Maybe it’s the thought of a spider crawling across your face as you sleep that’s so scary, or maybe it’s the idea of how many spiders there are in a house and how they can all crawl up your bed. Seeing spider webs dangling above you while you are trying to get to sleep is not nice, especially when you know they are mainly nocturnal creatures that are going to come out at night while you are sleeping.
If you want to keep those eight-legged critters away from your bed, read on to find out why spiders seem to be so attracted to your bed and how to keep them away from you while you are sleeping.
Why keep spiders away while sleeping
Spiders are often seen as an enemy to humans because of their eight legs and poisonous abilities. However, the truth is that spiders are good for many reasons. For starters, some species feed on some types of insects which cause injury or illness in humans.
Spiders also help keep our food supply free from unwanted pests by eating large quantities of bugs. Lastly, spiders help keep other pests under control by eating large quantities of other insects (spiders eat more than 100 varieties of insects). Keeping these facts in mind, it seems like spiders aren’t the enemy we make them out to be.
That being said, people don’t want their homes overrun with spiders and other bugs, though. If you’d like to keep spiders at bay in your home or in your bedroom (or anywhere else, for that matter), read the following steps and tips.
What attracts spiders to your bedroom in the first place?
Many people are scared of spiders, but many more don’t even know that they have them in their bedroom. Spiders like to live where it’s warm and dark, so if you see any crawling around your room late at night or early in the morning, you might want to check your bed for unwanted guests before climbing in.
As your bedroom is likely to be darker than the rest of your house for long periods of time, spiders often find this to be the best room of the house to make their home in.
Bedrooms tend to be less busy in terms of people and pets than other rooms, so it gives spiders the perfect opportunity to make their webs ready to catch their prey.
How to keep spiders away while sleeping?
There are lots of things you can do to keep those pesky spiders away from your bedroom altogether.
Keep spiders away while sleeping by showering regularly
It turns out that spiders love the smell of human sweat as it helps the creatures to hunt their victims. The human body gives off natural odours which can alert bugs to your presence.
If you want to keep spiders away from your bed, a good place to start is by showering regularly to wash off the smell of sweat from your body. This will help avoid attracting spiders to your body while you sleep. Make sure you also change and wash your sheets regularly to get rid of any smells that can attract insects.
Wash your sheets
Make sure to wash your sheets regularly to get any dirt and grime out of them before spiders and other bugs are attracted to your bed. One of the characteristics of cotton bed linen is that it can be washed at high temperatures, to kill any creepy crawly that may have found its way on to your sheets.
Don’t leave food around
Do not leave any food out overnight or cover it with plastic wrap before going to sleep. Spiders love protein so they will find their way into any uncovered containers or open bags of chips. Any food particles will make spiders enter your bedroom to look for insect populations. Make sure you don’t leave food crumbs around and always used a sealed garbage bag to get rid of your food and trash.
Avoid eating in bed
It’s common knowledge that spiders are attracted to the warmth and carbon dioxide people give off when they sleep. But not everyone knows that eating in bed can attract these creepy crawlers too. Spiders often follow their favorite scent, which is food. Eating in bed usually gives rise to crumbs, which then attract unwanted spiders. So if you hate spiders, skip the midnight snack! If you do leave crumbs around anywhere, clean them up immediately with a vacuum cleaner.
Reduce clutter around and under your bed
Spiders don’t want to live in places where they can’t get any food. As they eat insects and other protein sources, they are most commonly found where other insects choose to live. The nooks and crannies that clutter creates provide a great hiding blace for creepy crawlies, which in turn will attract spiders. Make sure to tidy your room if you want to keep spiders off your bed sheets!
Attach legs to your bed
If your bed is low on the ground, consider getting bed risers to lift up your bed. Bed risers prevent spiders being able to crawl directly off the floor and on to your bed. You should also avoid placing things under the bed where spiders tend to hide – making spotting them much easier. Untidy storage boxes under your bed give rise to dark spaces for spiders to make their homes.
