Does Alcohol Kill Spiders? How Effective Is It?

Itsy bitsy spider crawled up the water spout. Down came the rain, and washed the spider out. We all LOVE this nursery rhythm and all homeowners hope that there is some magic potion that can flush these creepy crawlers out of our house just like that. So how about using alcohol? Is that a fast and effective way to kill spiders or at least chase them away? Depending on how much alcohol you use, it can kill spiders but it may take quite awhile and may not be an instant kill solution. When came into contact with alcohol, it takes some time for the spider to absorb it, become inebriated and in some cases suffer from alcohol poisoning and death. Read on if you are keen to find out if there is a better way to use the alcohol on spiders and increase its effectiveness to either kill or chase them away.

Does Rubbing Alcohol Keep Spiders Away?

Rubbing alcohol around your house does help to chase spiders away. It acts like a repellent similar to using vinegar or any cleaning agent. You can rub or spray at any potential entrances or windows in your house where you frequently spot spiders. Most of the spiders are carnivores and harmless. They even help you to remove unwelcome pests in your homes like mosquitoes, bed bugs, fleas and cockroaches.

How Long Does It Take For Rubbing Alcohol To Kill A Spider?

Unless the spider is being trapped in an environment with huge amount of alcohol(like a container with a cotton ball soaked in alcohol), it is highly unlikely that the alcohol will kill it. However, when being exposed to alcohol, some behavioral changes may take place especially for orb weaving spiders like the common garden spiders we see. In a high school experiment, spiders that are drunk tend to spin webs more quickly than usual and they often ripped holes in their webs.[Source] Alcohol may affect their ability to hunt for food and indirectly cause their death due to hunger. If you do not have the patience and wants these creepy crawlers dead straight away, here is what you should use instead of alcohol.

What Kills A Spider Instantly?

There are a few ways that you can kill a spider instantly and here are some of them

1. Household Cleaners – Consider using popular household cleaners like windex which you can easily find at home. They are safe for humans but dangerous for pests like spiders and ants
2. Hair Spray – Another common thing you can find. A gentle spray on the spider will kill it fast. Even if it do not die instantly, it will be immobilized and eventually die of starvation.
3. DIY Spray – Mix equal parts of white vinegar and water before spraying directly at the spider. This is one of the most cost effective methods
4. Squash It – Even though this is a guaranteed kill, I will not recommend this if you do not want a mess in your house or you are facing a poisonous spider like the black widow.
5. Spider Traps – If you do not want a sticky mess in your house consider using spider traps. It is safer than sprays with no hazardous materials used and can also help to kill other irritating bugs and insects

Since we are in the topic of killing spiders, let’s also at some other unorthodox methods used by other home owners.

Does Air Freshener Kill Spiders?

Yes, some air freshener like febreze is known to be very effective in killing bugs and spiders. The main reason is because febreze contains alcohol, wax, and common hand soap as ingredients which can cause suffocation to spiders. However, not all air freshener manufacturers use similar ingredients and they are not obliged to disclose everything Research has shown that using air fresheners can cause indoor air pollution by adding potentially hazardous pollutants to the air.[Source] Constant exposure to air freshener are known to cause headaches, respiratory difficulty or cancer to human beings. Some Ingredients like limonene, ethanol, and acetone used in air fresheners, can also be used in pesticides which is why it can be harmful to some pests too.[Source] If you do not have febreze but have air freshener that is lemon or mint scented, it can also act as a deterrent for spiders as they hate those smell.

Does Deodorant Kill Spiders?

It is possible commercial deodorant can kill spiders or other pest like flies and ants. The main reason is they contain chemicals that can be toxic to spiders and even bad to human health in the long run. You most probably will need to spray at them directly and in huge quantities but it will most probably not be as effective as using insecticides and household cleaners. Here is what happen when you use rexona deodorant against a big scary redback spider.

https://youtu.be/n2Jdb_ngWwA

Since we are in a topic about using deodorant, how about using our branded perfume on spiders?

Does Perfume Kill Spiders?

Perfumes can kill spiders because of their alcohol content in them. They may not be as effective as colognes which have about 3–5% perfume oil mixed with 80–90% alcohol with about 5 to 15 percent water in the mix. However, as mentioned above, alcohol does not kill spiders instantly and it can be too expensive to waste your branded perfume on these minibeasts.

Does Sanitizer Kill Spiders?

Similar to perfume and cologne, sanitizer with 60% or more alcohol content will most probably make them drunk but will not kill them instantly. It is just not an effective way to kill spiders compared to other options mentioned above.