Spiders inside the car can be lethal to you.
Not because they’ll bite you while you’re driving. But they can scare the living life out of you and cause an accident.
Statistics have shown that the sightings of spiders inside the car caused 5-7% of all car accidents in 2022.
The sudden sighting of the spider inside the car caused the driver to panic, lose control, and meet a fatal car accident.
Keep reading if you don’t want to be a part of that statistic and to find out how to get rid of spiders in your car.
Why Spiders Get Inside The Cars?
Spiders sneak inside cars primarily for shelter.
When the weather is too cold or too wet, spiders look for warm and dry place to hide.
That makes spiders sneak inside cars if they can find one.
Lack of cleanliness, dust, clutter, dirt, and bugs inside the car also play a significant role in drawing spiders to your car.
If you’ve parked you car in a spider-infested place, or if your garage has spiders, then it’s only a matter of time that spiders will move inside the car.
Spiders will use any gaps, like the openings under the hood, door edges, and window rails to take shelter inside your car.
They’ll hide in the warm, dark, and enclosed areas car’s interiors.
Some of the regular spider hideouts inside the car are the rear section of the side mirrors, air vents, under the hood, and car trunk.
Research has shown that when you start your car, the vibrations inside the car disturb the spiders.
It causes the spiders to come out of their hiding places and show up on places like steering wheel and car’s roof.
The sudden sighting of spider while you’re driving can press your panic button.
So, to ensure that it doesn’t happen, you’ll need to get rid of hiding spiders inside the car, and prevent them from coming back.
How To Get Rid Of Spiders In The Car?
Using a chlorine bomb and regular cleaning of the car are the keys to eliminate spiders and keep them away.
However, there are also additional steps that you need to take make your car spider-proof.
Declutter Your Car
Spiders love clutter. The clutter provides them the thin gaps that helps them to hide.
So, the first step to eliminate these eight-legged creepy crawlies from your car is to deny them their hideouts.
And you can do it by decluttering your car.
Throw away anything and everything inside the car that you don’t need.
Remove the seat covers, empty the cabinets, and take off the foot mats inside the car for the next step.
Use A Chlorine Bomb Inside The Car
When I asked a car cleaner on how to kill the spiders hiding inside the car, his reply was quite surprising.
He didn’t mention to use any spider spray or insecticide.
He said chlorine bombs work wonders.
Car cleaners use chlorine bombs to remove stench and stains from the car’s interiors.
And they work like magic in eliminating spiders from your car.
Research conducted by Ursula Jakob, a molecular biologist of University of Michigan, showed that the chlorine bombs attacks the proteins in spiders and bugs that causes them die.
This process, known as hypochlorite, which is lethal for spiders.
To prepare the chlorine bomb, take a bowl and fill three-fourths of it with water.
Add bleach to the water. When the water turns yellow, keep the bowl inside the car.
Close all the car’s windows and keep the car windows shut.
Also ensure that you do not park your car in direct sunlight. It’ll be best to chlorinate the car under sheds or inside the garage.
There are also readily available car odor bombs containing chlorine that you can use directly.
How long do you need to chlorine bomb the car? The recommended timeline is 8-10 hours.
The chlorine gas that the chlorine bomb emits kills the spiders and many other car bugs like German roaches.
It’s a kind of fumigation that helps in getting rid of bugs and pests in an enclosed area.
But do not use chlorine bombs inside your house.
While chlorine bombing the car, ensure that your children and pets don’t get inside the car.
Vacuum Clean The Car
Once you’re through with above two steps, it’s time to remove the dead spiders and the dirt inside the car.
Remove the bowl containing bleach and water or the chlorine odor bomb.
And vacuum clean your car thoroughly.
Do not skip cleaning the tight areas near the paddles, underneath seats, car trunks, and storage cabinets inside the car.
Vacuum cleaning can also remove the tiny spiders and the spider eggs inside the car.
Scatter Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous earth is also a spider and bug killer. Scatter it inside the car and wait for a couple of hours to do their work.
Ensure that you sprinkle generous amounts of DE in the tight gaps and spaces inside the car.