Don’t walk around in bare feet
Dead skin cells which form on your feet and which drop off your feet as you walk around the house barefoot form a perfect food for bed bugs and other insects. Once your home attracts insects, it will attract spiders.
Clean up
Dirty environments are the perfect habitats for spiders. You can often avoid spiders living in your home by making sure you get rid of spider webs and any other dust and dirt around the entire house. Spiders feed on insects and other protein. If there is nothing around for them to eat then they won’t stay long.
There are a few ways to keep spiders away from your house naturally. One way to do this is by taking down all those cobwebs that have made their way into your home.
Spiders love hanging webs around the two corners in every room because it’s not only where they spin their own webs but also captures insects that get stuck on them when they’re looking for food.
Take down any cobwebs you see (be sure not to touch or disturb spider eggs which can be found in cobwebs) and clean up any excess dust with a vacuum cleaner so there’s less debris for spiders to hide in when they run off scared at seeing you.
How to repel spiders naturally
People use all kinds of harsh chemicals and pesticides to kill off spiders and other bugs in their homes. Although these methods work temporarily, it can be harmful if children or pets accidentally come in contact with them or if seep into one’s food.
Chemical solutions you buy from the stor will work to kill spiders, but they are not environmentally friendly and should only be used if you have a real spider infestation or there are dangerous spiders in your area. In other words, chemical pesticides should only be used as a last resort.
Spiders are repelled by citronella oil
Spiders are an unavoidable fact of life. They come into your home, and they’re in your bed when you sleep. This can be scary for some people, but it doesn’t have to be if you use citronella oil to keep them away!
Citronella is a natural insect repellent that smells nice and won’t harm the environment or cause any other problems.
Spiders try to stay away from strong smells, for this reason many people use citronella candles or sprays to keep them away. citronella is an oil which comes from the leaves of a plant, and you can get it in any grocery store! Essential oils also make your room smell great, so it’s a win-win.
Other plant based strong smells can also deter spiders from entering your home. To get rid of spiders, try putting up small pots of lemon balm or other natural spider repelling plants such as lemongrass around your house. Like citronella, these items smell nice and won’t harm you or the environment!
Citrus fruits
The smell of citrus fruits keeps spiders away from your home, so they’re perfect for keeping those stinkier pests at bay!
By cutting up some lemons, oranges and limes and placing them on the window sills of your home, you’ll keep spiders out for sure. You may need to change these fruit pieces out every so often but it’s better than having pests infest your home! And besides – who doesn’t love the smell of citrus?
Use tea tree oil
One way of keeping spiders at bay is by using tea tree oil which comes from the leaves of Melaleuca Alternifolia, also known as the Australian Tea Tree.
This plant has been used for centuries in Australia and other places where people deal with lots of bugs on a regular basis. The oil works by creating an unpleasant odor for insects so they’ll stay away from your home or any place you spray it.
Tea tree oil is not harmful to humans or animals, but only creates an unpleasant smell for insects like spiders who will then leave your house alone. However, tea tree oil can be expensive, so you may want to use it sparingly and dilute it in a difuser or burner.
Other essential oils
Other essential oils, such as lavender, can also also be effective, as spiders hate any strong smells. You need to use quite a bit of a scent to have an effect, but lavender has the added benefit of helping you get a good night’s sleep as it is a natural sleep aid.
Using heavily scented dryer sheets when you wash your bedding can help make your bed unattractive to creepy crawlies.
Does cinnamon repel spiders?
Yes, cinnamon can repel spiders naturally as it is another strong smell that they don’t like. If you see spiders coming in through tiny gaps around your windows, you can springle some cinnamon powder in these areas to prevent the spiders from coming in. This trick works with any tiny holes in your house that are allowing unwanted spiders to enter.
Do walnuts keep spiders away
The idea that walnuts or chestnuts keep spiders away is a myth. Spiders live in walnut and chestnut trees and are not deterred by the smell of these nuts or their shells.
