Does lavender keep spiders away?
Spiders are known to create a mess in and around homes through the webs they weave.
As long as they remain, new webs will be woven until such spiders are gotten rid of. Now, there’s an increasing preference for natural pest control methods.
This has resulted in a use of a lot of remedies.
One such natural remedy is the use of lavender. Will this essential oil do much to fix your spider issue?
Lavender has also been used in its other forms including growing the plant around the yard or using the dried plant. Whatever your preferences are, we’ll be looking at the efficacy of lavender as a spider repellent.
Lavender and its Many Benefits
Over the years, lavender plants have come to be known for a lot of uses. Such uses include health, aromatherapy, pest repellent, and the treatment of skin & hair conditions among others.
As stated above, it can be used in its different forms for pest control. Its extracted oil is one of the most popular forms of usage.
So, can this plant or its oil give you relief from spiders?
This is the pressing question we’re about to find out. As you read on, you should have a fair idea of the extent of use of this essential oil.
In other words, you’ll be finding out shortly if lavender is helpful for spider control or not.
The Need to Avoid Noxious Chemical Pesticides
More often than not, most over-the-counter pest treatments tend to be toxic. Exposure to these noxious insecticide products can be really harmful.
Although come with use instructions to enhance safety, they’re still risky to use, plus they do not offer the convenience you get from natural pest treatments like lavender.
While seeking to get rid of spiders from your surroundings, safety is of primary concern.
You don’t want to be exposed to unhealthy levels of chemical-based insecticide products have could hurt your health and those of your pets.
Spiders and Lavender
Lavender will help repel spiders when applied around infested areas of your home.
This essential oil is known for its pleasing and refreshing aroma. Apart from its soothing effects that help calm moods among other things, you also get relief from spider presence.
Like many pests, these arachnids are overwhelmed by their scent.
While enjoying the pleasant scent of lavender, spiders and other pests are overpowered by it and will get as far away from treated areas.
So, what gives lavender its repellent effect? This is an interesting question we’ll have to answer.
Why Lavender Repels Spiders
You may have wondered what properties of lavender oil produce the repellent effect you see on pests.
The answer is simple; linalool, a non-toxic (to humans and pets) chemical compound contained in lavender oil contributes significantly to its repellent effect.
Due to its pest repellent properties, linalool has been incorporated into many pesticide products. It’s also naturally occurring in other plants such as mint, basil, oregano, and thyme.
However, lavender tends to have a larger concentration of it.
Areas treated with lavender oil become no-go areas for spiders and other pests. Due to this repellent effect, you get to take back control of your space while also enjoying the aroma of lavender.
Comprehensive Treatment Goes Beyond Repelling Spiders with Lavender
When dealing with a spider problem, you need to have a more general outlook on spider behavior.
While the efficacy of lavender oil as a spider repellent is a plus, a more comprehensive approach to treatment will be to also consider spider attractions to your home.
Lavender only provides a repellent effect for a small-time duration until it’s reapplied. To have a more lasting repellent effect, you’ll need to understand what attracts spiders to your home.
Removing or eliminating spider attractions will provide a more lasting effect on lavender treatments.
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Spider Attractions in Homes
Have you ever wondered what the attraction(s) is for spiders in your home? Certainly, they’re drawn by certain factors considered favorable to their existence.
The main attractions are mostly insects which serve as food, warmth, and water.
Other attractions include domestic waste and fruits.
Spiders can also get into your home through second-hand furniture. For such, you might want to be more careful when bringing in second-hand furniture as it could harbor spiders and bed bugs among other possible pests.
Identifying these attractions and addressing them gives you more comprehensive results. Lavender use is still important as it enables you to treat the effects which are mostly the spiders you see around.
Adopting a double-pronged approach to spider treatment (that is using lavender oil and elimination of spider attractions) does a lot to provide the much-needed relief you need.
Methods of Lavender Use As Spider Repellent
Lavender can be used in many ways for spider control. Among the several methods is the use of lavender spray as well as placing soaked cotton balls around infested areas.
Now, this spray can be prepared in a lot of ways with the possible inclusion of other essential oils for more strength.
There are no restrictions whatsoever to what methods you can use in making your spray as long as it will give you results. One of them includes mixing 10 drops of lavender oil with about 16 ounces of water.
This solution should be sprayed directly on spiders.
You can also add some little dish soap (about a drop or two) into this spray for faster action. If you prefer using the cotton ball method, get some cotton balls and soak them with a few drops of lavender.
Have these balls set on the saucer and placed around spider-infested areas.
Will Lavender Treatments Provide Comprehensive Results?
Any pest treatment strategy aims to get comprehensive results.
With lavender, you may have some level of results as it helps with spider treatment. However, it isn’t as effective as calling for professional pest control.
Professional spider control companies provide treatments that last longer.
By now, your questions about the efficacy of lavender treatments for spider problems should be fully answered. This essential oil has been used successfully for treating spiders and other pest issues.
You can do the same by applying it using the methods discussed above.