Are there spiders in your car?
If so, you’re not alone.
Spiders love to crawl into dark, warm places, and cars often provide the perfect environment. While most spiders aren’t harmful, they can be pesky. If you want to get rid of spiders in your car, here are a few tips to help you out.
Where do spiders live in your car when they infest?
Spiders are household pests, but on some occasions, you will find them living in odd places in your car.
There are several areas they would very much prefer to hide when they infest.
Spiders are often attracted to warm and sheltered places, one reason they would prefer to hide in your side-view mirrors, your air ventilators, and visors.
Other places would include under the bonnet, where leaves sometimes gather.
What attracts spiders to your car?
It is simple: warmth and shelter are two major things that attract spiders to your car and also when your car is untidy.
The twigs and leaves that get stuck in your car wheel arches, under your bonnet, and on the sides of your bumper also attract spiders to your car.
You may think if food could also be a factor. The truth is, that spiders are mostly drawn to bugs, flies, and other insects.
These insects are attracted to food. So if food particles are on the floor of your car or your car seats, they can attract flies and these flies will attract spiders.
Try as much as possible to keep your car clean, dispose of debris from your car and vacuum clean regularly.
- READ MORE: Does bleach kill spiders?
How to prevent spiders from gaining entry into your car
Preventing spiders from entering your car is one best way to keep them away. You can do this by trying out the following steps;
1) Since you know spiders are attracted to cars, mostly dirty ones, ensure to tidy your car regularly both inside and outside, and keep it clean. Be aware of where spiders are likely to hide so you can cleanse them.
2) Park your car away from trees. Parking your car under trees is like giving spiders a free pass to rent a room in your car.
Spiders find a home or shelter in trees and will not hesitate to make your car one if it is within their reach.
Your car could even prove to be a better shelter for them, especially when it rains. Ensure to park away from trees.
3) It is important to keep your doors and windows closed when you park your car. Also, ensure your gaps are plugged in properly.
4) Check your windscreen base or corners of your bumper, or bonnet, mostly places where leaf clutters can build up, then clean or take them out as these leaves could make a comfortable hiding spot for spiders.
- READ MORE: How Long Do Spiders Live?
How to get rid of spiders from your car
If spiders have already infested, look for their hideout places. They are most likely to hide in your sun visors, side view mirrors, windscreen, your hood, engine bay, and possibly your bonnet.
Keep your car clean
- Dust or vacuum clean these places properly, including the interior of your car like your seats, boots, and other compartments to remove cobwebs as well.
- Use effective all-purpose cleaners to spray surfaces like the windscreen, or in your wing mirrors and wheel archways. Then wipe clean.
Use repellents to get rid of spiders.
1) You can use spider repellents to get rid of them.
Spiders dislike the smell of vinegar so you can make a three-part white vinegar and one part of vanilla extract and spray it in your car.
It will ward off the spiders. You can also put some vinegar mixed with vanilla extract in a cotton wool ball and place it in the boot area.
You should repeat it for a few days, spiders will leave. Make certain you do this regularly to ensure that spiders do not come back.
2) Natural scented oils like peppermint, eucalyptus, and rose oil are good and effective for killing spiders.
The smell of these oils is repugnant in spiders. Spray these natural scented oils in your car and keep spiders away. It is even advised because it gives your car some pleasant fragrance.
3) Baking Soda.
Baking soda is a good natural way to get rid of spiders. Sprinkle some baking soda around and into your car. The smell will chase the spiders away.
4) Yeast.
It also has a strong smell that spiders cannot stand.
You can mix water with yeast to make a paste and place it in areas where you think these spiders are hiding. When you are done, make sure you clean after.
This method may not be very suitable for your car as you do not want dry yeast sticking to your windscreen or blocking certain areas in your car.
There are spider-killing products like the Terro spider killer spray. Get it from any store around you. Be sure not to use insecticides as they may not be good for confined areas.