Vinegar
Deterring spiders from your bed can be done using vinegar. You don’t need fancy store-bought spider spray to get rid of creepy crawlers. White vinegar can work just as well.
Get a spray bottle and spray diluted white vinegar around your bedroom and it actually kills spiders. You should use two parts water to one part vinegar. This will work well for any spiders hiding in cracks that you can’t easily see.
As a natural insecticide, vinegar works particularly well against spiders. However, it’s nicer and more environmentally friendly if you can work on preventing spiders from wanting to be in your bedroom at all, rather than killing them.
Peppermint oil
Some people believe that peppermint oil is another natural insecticide. However, it seems that it will only prevent spiders rather than kill them, as it works in the same way that other essential oils do in providing strong scents which spiders hate.
Again, use a spray bottle with diluted peppermint oil to fragrance your bedroom to keep these unwelcome insects away from your bed. Spray peppermint oil around the interior and exterior of your home to keep spiders away.
Peppermint oil is non-toxic, so there’s no need to worry about harming pets or family members if they happen to lick it off their fur after rubbing up against it.
Electronic pest repeller
People try other ways of keeping spiders at bay, such as by using an electronic pest repellent to eliminate spiders.
Electronic pest repellers work by creating an electromagnetic field that hurts the insect and deters it from entering. This has not been proven to work for spiders and should be used as a last resort as it may even make them angrier.
Spiders can’t hear anything as they don’t have ears, so they are sensitive only to vibrations and mostly to vibrations below 1KHz. In terms of electromagnetic repellents, the current they give off is so low that it’s likely to have less effect on a spider than the current from a lightbulb. It’s generally a bad idea to use one of these as they aren’t effective and can be expensive.
What to do if you find a spider in your bed
If you do find spiders in your bed sheets, you are likely going to want to get rid of them striaght away.
The best way to do this is by trapping them under a glass and using a piece of paper to slide between the glass and the bed. You can then release your spider friends into the wild away from your bedroom. Empty boxes can also work well for this.
If you aren’t feeling kind, you can use a vacuum cleaner to suck them up.
You may want to wash your sheets at high temperatures too so they will stay fresher for longer and be less inviting to spiders in the future, using scented dryer sheets will add extra scent to help with this too.
Do spiders bite you in your sleep?
Spider bites can be itchy and sore, even if the spider is not poisonous. Unfortunately, it is rare but possible that a spider can bite you in your sleep without you even realising it. This is most likely to happen if a spider get trapped in your sheets and feels threatened. That’s why it’s important to use the tips in this article to keep them away from your bed altogether.
Is it true that we eat spiders in our sleep?
The ‘fact’ that people swallow eight spiders in their sleep each year is thankfully just a myth and not true at all.
In fact, it is highly unlikely that you will ever swallow a spider.
Most spiders that are found in homes don’t have any interest in humans andwan to stay in their webs where they can get food. A spider crawling into your mouth is unlikely because there are no flies or other insects in there for them to eat.
What to do if there is a spider in your room when you are trying to get to sleep
The fact is, as long as you and your bed sheets aren’t attracting insects by being unclean or having food particles around, any spider in your room is unlikely to come onto your bed in the night. That’s because your bed is not where their food source is.
Ignore it
So, although it may be easier said than done, simply ignoring the spider in your room is your best bet.
Use an essential oil spray
If you really can’t stand the idea of the spider being any where near you, use an essential oil like citronella to spray on your bed to make absolutely sure that the spider will stya away while you are sleeping.
Conclusion: How to keep spiders away while sleeping
The best way to keep spiders away while sleeping is to avoid them coming near your bed in the first place.
Spiders attracted by other insects are likely to think of your bed as a good spot to be only if those other insects are present. Keeping your bedding clean and fresh, and food free, is likely to keep spiders away from your bed. Spiders crawl into your bed only when they think there might be food in there for them.
Keeping your room clean and tidy may not be much fun, but it’s the best way to avoid having spiders in your bed.