Should You Kill Spiders in Your Home?

If the sight of eight-legged creatures leaves you sweating and shaking, you're not alone — the Cleveland Clinic estimates that up to 15% of Americans have arachnophobia, an intense fear of spiders. While many of us prefer killing spiders to having them move into our living spaces, this habit could be bad news for our well-being and the environment. 

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You may never feel completely comfortable getting cozy with an arachnid, but these remarkable creatures can actually be beneficial to humans. Let's explore why you should consider welcoming spiders into your home.

Several common types of spiders tend to live inside people's homes, including cellar spiders, common house spiders and harvestmen (also known as “daddy longlegs"). While some people find the very sight of a spider horrifying, worrying about spider bites is relatively common. 

Fortunately, most spiders found in houses don't bite, and those that do are rarely venomous enough to pose a threat to humans and pets. While brown recluse, sac and widow spiders can be dangerous to humans, they're only present in certain parts of the United States. If you live in an area where venomous spiders sometimes enter homes, it's worth familiarizing yourself with what they look like and where they prefer to hide so you can avoid them.

Even potentially dangerous spiders are rarely aggressive and unlikely to bite humans. Rod Crawford, a spider expert at the Burke Museum in Seattle, has only been bitten three times during his 44-year career working closely with the eight-legged creatures, so the risk to the average homeowner is very low.

Can Spiders Be Beneficial in My Home?

Not only are most house spiders completely harmless, but they can actually be beneficial. Spiders eat various pests commonly found in your home and garden, including: 

• Moths
• Bedbugs
• Kissing bugs
• Mosquitoes
• Grasshoppers
• Beetles
• Mealybugs

Spiders living both inside and outside your home can make your living space healthier and more comfortable. They feast on bugs that destroy outdoor crops and houseplants and keep insects that cause itchy bites under control. Spiders can even protect your clothes by consuming moths before they can nibble holes in fabric. 

Beyond your home, spiders form a vital part of the ecosystem. In addition to keeping insect populations under control, they're an important part of the diets of many birds and other species.

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Should I Kill Spiders in My House?

Don't kill spiders in your home. They provide natural pest control and are almost always harmless. The exception to this rule is if a spider bites you. In this situation, you should capture the spider so health care professionals can identify the species and administer the most appropriate treatment. Seek medical help immediately, even if the bite isn't painful, as some spider bites don't cause symptoms right away.

In an interview with National Geographic, spider expert Jo-Anne Sewlal recommends trapping the spider in a plastic bag or container and placing it in the fridge to make it docile. Alternatively, you can put the spider in the freezer — the cold temperatures will kill it, but a frozen spider is easier to identify than a squished one.

The only other time you should consider killing spiders is if you find one in store-bought fruit or another type of food. Releasing a non-native spider could put local species at risk, so quickly dispatching the stowaway is usually the least harmful option.

How Can I Remove Spiders Without Killing Them?

Killing spiders may be an environmental no-no, but what if you can't stand the thought of them sharing your living quarters? Fortunately, there are things you can do to discourage spiders from entering your home. 

While some house spider species spend their entire lives indoors, you can prevent new ones from wandering inside by installing screens on your windows and filling any cracks in your walls or ceilings. Alternatively, make your own humane spider-repellant spray by mixing a few drops of peppermint oil with water in a spray bottle and spraying the solution liberally over doors and window frames to create a spider-free zone. Some people also find that rubbing citrus peel against surfaces helps keep spiders at bay.

If you find a spider in your living space, place a cup over the critter and slide a piece of cardboard underneath to trap it. You can then relocate the spider outdoors or to another location outside your living quarters, such as your shed or garage. Some stores also sell humane bug catchers that allow you to capture bugs at arm's length without harming them.