You can also peel some citrus fruit like lemon skin back and place or rub the pitchy part on your car air-vent, your windscreen, or wing mirror. Also, you could make lemon water spray to spray around your car. It would chase them. Spiders hate lemon.
Hand collect those spiders
Another way you can get rid of spiders is by hand collecting them.
Spiders are barely harmful to humans and do not readily pose a threat. If you are like me, who would prefer not to kill these creatures, you can as well collect them.
You could get a container or glass jar, and place it close to the running spider, hit the area close to where the spider is until it enters the container, then set it free. You could also use a paper towel or cardboard paper to collect them.
Use homemade sticky traps
In situations where you have a heavy infestation, you can use DIY sticky traps to get rid of these spiders.
Whereas other sticky traps you get from the store would contain chemicals that are harsh and corrosive, homemade sticky traps are a sure bet if you intend not to risk your and your family’s health.
Homemade sticky trap ingredients
- 1 cup of corn syrup
- a piece of heavy cardboard paper,
- a cup of water and
- butter knife.
How to mix?
Pour the corn syrup and water into a pot to boil. Let the mixture cook into a glue-like substance. Stir properly to get a desired blend of the mixture. When you are done, cut the cardboard into strips and use the butter knife to spread the sticky substance on each cardboard.
Application:
Place each cardboard piece in strategic areas in your car, mostly where you have seen spiders. You could do this for a few days to get the desired result.
When you have successfully gotten rid of spiders, do regular vacuum cleaning to avoid spiders creeping up your windscreen or falling on your body from the roof of your car when you are driving.
How to get rid of Huntsman spiders in your car.
A huntsman spider is a gigantic fast-running spider and would give you a scare if it creeps out of the base of your windscreen when you are driving. It has been recorded that this species of spider is as big as a small dinner plate.
The thought of its size alone can be overwhelming not to talk about the sight of it. It could give you nightmares for days.
Huntsman spiders will not bite you. They are reluctant biters.
Instead, they will run as fast as can. These spiders may not be a threat, but they could lead you right into an accident. You do not want such creepy pests running out of your sun visor or falling on your lap while you are driving.
You can get rid of a huntsman spider with the following methods:
- Because these spiders are quick runners; by fast, I mean running 42 body lengths per second, it may be hard to get hold of them. One way to get rid of them is to keep a container close by for them to run into before you dispose of them.
- You can also keep your car windows and doors open for the spiders to run out
- Another way to get rid of the huntsman spider is to vacuum clean the interior of your car
- Use some natural spider repellents to scare them off. Like vinegar, lemon, or peppermint oil. It sure will do the trick.
- But do your best to avoid these pests from living in your car to avoid a pileup of cars on the road.
Will spiders affect the performance of my car?
Spiders mostly seek warmth and shelter in your car.
They can make you feel uncomfortable or frightened if you are arachnophobic, but are not likely to affect the performance of your car.
They hardly ever feed on such things as metal. However, they could build their webs in places like your bonnet or fuel tanks and cause a blockage.
If you notice any poor performance in your car, check these areas before you attribute it to the spiders you saw. Maybe your car needs servicing.
How to get rid of spiders from the side mirror of your car
Spiders sort of love to hang out in your side-view mirror.
They could just creep out of their hiding and surface there. To get rid of spiders from your car side mirror, you can try the following steps.
- Take out the cobweb and continue to destroy it. When you do this often, the area becomes inconvenient for the spider.
- You can wake up early to take out the spiders. These arachnids dislike being disturbed.
- Blow in canned air. The air will send these spiders flying out of their hiding.
Conclusion.
There are different ways to get rid of spiders in your car, but some are to be avoided. Like bug bombs. They would hardly get rid of the spiders in your car. Because spiders are likely to hide in crevices and hidden areas in your car, the smell of the pesticide may not get to those areas.
If you have a phobia of spiders and cannot get rid of them yourself, reach out to a pest control team for help.