The patio, being a nice place to relax, is where some of us want to spend evenings watching the sunset. You can improve your mood and emotional state just by sitting there, reading a book, and sipping some wine. Imagine you’re doing this, and you spot a spider on the chair you’re sitting on. The moment is instantly ruined, right?
Worse, if the spider gets away, you get paranoid, and suddenly you can’t relax on your patio ever again. This situation is avoidable if you could just learn how to keep spiders away from your patio. It isn’t hard to do since the information is easily available in the write-up below.
Finding out what attracts spiders should be the top priority for anyone looking to permanently eliminate spiders on the porch or deck. After all, if you only get rid of the spiders and not what brought them to your house, others will easily move into the spaces left.
The first thing that attracts spiders to your patio is food. After all, they’re not going to live somewhere they are guaranteed to starve. Worth noting is that they tend to appreciate a good helping of insects every now and then. As such, if your patio is rife with flies, cockroaches, moths, mosquitoes, and more, you’re much more likely to have a rising spider population.
Another thing that attracts bugs is light. They tend to use natural light from the sun to navigate, and they can’t tell the difference between the lights on your patio and natural light. They will thus try to navigate towards them, and this is inclusive of the spiders as well. As such, the spiders will follow both the light and the other bugs heading towards the light and end up killing two birds with one stone.
The last thing to attract spiders to your patio is a habitable space. They tend to be drawn to cracks, crevices, and other spots where they can hide and wait for prey to come waltzing about. Crevices, gutters, and cracks are particularly popular hiding spots for many spider species.
The problem can be exacerbated by trash and clutter all over the patio, as it means more hiding spaces for the arachnids.
There are natural, chemical, and electronic methods to chase away the current spider population on your patio and to keep it from coming back. Most of them include making the deck less habitable to spiders, whether natural, chemical, or otherwise. However, since they are all listed and explained below, you can choose which ones to use or avoid.
The natural methods are effective and barely require anything aside from continued effort on your part and a few cheap supplies. Notably, you might even have these supplies in your home as they have other uses as well.
Clean your patio regularly
One natural method to eliminate spiders on the outside deck is to clean and repair it more regularly. We already mentioned that clutter, cracks, and crevices are very attractive hiding places for most spider species. It, therefore, makes sense that a regular inspection, repair, and cleanup job of the patio will make for an effective spider deterrent.
Sweep up any clutter that builds on the patio and put it into a covered dustbin. The spiders will have fewer places to hide and make their homes. While you’re doing so, check for cracks, fix them and clean the crevices that can’t be sealed.
If you do the above regularly, the spiders will barely have enough time to settle on your patio. Of course, you’ll need to realize that they tend to come from your yard into your patio. As such, cleaning the yard of bushes, clutter, dead plants, leaf litter, and grass clippings should also get you closer to your goal.
Get rid of bugs
Next, you can get rid of the spiders’ source of food by getting rid of the bugs in the yard. For those with ponds in their yards, mosquitoes will likely be the primary food source for the spiders. Nevertheless, there are a couple of natural and chemical ways to control the mosquito population in these scenarios as well.
Introduce a competitor
Another way to go about this is to introduce a competitor for the food. Ladybugs are an excellent choice as they eat other insects, will likely not colonize your patio and can make part of the scenery you enjoy when you’re relaxing outside the house. The competition may be enough to dwindle food reserves for the spiders, and that will encourage them to move out.
Use natural repellents
At the same time, you should consider natural repellant sprays that you create from fruits and spices in your home. These repellants use the spider’s sense of smell against them and are enough to chase the bugs away. One of these is made from a mixture of peppermint oil and water. If you already use the oil for your recipes in the kitchen, you’ll just need to get it from storage and use it.
Alternatively, the Mighty Mint purchase on Amazon comes highly recommended by previous users who’ve used it to great success. The ingredients are still all-natural, although it comes premixed in a spray bottle.
Once you mix or purchase the solution, you can then go ahead to put it on the various surfaces in and around the patio. These include doors, windows, patio chair frames, plants, et cetera. The mixture won’t harm your plants and washes off relatively easily. As a side note, the fragrance released by the substance can even help you relax more while on the patio.
Garlic water is another natural mix that has been used to great success by other people dealing with spiders on their patio. You can mix crushed garlic cloves with water, put the mixture in a spray can, and use as required. The only downside is the strong smell may interfere with your relaxing patio experience.
If you don’t have garlic lying around or you hate the smell, onions and tomato leaves can work as well. The procedure for preparing and using the spray is the same. Just ensure you leave either the tomato leaves or the onions in the water for at least one night before use.
Other natural options include citronella and tea tree sprays. For the former, add a few drops of citronella into a spray can of dish soap and spray as required. Just like the peppermint spray, citronella doesn’t seem to affect plants on the patio. Alternatively, you could buy some citronella candles and light them on your deck from time to time.
The spray, however, does seem more effective, especially as a long-term deterrent. As for the tea tree spray, the most effective mix seems to include warm water, two tablespoons of dish soap, one ounce of neem oil, and five drops of tea tree oil.
If you want to kill spiders on-site, you can make a mix for that as well. It includes mixing equal parts of vinegar and water and spraying directly onto the spider. The acetic acid in this mix will burn the spider upon contact, and it will die in a matter of minutes. The problem is that spiders tend to hide quite well, and it might be hard to locate them. That said, spraying on their webs could also help a bit.
