I Never Killed a Spider in 50 Years — Here's How I Kept Them Away

You can get rid of black widows without chemicals — and you don't need a man in a truck four times a year. The truth is, spraying the ones you see never fixes it. A spider's in your corner because your house is feeding her. Starve that out, seal her way in, and she leaves on her own — no poison where your grandkids crawl. Here's the whole cheap way, start to finish. What you'll learn Why the spider was never the problem — and what actually keeps her there The one cleaning spot everybody misses (it's not your counter) How plain glue boards scout out exactly where she's hiding Food-grade diatomaceous earth: what it really kills, and how to use it safe Sealing her out for good — weep holes, gaps, and the woodpile mistake Around $20 and one Saturday vs. $400–$700 a year, forever A word on safety: Buy food-grade diatomaceous earth only — never pool or filter grade, which is a lung hazard. Wear a mask when you apply it. And a black widow bite is real: wash it, cold compress, and see a doctor right away — especially for a child or an older adult. Where this comes from: Black widow identification, bite symptoms, and first aid — Mayo Clinic; Cleveland Clinic Black widows are not aggressive and bite defensively — Healthline Food-grade diatomaceous earth is FDA-classified GRAS; pest-use products carry an EPA registration number — U.S. FDA; U.S. EPA Diatomaceous earth registered for crawling pests — National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) Pest control by sanitation, exclusion, and dust-in-voids over broadcast spraying — Mississippi State Extension; University of Tennessee Extension (PB1303) Treatment cost ranges — 2026 pest-control pricing guides (Angi and others) Gear (the cheap real stuff): Food-grade diatomaceous earth — [link] Flat glue/sticky monitor boards — [link] Caulk / steel wool for sealing — [link] Some links may be affiliate links — costs you nothing extra, helps keep the channel going. I only name what I'd use in my own place. Over on my wife's channel, Alma's Homestead Kitchen, she takes the deep-clean side further — the putting-up, the pantry, the kitchen the old way. Worth a look. Next time: the fella boring perfect round holes in your porch rail, sawdust running down the wall. There's a cheap old way to move him along without killing a single bee — and most folks do the one thing that makes it worse. I'll say his name next time. Tell me below: what's the worst corner in your house — the one you don't like reaching into? The corner that gets talked about most is the one I clear next. #homestead #pestcontrol #oldways