It is officially fall – my favorite season! Temper
atures are starting to drop, the leaves are starting to change to beautiful hues of red, orange and yellow, and the spiders are starting to move into our finished basement for the winter. Wait…WHAT?!
Yep, I love fall, but my least favorite thing about it is that all of those eight-legged creatures (who were happy to spend the summer outside) all of a sudden, decide that my basement looks like the perfect accommodations for the impending winter.
And I hate spiders! Just thinking about them makes my skin crawl. Now, I know that spiders serve a purpose on our planet, and I usually am quite capable of leaving the ones I come across outside alone (unless they are crawling on me, or someone else I love). But when they are inside my house, I show no mercy.
I fully accept that there will always be spiders in my home, that’s just the way it is. And I have no problemΒ smashing the occasional spider that I come across. What I can’t handle very well, is heading to the basement to do a load of laundry and coming across five spiders (of varying sizes) on the very short journey. That is just too much! And I’ve noticed in the three years that we have lived in our home, that this is a common occurrence when the weather starts getting chilly.
I certainly don’t want a full-time position roaming around my basement killing spiders by hand, so for the last three years I’ve been using this simple, homemade spray to fix the problem. I found this magical idea on Pinterest (http://happymoneysaver.com/natural-spider-spray/#_a5y_p=4367522). It is non-toxic, smells wonderful, and most importantly…it’s effective!
I know that I could just call an exterminator, but that can be costly. I could buy a can of RAID, but my husband’s office is in the basement, and our dogs enjoy spending time lounging around downstairs – and I’m just not a fan of horrible chemical smells wafting around my home.
Peppermint Spider Spray
All you need is:
- A spray bottle (I picked up a small one in the travel section at Target)
- Peppermint oil (I found mine in the candle/soap-making aisle at Hobby Lobby)
- Water
Place approximately 15 drops of peppermint oil into the spray bottle and then add about 1 cup of water. Screw on the lid and shake vigorously. You’re ready to spray!
I typically spray this around all of the baseboards in my basement, as well as any other little nooks and crannies that look especially spider-friendly. Now, I will warn you that the peppermint scent will be abundant. I try to spray on a Friday evening, after my husband has finished up in his office, so that there are a couple of days for the peppermint smell to dissipate before he returns to work.
And that’s it…you can flip over that imaginaryΒ “no vacancy” sign and rest easier. And if, after a few months, you start to notice a new influx, just mix up a quick batch of spray and re-apply.
