose post I tried to quote. My skills of copy and paste didn't work well for some reason!

Rhine · 13/08/2020 12:14

Get a cat or a small dog. I’m serious, when our cats were still alive we never ever saw any house spiders because they used to hunt them at night and eat them! We’d occasionally find the legs lying around in the morning.

DB has a small terrier type dog and apparently she is exactly the same when it comes to chasing, playing with and then eating spiders.

BessMarvin · 13/08/2020 12:14

[quote Frazzled13]@BessMarvin I just googled it, and there are no pictures of spiders at all on the website. It is £150 though.

It's all very well people saying there are ways to fix your phobia, but hypnotherapy and courses aren't cheap. I'd love to not be scared of them, but I can't spend £150 on it.[/quote]
Thank you! But £150 yikes! That's nearly as scary as the spiders! (Haha not really obviously, spiders win by miles.)

Nowifi · 13/08/2020 14:22

See £150 for me was nothing when you consider how bad your fear is, I would have paid double that just to help my phobia. Best money I ever spent!

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