A vast majority of people have arachnophobia, the fear of spiders. People who are afraid of spiders want to keep spiders away from their homes as much as possible.
If you are one of those who despise spiders, follow along to know more about if light keeps spiders away and which color repels spiders.
Light to keep spiders away
Spiders prefer living in dark serene places away from their predators and human beings. However, light attracts bugs which is a food source for spiders. So, light does not necessarily repel spiders. Keeping lights off keeps the bugs away, which, in turn, keeps the spiders away from your home.
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Previously, most people assumed that spiders did not pay attention to colors or care about light or color. However, recent research has shown that spiders do respond to specific colors. But they do not predictably react to light.
Since spiders use the element of surprise for hunting prey, they look for hiding places where they cannot be seen and can wait for long hours. So, they keep away from light and stay in gloomy places.
A source of food for spiders is bugs and insects. Although spiders do not like staying in lit places, the bugs flying and crawling close to light sources attract spiders. So, you can start using dark-colored lights to keep these bugs away, which will keep the spiders away from your home.
Additionally, try keeping your outdoor lights off after a reasonable time. If you keep the outdoor lights off, no bugs and insects will crowd around the light source. Hence, no spiders will come looking for food near your home.
Wolf spiders, among the numerous species of spiders, have dichromatic vision, so they only react to ultraviolet and green colors. They are considerably blind to other colors but are very sensitive toward light in the green wavelength.
So, if you have green lights in your house, you are likely to attract wolf spiders to approach your home.
Contrary to spiders moving towards the green light, bugs tend to stay away from a green light. Bugs usually gravitate towards bright lights, such as yellow, orange, and white. Therefore, green attracts spiders, but it pushes away their food source.
Spiders dislike blue light. As a result, light blue repels spiders and wasps. Therefore, if you paint your porches light blue, it will be very effective in keeping spiders away from your home, and spiders will not enter your home.
How effective are lights in deterring spiders?
Spiders do not feel deterred by any type of light in general. Specific colors of light will attract different kinds of spiders. For example, a blue light will attract orb weavers, white and yellow lights will attract jumping spiders, and green lights will attract wolf spiders.
Therefore, lights are not effective in deterring spiders. Keeping outdoor lights and certain indoor lights off for some time can help reduce the number of spiders approaching your home.
Fewer light sources will attract fewer critters, so hungry spiders are less likely to crawl toward your home if they do not find a source of food.
Additionally, you may see spiders weaving webs near light sources. If you have LED lights in your home, you will find several spiders hanging in webs waiting to catch their prey.
Usually, flies and other small insects fly around the light and fall into the trap of spider webs, making it an ideal place to set web traps.
What color light keeps spiders away?
Although lights are not effective at keeping spiders away, there are specific color lights that can help in repelling spiders. If you want, you can use these color lights to keep your home free of spiders.
Dark-colored lights:
Even though dark-colored lights will not necessarily push away spiders, they will keep the insects and bugs away. Consequently, spiders will no longer be able to find sufficient food as there will be very few insects to consume.
So, they will feel forced to move out of your home and go someplace else. However, dark-colored lights may cause issues because your visibility will decrease.
Therefore, turn on dark-colored lights only after you have completed all your work and no longer need bright lights.
Light blue lights:
Spiders tend to avoid light blue. Homes having light blue porches attract fewer spiders than those with a different color. Research has found that spiders do not like a pale blue.
So, if you can get your hands on some soft blue lights, use them to your advantage. After you have done all your tasks, switch on the lamps and turn off the bright lights.
You will notice the spiders do not feel comfortable staying in this light and will likely move out from your home to another place.
These are the colored lights you should get yourselves if the number of spiders in your home is bothering you. Also, try keeping your outdoor lights off to avoid attracting spiders near your home.
How to keep spiders away with light?
Keeping spiders away from light can be simple if you follow the correct steps. If you want to keep spiders away from your home using light, properly follow the steps below.
Purchase the correct color light and install it:
Since dark-colored lights and light blue lights are effective in repelling spiders, you need any one of these. So, before starting, make sure that you either have a light blue light or a dark-colored light.
To simplify the steps for you, we will refer to using a light blue light. If you have any dark-colored light, for example, a dark red or dark blue light, you can follow the steps without any worries.
After you have obtained any of the lights, install the lights in the rooms where you usually keep the lights on at night. Keeping the light on at night is crucial for this technique to work.
Keep the light on at night:
Once you have installed a light blue light in your room, finish all your tasks for the day. After you have completed everything and are fine with turning off the bright lights, turn the light blue light on and turn off the other lights in your home.
Having the light blue light on will make the hiding spiders feel uncomfortable as they despise the color light blue. So, when the shade of light blue hits the surrounding walls, hidden spiders will feel compelled to move to another location away from your home.
In case you have installed a dark-colored light, there will hopefully be no insects or critters around the light source. As a result, spiders looking for food will no longer weave webs nearby the lights and will move away.
Clear any clutters in your home:
Clearing any mess or clutters in your home will make sure the spiders do not have any hiding spots. You must keep your home neat and organized. If your home is messy, it will be ideal for a spider to go into the mess and hide underneath it.
Moreover, clean under and behind your furniture with a vacuum. Using a vacuum will help suck in all the spider webs with the spider and you can dispose of them in a garbage bag outside.
If you follow the above steps correctly, you can effectively rid spiders from your home. You will not have to eliminate them; they will feel enforced to leave your property.
2 ways to deter spiders
If lights are not working effectively in repelling spiders, there are other ways to deter spiders too. Some of these ways are:
Use repellents:
Natural repellents such as citrus essential oils and lemons are highly effective in enforcing spiders to leave your property. You can make a lemon spray or lemon essential oils spray at home by using lemon juice or lemon essential oils.
Add some water and pour it into a spray bottle. Then spurt it all over your home, and the spiders will leave soon.
Remove the spider webs:
Spider webs are sticky and often look dirty since dust gets stuck there. Cleaning spider webs will force the spiders to go elsewhere and weave webs.
You can try vacuuming behind and underneath furniture, as those are the usual spots for spiders to thrive. Vacuuming is an excellent way of removing spider webs and spiders.
These are some natural ways you can rid spiders from your home. If you think you are dealing with an infestation, contact pest control.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, lights are not as effective as repellents in fighting off spiders. If you think there are too many spiders in your home, you can use natural methods to rid spiders directly. Using light to deter away spiders will also put you at certain disadvantages.