I've tried so many times, but there is almost no way to keep spiders from getting into the house. In the summer they go into houses because its cooler. When it starts getting cold out in the fall, they go into houses because its warmer. When they're in the house, they'll find a secluded place to hide their egg sacks, and eventually the egg sacks will hatch and the tiny spiders will scatter all over the house. And that is why it is difficult to keep spiders out...there's always more hiding out somewhere you don't know about. They also manage to get in when you happen to leave the door open for those few seconds, leave the window open, leave the garage door open...they always find a way in. There are 3 places where spiders will most frequently enter the house and hang out: The Attic, the basement, and the garage. If you have a vent in the attic then spiders will get in all the time. As for the basement and garage, most spiders have the ability to make themselves completely prostrate and flatten their bodies to get underneath the door. They also like these places becuase they are usually lacking light...dark and damp is the environment they look for most of the time. So, how do you prevent them from entering or get rid of them? Glue Traps: The same type of traps you use for mice or large bugs usually nab spiders before they can get anywhere. Place them in corners and at the base of a door where they can easily get in. Be aware that spiders aren't always stupid enough to get caught in these traps...more often they'll avoid them. Keep a pest-free home: Much easier said than done, I know. But if you manage to keep your home free of bugs and other small pests, you deprive the spiders of food and they will have to move on. Cut off the food source, and they go away. But they usually don't leave the house...more often they'll just find a darker and more secluded spot that you missed and wait for something to get caught there. Moth Balls: YES. Moth balls DO work on spiders! As an example, I visited a friend in Pennsylvania a while back, and he had an old shed at the back of his property that had a massive spider infestation. We dropped a few moth balls in the middle of a huge nest, and it was like someone rang the evacuation siren. The spiders scattered all over the place, abandoning their webs, climbing over each other and even killing each other to escape. It wa amazing to see about 2 dozen spiders come running out of the shed and scattering into the woods behind the shed. So, if you can stand the overpowering odor of moth balls, drop some in areas that you know they hang out...behind furniture, in the corner of the closet, in the basement, in the attic, inside door jams, in dark corners and in cabinets. Don't overdo it, because the overpowering odor of the moth balls WILL get to you too...use this method sparingly. Inquisitive pets may also decide to snack on moth balls, so be extra careful if you have pets in the house. Pest Bomb: Have a professional extermination company come into the house and bomb it. You'll have to leave for a few days but if you want to make sure that you get rid of all the spiders, then you should do that. Make sure that they get the attic and the basement when they do this because that is usually where the biggest concentration of spiders in a house is. Dusting: Dust often and make sure to get corners and behind furniture. If you frequently perform dusting activities in an area, you don't give spiders the privacy they need to set up a web. Unfortunately there is never any way to completely rid your house of spiders...they will ALWAYS be there somewhere, at all times of the year. Unlike ants and roaches, spiders are solitary creatures that do not share food, hence it renders poison baits useless. Most of the time spiders will avoid those traps, and in the rare case that they don't, you'll only be killing the one spider. There is also no natural predator for them for the most part...except for larger spiders. Most of the time bigger spiders will eliminate smaller ones but you'll still have a pest problem on your hands. The single most effective way to have your house rid completely of spiders would be to bomb it...but this is inconvenient for yourself and your family, and it won't keep them out for good...spiders will come from the surrounding area and invade your home again probably less than a week after you bomb it. Hopefully some of this was helpful...I hate spiders and as hard as I try, I can never get rid of all of them...maybe you'll have more luck! Remember: "Outside Spiders" go into houses all the time. There's no such thing as a 'House Spider'. EVERY spider that lives in a house started somewhere outside, and it either moved into the house or is the offspring of a spider that did so before it. Outside Spiders get into the house all the time...ALL spiders are outside spiders. In the summer months, "outside" spiders go into houses, and in the winter months, many of the "outside" spiders that came in during the summer are either still in the house, or their offspring is running around.

Spiders can be very beneficial. Remember that they go after bugs. But of course, they are unwelcome in most homes. Here are a couple natural remedies that could help somewhat. Victors sells the glue traps and also a natural mint spray. I have personally used the glue traps with some success, especially near the garage doors and along walls and corners, etc. It is non-toxic. These glue traps really work great for me...they catch all kinds of critters. Spiders tend to go into the traps after the bugs. Change them out periodically, because they will fill up. [Moth balls are very toxic. Don't use them ever for anything.] Evidently the mint spray of Victors will "shoo" spiders away, but I haven't tried it. Mint is effective against quite a few critters. Also, I tried something which seems to kill them as they enter the area, like the garage bay doors or patio. I bought a sack of cloves cheap at one of these discount foreign market groceries, got an old blender, added a bit of water and made a "clove smoothy". I strained and squeezed off the fluid through an old T-shirt, leaving just the muddy clove residue. I took the residue and 'plastered' it near the corners and floor of the garage bay doors, etc. I soon started noticing dead spiders. The fluid I use to spray to help drive bugs away from the back porch. Now, actually, I don't know for certain that the cloves paste killed the half dozen or so spiders I noticed around the area. Not having used any other substance (and certainly never chemical pesticides), my evaluation at this point is that the cloves paste did it. A sidenote on cloves: Cloves tends to kill some internal parasites. Everybody has parasites which tend to "flourish" because of the accumulations of chemical and metal toxins in the body. People tend to underestimate the amount of toxic residues which they are absorb and accumulate in the body from the so very, very many products and the environment. Eventually ailments can develop in concert with parasites, and cancer can follow. I mention this because so many chemicals in so many products are considered "safe to use" in our society, yet they tend to predispose people and pets toward all kinds of "common" ailments and cancers. There are so very many natural alternatives and many lives could be happier as a result. "Horse Apples" or hedge apples. This is the fruit of the Bois'd Arc tree, prominently found in the Midwest and south. The fruit is a big "green pimpled" apple about 4-6 inches in diameter. They start to fall to the ground about September. I have been conducting experiments with this fruit. Placing some of these around an area tends to repel spiders. The spiders just seem to vacate after awhile. Other pests are repelled also. Research on these horse apples is being done at an Iowa University currently. Never ever use mothballs for any reason. They are extremely toxic.

They do indeed have a predator above them, get a gekko or three and let them loose in the house. problem is that eventually you will have little gekko poops wherever they wanna leave them, but it shouldnt make your spider infested pig sty all that much worse. In Okinawa we had a gekko, and not a roach or spider in sight.

The hedge apples [or "hedgeballs" in rural MO] work very, very well. We have been using them as long as I can remember to keep the spiders out of our basement. Their only downfall is that they don't last forever, and when they rot they sometimes turn into an icky black substance -- so don't forget to get rid of them when they go bad.

I have the same question, so If you get an answer let me know also. OK

I've got a an electronic spider repeller which is doing wonders. Before this I tried all the other remedies (conkers, etc) and nothing was working! My repeller is great and it's cheap to run. There's some great advice on this site, and you can also buy repellers and spider catchers. http://www.getridofspiders.co.uk/