One of the first places where spiders hide inside a house is your garage.
Why?
It’s because your garage has clutter, dirt, and abundant food supply in the form of insects that spiders can hunt.
Spiders will sneak inside garages to seek warmth during the winter.
Extreme heat outdoors and wet weather can also make spiders to move into your garage.
Failing to get rid of spiders in the garage can make your garage an epicenter of a home-wide spider infestation.
End result?
Increased risk of spider bites!
From your garage, spiders can spread to places like your bedroom, closet, kitchen, and inside your car too.
To stop that from happening, here are the best ways to get rid of spiders in your garage and prevent them from coming back.
Get Rid Of Cardboard Boxes
Spiders love to hide inside cardboard boxes.
Venomous spiders like the black widow spider and the brown recluse spider sneak inside the boxes to hide.
And they can also deposit their egg sacs in them.
On top of that insects like roaches, silverfish, kissing bugs, and ants all hide in these boxes.Â
That’s an easy meal for the spiders.
So, throw away all the cardboard boxes, newspaper piles, or old magazines in the garage.
Instead of cardboard boxes, you can use plastic storage bins with lids.
They’re sturdy and you can shut them from the top. That prevents bugs from sneaking inside the bins.
Get Rid Of Insects And Pests Inside The Garage
The bugs and insects hiding in your garage are the food sources for spiders.
If your garage is infested with bugs, then it’s an open invitation for hordes of spiders to move in.
Use an insecticide spray all over your garage, especially in the nooks and corners, storage shelves, and underneath sinks and furniture.
Clean Your Garage
A dirty and dusty garage is a magnet for spiders. Add clutter and bugs to it, spiders have got a place that they’ll never leave.
Take your vacuum cleaner and clean the garage. Remove the spider webs, sludge, dirt, and any dead insects from your garage.
It’ll be best that you empty the garage completely before cleaning it.
By doing so, you’ll be able to clean all the dirty nooks and storage sections inside the garage.
Fix Leaky Pipes
Like most home invading pests, spiders too love dampness.
Dampness also play a role in attracting bugs, which again, play a significant role in drawing spiders into your garage.
Look for any leaking pipes underneath garage sink or near the foundation.
If you find any, fix those leakages.
You might have to hire a plumber if you’ve got a problem of choked drains in your garage.
Remove Clutter
Spiders are nocturnal. They’ll hide inside the clutter of your garage during the day.
So, decluttering your garage and organizing it in the right way to keep spiders away.
If your garage is a total mess, then it’ll best to make a small investment in garage storage.
Set up your garage in a way that it has a lot of breathing space.
Discard any unnecessary items that you don’t need in your garage.
Caulk The Gaps And Cracks Inside The Garage
The crevices on garage windows, walls, and doors are entry points for spiders and other insects.
Spiders will sneak through the thinnest of holes and gaps on these places and hide inside the garage.
Seal those cracks with a quality sealant, preferably silicone-based sealant.
Silicone-based sealants are sturdy, durable, waterproof, and most importantly, bugs can’t chew through them.
Don’t forget to check for cracks on the garage walls, ceiling, and floor.
These places can be hiding places for the spiders.
If your garage is heavily damaged because of any reason, then it’ll be best to renovate it.
Use Natural Spider Repellents
Do you know that it’s a child’s play to keep spiders away from your home and garage?
And that too without using any chemicals?
All you’ve to do is use the right repellents to prevent spiders from coming back.
And the most reliable spider repellant is peppermint oil.
There are other essential oils that also work well in keeping spiders away.
Some of them are eucalyptus, lavender, tea tree oil, and citrus.
Add a few drops of any one of the above essential oil in a spray bottle full of water.
Spray the mixture along the inside and outside perimeter of your garage.
Also use the spray on the garage windows and door.
If there’s any pathway of utility lines passing through your garage, then use the spray in those areas too.
But this is not a one time exercise. The scents of these oils fade away after a day or two.
So, it’ll be best to use the essential oil sprays at least thrice a week for best results.
Spiders hate the smell of these oils, especially of peppermint.
But keep in mind that these oils are spider repellants. They don’t kill spiders.
White vinegar is also a good alternative to essential oils. Spiders and bugs hate the acidic smell of white vinegar.
Keep Spider Traps Inside The Garage
After finishing the above steps, you don’t want to leave anything to chance.
And the best way to negate any chances of spider infestation raising it’s head inside the garage is by keeping glue traps.
There are many types of sticky spider traps available.
Two of the most common ones are the pheromone spider traps and the poisonous spider traps.
The pheromone spider traps emits the smell of pheromones that spiders pick up to hunt their preys.
When the spider follow the smell and step on the trap, it gets stuck.
Use a vacuum cleaner to suck off the spider from the trap and dispose the spider along with the spider outside of your property.
The poisonous spider traps also lures the spiders out of hiding and kills it when the spider steps on it.
I recommend using pheromone spider trap if there are pets and children in your home.
Keep The Lights Of Your Garage Off
Glowing light bulbs attract bugs and flies inside the garage.
These bugs then hide in your garage and they can breed and lay eggs.
So, glow light bulbs play an indirect role in drawing spiders inside your home and garage.
To prevent this from happening, don’t keep the light bulbs inside the garage unnecessarily on.
Turn off the lights outside of the garage too, especially during the late spring and summer when most species of bugs and flies are active.
Remove Excessive Vegetation Around the Garage
Overgrown bushes and shrubs are hiding places for many bugs.
Spiders and insects can jump or crawl from these plantations and sneak inside your garage through the windows and cracks.
To prevent that from happening, trim those excessive vegetation. If they’re not needed, remove them.
It’ll be best to also chop off any tree branches that are touching the roof of the garage.
Do not keep firewood piles near the garage’s and home’s exterior walls. Maintain at least a 6-8 feet distance from the walls.
Spiders and insects hide in the wood piles and can move inside your house from there.
Summary
Removing spider’s food supply, blocking their entry points, and removing clutter are vital to remove and prevent spiders in the garage.
Spiders love to hide in dark and cluttered places. So, your basement, attic, and garage become their primary hiding places.
From these places the spider infestation can spread and become severe.
In that case, you may have to hire a professional pest control company to get rid of them.
So, always inspect these places for spiders and insects, especially during the summer months.
Caution: For your own safety, wear shoes, trousers, and thick gloves while performing the steps laid out in this post.
They’ll protect your from spider bites.
Nang Chen is an Entomologist and Arachnologist who is associated with Vienna’s museum of natural history. He’s also a consultant with real estate groups, insecticide conglomerates and law enforcement groups as a forensic entomologist. Nang Chen holds an M.S. from South China University and he’s a regular contributor to our site.