Diatomaceous earth is a desiccant, and it has sharp particles.
The particles penetrates the insects’ exoskeletons and dehydrates them from the inside by absorbing their fatty acids, moisture, and bodily fluids.
That causes the insects to die.
But it’s not an instant insect killer. You’ll need to wait for a while to let it do its work.
Diatomaceous earth will kill any baby spiders and small bugs that might be hiding inside your car.
Follow it up by vacuum cleaning the car to remove the diatomaceous earth and dead bugs.
Keep Spider Traps Inside The Car
Spider traps are sticky and reeks of smells that draw spiders.
Keep one or two of these traps inside the car in places like underneath car seats and dashboard.
You can also keep a couple of these spider traps in your car’s trunk.
Let the spider traps remain inside the car overnight.
Use a vacuum cleaner to scoop off the trapped spider and the spider trap.
Dispose of the spider along with the vacuum cleaner dust bag outside of your property.
Spider traps are a great hack to draw out a hiding spider. You can use them inside your home too.
Seal Gaps And Cracks Inside The Car
It’s vital that you prevent spiders from entering your car.
Gaps and crevices on your car are primary entry points for spiders and other bugs.
Sealing them, or using rubber stripping to close those gaps will shut those gaps and hence, deny the spiders from entering your car.
Use Peppermint Essential Oil Spray
Spiders hate the peppermint smell. And they avoid anything that smells minty.
So, take the peppermint spray and spray it inside the car, especially along the gaps that you just sealed.
Spray it on the car’s exteriors too.
The smell remains for two – three days.
So, it’ll be best to continue spraying at least twice a week to make your car smell fresh and to keep the bugs away.
Keep Your Garage And Car Clean
Regular cleaning of your garage and car and ensuring that there’s no clutter inside these places helps in keeping spiders away.
Do not let clutter build up inside your car.
Don’t eat and drink inside the car. That cause food and beverage stains inside the car which attract bugs like ants in the car.
And bugs in the car are food for spiders, so, they can draw spiders inside the car.
Also, always park your car in clean places.
Don’t park your car near organic debris like leaf litter or decaying wood piles.
Spiders lurk in these places, and they can sneak inside your car.
How To Get Rid Of Spiders In Car Side Mirrors?
One of the unusual places that some spiders can hide in your car is side mirrors.
Spiders can be behind the side mirror or in the joints between the side mirror and the car’s body.
To eliminate spiders in car side mirrors, you can wrap plastic on the side mirror with the spider trapped in it.
Make a hole in the plastic and spray an insecticide-like raid through the hole.
Seal the hole and leave it for a few hours. The spider will die.
You can also use spider killer sprays in places like car vents and in your car’s interior to kill the spiders.
How Long Can Spiders Live Inside An Enclosed Car?
If there are no food sources like bugs to feed on, the spiders can’t survive for long. It’ll die in a few days because of lack of food and if the temperature is above 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
But if you car is infested with bugs and the temperature is normal, then spiders can live and even breed inside the car.
They’ll lay eggs inside the car and that can be spike up the spider infestation in your car.
If conditions permit, the spiders can cover a significant part of their lifecycle inside your car.
And from your car, they can even spread to your garage and home.
Types Of Spiders That Get Inside Cars
Yellow sac spiders, huntsman spiders, and wolf spiders are common car intruders.
These spiders hide in the debris a lot. And they can sneak inside the car too.
The worst part is that if there’s one spider in your car, then chances are there are more.
So, always check out the tight gaps inside the car to find out any possible hiding spider.
Summary
Spiders hide in car because they look for an alternative shelter when the weather outdoors becomes too cold for them.
They hide in the tight corners and gaps inside the car.
But when you drive the car, the vibrations inside the car can cause the spiders to show up in less vibrating spaces like the car’s roof and steering wheel.
That can take you aback and can cause an accident.
Using a chlorine bomb or scattering diatomaceous earth helps in eliminating spiders in cars.
To prevent spiders from hiding inside the cars seal their entry points and use repellants like peppermint oil.
Also, keep your car clean and free from any food stains and clutter.
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.