Households urged to spray windows with garlic on Friday

As another heatwave is set to hit the UK, households have been told about the natural ways they can stop common annoyances at home. The Met Office has warned of temperatures above 30C this weekend, getting particularly hot on Sunday, June 21. When the weather gets so hot, households fling open their windows to let fresh air inside, especially at night when temperatures outside cool down.

However, this can lead to a major issue for some households, especially those scared of spiders. There are many entry points around your home where spiders can get in, including cracks and holes in the walls. However, windows remain one of the most common ways for spiders and other insects to get inside. When the weather is warm, and you have opened all of your windows, this is essentially an invitation for these insects to make their way inside your home. But there are simple ways to keep your windows open and prevent bugs.

The recent heat could be causing an uptick in spider sightings in British homes, say spider experts such as Luke Newnes at garden website Hillarys. So, now is the time to get familiar with ways to prevent spiders from entering your home, with Friday being a good time to action them before a scorching weekend for much of the UK.

According to Ageas UK, one of the natural remedies you can use to prevent spiders in your home is garlic. This food item, which many Brits already have in their homes, is not just an excellent way to enrich the flavour of a dish, but a great pest control tool.

The logic is simple: spiders hate strong smells, and garlic is one of the strongest-smelling things you can get your hands on.

Spiders, like other pests such as ants, use their strong sense of smell to navigate the world. Because of this, they will avoid pungent smells such as garlic that will overwhelm that sense and make it hard for them to find their way.

“Put several whole or crushed cloves into a water spray and use it sparingly in corners where you’ve seen spiders,” the experts at Ageas said.

However, this might not work for everyone, as some households might not appreciate the strong smell of garlic in their home. In this case, there are other scents you can use to deter spiders.

These include other strong-smelling foods and plants, such as lemons, limes and essential oils like peppermint and eucalyptus.