Getting Rid of Bugs?

[Helanna]

I am severely arachnophobic, to the point where I can't stay in a room if I know or even suspect that a spider's in it. Which makes having a room in the basement a little inconvenient, but they're usually not too much of a problem. So I was horrified last night when a gigantic spider crawled across my room and disappeared before I could find something to kill it with.

I moved upstairs to the couch for the night. I was nicely settled in when something jumped onto my laptop. I rather impressively managed to jump out from underneath a blanket and my laptop, just in time to see another spider scurry across the couch. You can imagine my dismay.

Anyway, the bugs and spiders in my house are driving me absolutely crazy. I've tried everything I could find on Google, even things I suspect are myths, like using lemon Pledge wipes. I recently sprayed the edges of my room with Home Defender Max, and I still keep finding live bugs and spiders (as well as plenty of dead ones, so at least it's working a bit.) I'm tired of being driven out of my room by insects. It's not fun or comfortable and it makes me feel pathetic. Does anyone in the Playground have a method for getting rid of bugs that has worked for them?

Also, I still haven't found that gigantic spider. Any tips for finding it so I can sleep in my room again?

[DraPrime]

Odds are that gigantic spider is probably gone. So, you can sleep safely in there.

edit: Bugs are a part of our world. You can never totally eliminate them from your house. They'll find a way back in eventually. If you have a full on infestation, then you should try to fight them, but if you just see some bugs, then just leave them be, and learn to live with them. Bugs will always be around.

[Froogleyboy]

Call an exterminator

[Perenelle]

Call an exterminator
exterminators would probably solve the problem. and around certain times of the year spiders start showing up more.

[thubby]

if it's starting to get cool out you shouldn't be surprised, they try and migrate in out of the cold.

[Player_Zero]

Clean your room and keep it clean, evicting any spiders currently living there?

[Helanna]

The bitter, bitter irony is that I had just cleaned my entire room, EXCEPT for the area underneath my desk, where I was storing a bunch of random crap. The spider, of course, made a beeline for that pile, and now I can't find it. I know that it's probably gone, or at least not waiting to eat me in my sleep, but I'm just so insanely paranoid about it that it's just easier to sleep elsewhere for a couple of days. Tomorrow I'll completely clean out the rest of my room, and if I really can't find it anywhere, I guess I'll try to accept that it really is gone.


if it's starting to get cool out you shouldn't be surprised, they try and migrate in out of the cold.

You know, I thought about that but it's not even getting that cool out! I have no idea why the bugs have suddenly been attacking my room. Maybe it's just not getting cool enough for *me* to feel . . .

I knew that I'd have to deal with spiders and bugs when I accepted a room in the basement, but I was hoping that some of my defensive measures would work. Obviously, I was mistaken. :smallfrown: The biggest problem I have is that my room was not professionally built, and there are tons of cracks and holes around my walls that I don't know how to seal up. (And yes, I know that even if I did seal them all some spiders would still get in, but at least it would keep some out, including the biggest ones.)

[Thajocoth]

The spiders are keeping the place from getting too many bugs, since spiders eat bugs. Nature's exterminators...

[Cyrion]

What are your walls made out of? Sealing the cracks will definitely help. If you're after a temporary seal that will keep a lot of bugs out, consider toothpaste. It will blend in with many white walls, though you'll have to replace it from time to time.

I don't know that it will work on spiders or other bugs, but I've always found good success getting rid of ants with baking soda. (For the science inclined- ants are mostly formic acid, and baking soda is a base; you literally neutralize the little suckers!) Dissolve a bunch in water in a squirt bottle and hey presto, a wand of least extermination. It's nice because it's safe for pets, kids and not-so-kids and doesn't smell bad. It's slower than things like Raid, but is still pretty effective.

[RS14]

This (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M2_flamethrower) will certainly work.

[Cobra_Ikari]

Fire. Lots of fire.

...what's that? You want to be able to live in your house afterwards?

...oh. v.v

[Krrth]

The bitter, bitter irony is that I had just cleaned my entire room, EXCEPT for the area underneath my desk, where I was storing a bunch of random crap. The spider, of course, made a beeline for that pile, and now I can't find it. I know that it's probably gone, or at least not waiting to eat me in my sleep, but I'm just so insanely paranoid about it that it's just easier to sleep elsewhere for a couple of days. Tomorrow I'll completely clean out the rest of my room, and if I really can't find it anywhere, I guess I'll try to accept that it really is gone.



You know, I thought about that but it's not even getting that cool out! I have no idea why the bugs have suddenly been attacking my room. Maybe it's just not getting cool enough for *me* to feel . . .

I knew that I'd have to deal with spiders and bugs when I accepted a room in the basement, but I was hoping that some of my defensive measures would work. Obviously, I was mistaken. :smallfrown: The biggest problem I have is that my room was not professionally built, and there are tons of cracks and holes around my walls that I don't know how to seal up. (And yes, I know that even if I did seal them all some spiders would still get in, but at least it would keep some out, including the biggest ones.)

Has it been raining a lot lately? That tends to bring the bugs in. At least it does around here.

[Froogleyboy]

Do not shoot at them, I warn you, it will be bad