Five easy cleaning tips to banish bugs and spiders from your home

A mum has shared five cleaning hacks she uses to deter spiders from her home – and they’re quick and cheap to try. Chantel Mila has amassed more than 1.5 million followers on her TikTok account @mama_mila, where she regularly posts home tips covering topics such as cleaning, organising, and styling.

In a recent post, Chantel shared a video titled: “5 hacks to keep bugs and spiders away from your home.” Captioning her post, the Melbourne-based mum told viewers: “You’ll never see another spider web in your home with tip 5.”

Chantel explained: “Here are some more tricks to keep bugs and spiders away from your home.” For her first two tips, she recommended using rosemary and lemon to deter creepy crawlies.

She said: “Spiders hate citrus, so place lemon and rosemary in boiling water and allow this fragrance to fill your home, and you can bottle this mix and use it as a surface spray.” In her caption, she added: “It smells great too!”

Expanding on her second tip, Chantel said: “Once cool, you can bottle this mix and use it as a surface spray on doors and windowsills.” She added: “Use discretion if you have pets.”

For her third tip, Chantel recommended using bay leaves. “Place bay leaves in your pantry to keep pantry bugs way,” she suggested. Chantel continued: “Pour boiling water down your drains to prevent fruit flies from entering.”

For her final tip, she added: “Wipe peppermint oil on your ceilings to prevent spiders and spider webs.” Her caption explained: “This one works so well to prevent spiders and spider webs in the corners of your home.”

The video proved popular, gaining more than 200,000 views and 18,000 likes in just a few days. However, commenters pointed out that pet owners should do research before introducing anything new to their home. PDSA warns that most essential oils, including peppermint, are toxic to cats. There can also be risks to other household pets.

If you’ve noticed more spiders in your home lately, spider season could be to blame. Pest UK explains: “As the days shorten and the weather gets colder and wetter, Autumn marks the start of spider season in the UK. It’s at this time of year that spiders are looking for places to shelter and stay warm. That might mean inside your home.”

The experts say: “Strong smells are a natural way to deter spiders from entering your home. Smells such as lemon, lime, oranges, anything with a strong citrus aroma, help repel spiders.

“Also, eucalyptus oil, tea tree oil, or peppermint oil. Vinegar is another strong scent to help repel spiders, but most people aren’t too keen on vinegar lingering around their homes. Rub or spray around window sills and doors with these scents to help prevent spiders from entering.”