How to Get Rid of Spiders in Your Car

If you’re like most of us, you don’t want anything in your car that has more than two legs (okay, four at most). That’s why we totally understand the freak out you had when you saw that hairy, eight-legged spider crawling around your car. Spiders and cars can make a deadly combo, so you’ll want to act quickly to get the crawling arachnids out of your vehicle for good.  

Fortunately, there are some easy ways to do this. In this guide, we’ll tell you how to get rid of spiders in your car and (just as important) how to keep them out for good. By implementing these prevention and execution strategies, you’ll be able to keep your vehicle spider free.

Keep reading to find out more!

Why Spiders Are Attracted to Your Car

In order to get rid of spiders, you’ll first need to understand why they’re there in the first place. This knowledge is key to preventing spiders from using your car as a shelter. Specifically, spiders like your car because it’s:

• Warm

Spiders are more likely to inhabit your car when it’s cold outside and the inside of the vehicle provides warmth and security. This is why you’re likely to find the creepy critters crawling around your air vents or in other places and areas that are warm and safe from predators (except for you, we hope).

• Cluttered

Could your vehicle double as the city garbage truck? If so, you’re at an increased risk of housing spiders. These vermin like to hide among trash and debris, and are just an old fast-food wrapper away from meeting you face to face.

• Not Serviced

You’re more likely to encounter spiders when your car’s dirty under the hood, as well. Having leaves or other debris under the hood is practically an invitation for these unwanted arachnids. To make matters worse, leaves and clutter can bring in other bugs to the inside of your car, as well.

How to Prevent Spiders from Infesting Your Car

Now you know why you saw that huge spider crawling near your air vents. Maybe you feel better, or maybe you don’t, but at least you’ve got a solid starting point to putting the lid on your spider problem. Using this information, let’s go over a few ways that you can prevent spiders from moving into the interior of your car:

• Seal off Entry Points

While it’s impossible to completely block spiders from entering your vehicle, you can make the job much harder by sealing off any extra entryways near your doors and windows. If your car has any gaps between the interior or exterior that simply aren’t supposed to be there, you can seal them off with rubber to keep the critters out. Check your vehicle for any holes of this sort and be sure to verify the integrity of all rubber seals around your vehicle as well. Not only will this help prevent spiders from roosting in your car, but it will also give you better insulation.

• Clean Your Car

We’ve touched on this a bit, but one of the best ways to prevent spiders from coming into your car (and other places, too) is to keep it clean. It may seem like a hassle, but a cleaning every other week could go a long way to getting car spiders out of your vehicle for good. Make sure not to leave food items especially, or loose papers that spiders can hide away in. While you can keep your vehicle clean at home, we recommend going to a car wash at least once a month to be extra sure that spiders and other vermin steer clear of your vehicle. Don’t forget to keep your mirrors clean as well, as this is a popular roosting spot for most spider breeds.

Credit: gailhampshire

Getting Rid of Spiders in Your Car

These strategies are great, but they’re not guaranteed to get existing spiders out of your car’s interior and back into the environment. Knowing this, let’s take a look at some specific ways you can kill off the eight-legged creatures who are hiding in your air vents and behind your side view mirrors:

1. Fumigate

If you’ve cleaned your car inside and out and sealed off any outside entryways, the next step is to actually go after the spiders you see in your vehicle and remove them. One popular way of doing so is fumigation, which will bomb the car with toxic chemicals that make living there impossible for spiders and other bugs. Importantly, these chemicals can make driving unsafe for you, as well, so you’ll have to stay out of your car for a while if you go this route.

If you do decide on a proper fumigation, we recommend going with a pest control company that does this sort of thing for a living. It’s easy to commit a mistake, and you don’t want those toxic fumes going into your air vents. Instead, allow trained professionals to seal off your vehicle for you and fume out the bugs.

2. Use Essential Oils

Another effective way to get rid of spiders in your car is to use a DIY spider or pest repellent such as essential oils. While these oils smell great (and even relaxing) to us, they are major turn offs for spiders and other bugs, who are overwhelmed by their scent. We recommend using oils such as rosemary and peppermint to make your repellent, as all-natural ingredients such as these are safer than fumigation. These DIY concoctions do an amazing job of warding away those freaky arachnids.

The best way to apply these oils is to put them in a spray bottle and spray around your car. Make sure to get behind your side view mirrors, near any vents, under seats, and anywhere else you’ve noticed spiders directly. Not only will this help keep bugs out of your car, but it will also allow you to smell fresh wherever you go.

You can also use eucalyptus leaves in your car to ward off and remove any arachnids. Make sure to spray your eucalyptus mixture in spider-dense areas and in places where the creatures like to hide. These DIY repellents are great at killing spiders hiding in various places inside your car.

3. Use Sticky Traps

Prefer to do things the old-fashioned way? Dump the spray and effectively rid your car of spiders by using standard spider sticky traps in key areas. Make sure to get places under your seats and around any vents or mirrors that spiders could hide or live behind.

Want to avoid the harsh chemicals that come with store-bought items? Consider this homemade concoction: boil down a mixture of water and corn syrup. When the mixture becomes like glue, spread it across thin strips of cardboard and stick it under your car seats and other places as deemed necessary. This will attract spiders and ultimately kill them. Make sure to remove and update your strips from time to time for best results.

4. Break Out the Vacuum

Car spiders like quiet and solitude. Therefore, one of the best ways to drive them out and get rid of them is to break out your vacuum cleaner. If you have a car vacuum, simply sweep over your car regularly to suck up any hiding vermin. Vacuuming is one of the most effective ways to get rid of spiders in your car because it not only takes out those pesky arachnids, but their eggs, as well.

Of course, you’ll have to be careful how you go about it. For starters, you wouldn’t like to get bit (just in case). You also don’t want spiders or their eggs living in your vacuum cleaner. You don’t want to trade one hiding place for another, after all. While your vacuum will likely kill any larger spiders, there’s no guarantee that it will exterminate their eggs. Make sure to get in the hard-to-reach crevices where spiders like to hide.

5. Squash Them (or Not)

Okay—hear us out. We know the last thing you want to do is go spider stomping in your vehicle. Still, spiders are surprisingly swift and nifty, and sometimes all you can do to stop them is go at them the hard way. If you’re squeamish about this sort of thing (or just don’t want spider guts in your vehicle), you can always try to catch them by hand.

Perhaps not the most attractive option, it may be the most humane. Before doing this, you’ll want to be sure what type of spider you are dealing with. If you can determine it’s not poisonous, simply bring a glass jar to your car, bring the spiders out, and put them into the jar swiftly and precisely. You’ll want to wear gloves while doing this for maximum safety (plus, who wants to touch spider legs—yuck). By doing this simple trick, you can keep your car clean of spiders without having to hurt them, a solution both parties should like.

Or you could simply squash them—your car, your rules, after all.

The Bottom Line

No one wants uninvited passengers in their car, especially if they have eight legs. If you’re looking to get rid of spiders in your car, you’ll need to take the proper prevention and extermination methods for both short- and long-term success. In this guide, we went over some of the common reasons why spiders go to your car in the first place, as well as popular prevention and extermination techniques that will keep your car spider-free for the weeks and months to come. Make sure to keep your car clean and to employ these techniques regularly to keep spiders gone for good.