We recommend that you use some of the above measures concurrently. These include cleaning the patio, cleaning the yard, fixing cracks and crevices, and using at least one of the natural repellant sprays that we’ve mentioned. That should solve the problem for you.
If mixing natural repellants seems like a lot of work, there are chemical outdoor spider repellants and insecticides as well. They are riskier in that they can cause you harm if ingested or inhaled. However, they are also very good at keeping spiders away from the patio.
The insecticides will indiscriminately kill all the bugs in the patio and any additional areas where you choose to use them. This not only kills the spiders but also reduces their food sources as well. As such, it will be a short while before you’re done with them completely.
You should know that there are three types of insecticides, i.e., dust, powder, and liquid insecticides. The names for all three types are incredibly descriptive. Dust insecticides, for instance, are just like the dust from the ground. The particles in them are light and can easily be blown about by the wind. This makes them risky to have on your patio, especially if you sit there daily.
It would be better to use dust insecticides when you know you won’t use the patio for a while. The same is the case when using liquid insecticides. They come in aerosol cans and can be blown into your lungs quite easily. As for the powder option, it is a little heavier than the other two and can be deposited in areas where spiders frequent.
We recommend insecticides if the population of spiders is high. Use them as an initial control method to thin down the population and kill most of the spiders. After that, sweep them up, clean the area then use natural and electric repellants. This should be much safer in the long run.
As a side note, some sprays make it impossible for spiders to attach their webs on surfaces. If they can’t make a home in their new hunting grounds, they will have less of an incentive to stick around. These options are known as web eliminator sprays and can be sourced from Amazon and local hardware stores.
Lastly, sticky traps are also considered chemical repellants in some circles. They use glue which is a chemical, and they trap and kill spiders that come into contact with them.
If both natural methods and chemical repellants are non-starters, consider using the electronic option. Once plugged into the closest socket to your patio, they will emit high-frequency sounds that only insects and other small creatures can hear.
To them, it will be like blasting an alarm through a surround sound system 24/7, making it difficult to function. Consequently, they will have to move. According to reviewers, the BRISON Ultrasonic Pest Repeller does an excellent job as an electronic repellant when pitted against spiders, cockroaches, ants, mosquitoes, and even rats. As for you and your pets, it is a non-toxic, eco-friendly solution.
Of course, if you have furniture on your patio like most other people, then you have already provided the spiders with a potential home. They will move in, find a spot to hide and only come out to scare you or look for food. Their new home could be in the corner, under the cushions, support bars, and many more hiding areas.
One effective deterrent to keep spiders away from patio furniture is to clean the installations regularly. Brush the fabrics of the seats, wipe above and below the tables and vacuum the furniture.
If even one spider has started making a web on your furniture, these methods will stop them in their tracks. In addition to that, you might want to get removable and washable cushions. Since they are comfortable hiding spots for pests and spiders, removing and washing them regularly should be enough of a deterrent. As a side benefit, clean, fresh cushions are better to sit and relax on as compared to stuffy ones.
Also, consider using chemical repellants, the natural methods we mentioned above, and the electronic repellants on and around the furniture. The peppermint spray is particularly popular in these kinds of situations. It smells rather nice and is effective.
Another approach is to rub citrus/orange peels on the frames of the furniture. That said, the smells of some of the other natural sprays can be a problem for users, and the chemical repellants are a potential hazard. As such, you should be careful in your use of said options.
We happened to mention that spiders are attracted to patio lights and even find other insects there. As such, it may be tempting for them to set up home base somewhere close by. You want to discourage them from doing this at all costs.
First, you can keep the lights off for longer if possible. If other insects such as moths and mosquitoes can’t see the lights, they can’t come to them. As such, they will likely not attract the spiders roaming around.
If it’s impossible to leave the lights off, consider yellow lights instead. They won’t kill or repel the bugs. However, far fewer bugs will be attracted to the light source. As such, with a limited food supply, there should be fewer spiders roaming around.
Also, let’s not forget the routes the spiders’ have to go through to reach the lights. They include walls, part of the ceiling, and some of the posts holding the patio together. It’s very easy to cut off any one of these routes by spraying the natural repellants on them. If the spiders can’t get past their dislike of the smells of these sprays, then they can’t colonize your patio lights.
The same is the case when you have umbrella lights. Spray the pole in the middle from top to bottom, and spiders won’t reach the lights. Consequently, you can lay on a chair under the umbrella and not have to worry about a spider falling on you.
Getting rid of spider webs doesn’t seem difficult, especially if you can see them. All you have to do is physically remove them. A napkin will help you if you don’t mind getting up close and personal to detach them from the walls and other surfaces.
If you’re too afraid of spiders for that to work, you can get a broom or a pole instead. Use the web’s adhesiveness to wrap it around the end of the broom and pull it from the wall, corner, or camera on the porch.
Admittedly, not all spiders build their webs in the open. Some of them will look for the nooks, crannies, crevices, and the cracks we mentioned before. For that reason, the inspection of some of these hidden areas becomes necessary.
The web eliminator sprays we mentioned before are a viable solution as well, especially right after you physically remove a web. Spray the eliminator in the same area, and the spiders will be unable to rebuild their homes for up to 60 days.
You shouldn’t have to worry about these creepy crawlies, especially when you’re relaxing. As such, any of the above-mentioned fixes is effective, although you will be better off using them in multiples. Also, don’t expect to thin out the population completely as soon as you start applying these pointers on how to keep spiders away from your patio. It might take a month or two. However, if you’re invested in the process and keep at it, you should be able to enjoy a spider-free environment over time.
