social

Getting Rid of Spiders with Moth Balls?

October 12, 2007

I have a problem. I have had a new home built. I noticed spiders inside the home (bunches). I asked the contractor what to do? He told us to put moth balls inside the crawl space under the house and it will make the spiders and mice stay away. I sent the contractor's worker under with a whole box of them to spread around. He used the whole box.

Advertisement

Now we are all about to gag from the fumes/odor. I guess I will go under and try to find all these moth balls. Any advise what to do about the smell. Will this hurt us or make us sick? I was going to call the pest control initially, but I listened to the contractor and used moth balls. Now I have a night mare of a problem Any suggestions?

Answers

By Dean (Guest Post)
October 15, 20070 found this helpful
Best Answer

Using moth balls to deter critters and spiders is a hoax. They remove the moth balls or just go around them. As you have found people and maybe moths are the only ones effected by moth balls. Spiders are here to stay. The way to combat them is to sweep them up and dispose of them or if you have an old vacuum cleaner vacuum them up. This will have to be done periodically as they will return over time.

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
By kimhis (Guest Post)
October 15, 20070 found this helpful
Best Answer

Hello - yes, spiders are ugly things. As to the health effects of mothballs, read the box. Maybe you can put them down now and then and wait a day and pick them back up, so the smell isn't constant. I would just get under the house and remove the mothballs, then spray a spray can of spider repellent/killer. Is there a black plastic barrier covering the dirt?

Advertisement

is there a dehumidifier down there? spiders need water to drink. Go knock on your neighbors' doors and ask what they've found to work. As to removing the smell, remember the old slogan, 'Dilution is the solution to pollution' and ventilate it away, with a heater or blower down there and vents open. That's my best guess. God bless!

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
By Jenna (Guest Post)
October 15, 20070 found this helpful
Best Answer

Spiders don't like chlorine bleach. Periodically, I make a weak solution and spray or wipe down the children's toy shelves in the basement, and the space outside between the windows and screens. And I put a few drops in the dehumidifier bucket. You don't have to smell it for them to be repelled.

I also use plug-in pest controllers with both ultra-sonic and electro-magnetic. Sunbeam didn't work for me and Dual-Control "chirped" which wasn't acceptable. If I can hear it, I return it.

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
By higgy (Guest Post)
June 13, 20081 found this helpful
Best Answer

An ancient way of getting rid of spiders is salt!. Just
buy a large economy size box and sprinkle away.
You will find dead spiders in a few days, as well as any small bugs you might have.

Reply Was this helpful? 1
September 22, 20150 found this helpful
Best Answer

Well the whole box is waaaaay too much. Its actually dangerous as mothballs outgas insecticide. If you have an overpowering smell you MUST get rid of them.

Advertisement

That been said, mothballs are extremely effective in driving the spiders away.

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
June 4, 20180 found this helpful
Best Answer

Bahaha. BS! Mothballs work amazingly for spider repellent. I've had recluse problems that were ONLY cured by using mothballs. Thing is, if YOU smell the mothballs, you're using too much. Fact: mothballs work. I know this by personal experience.

Reply Was this helpful? Yes

Silver Feedback Medal for All Time! 270 Feedbacks
October 15, 20070 found this helpful

Google toxicity of mothballs.
Good answer under the first one, children's heath.
I personally use HEDGE BALLS or HORSE APPLES, the same thing. Ask your produce manager to get them. I am from a tiny town and we get them, so don't take not available.

Advertisement


Clean up the area where spiders are, I used hot water with garden hose in the basement before moving in 1986. Not a problem since. Use the balls every year. They are natural, grow on a tree. My dog leaves them along. I put them on each floor, glass or foil dish. They will dry up eventually.
Children's health site:

Acute Toxicity of moth balls
By Mouth: Highly Toxic
Through Skin: Very Highly Toxic
By Inhaling: Highly Toxic

unclassified carcinogen. Get rid of the moth balls.

Grandma J

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
By amanda (Guest Post)
November 9, 20070 found this helpful

Get rid of those moth balls!

I was diagnosed with leukemia and later tried to trace the benzene that I might have been exposed to. I lived with a relative for a year who used moth balls in her closets to deter roaches? Come to figure that after each steamy shower, I grabbed a towel infused with the smell from the moth balls, rubbed it on my skin.

Advertisement

Yikes, could have been my exposure to benzene? Best thing to do would be to give that same helper a flashlight and a 50 buck tip to go get them out.

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
By (Guest Post)
September 30, 20080 found this helpful

I've used moth balls to get rid of spiders very effectively. A little bit is goes a long way. I lived in a large house, 3500 sq ft, and used 3-4 moth balls in the basement. My current house is 900 sq ft and 2-3 moth balls work. My family put just a couple in the attic to get rid of spiders. Either way you don't smell is and the spiders are gone.

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
By Jen (Guest Post)
October 20, 20080 found this helpful

OMG. We just did the exact same thing. Luckily my husband has a gas mask thingy!

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
September 9, 20150 found this helpful

We live in a wooded area, so spiders, ants, etc. are a big concern....I have used moth balls in all my rooms, and have never had a problem......I just use 1 to 3, depending on how big the area is......

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
Anonymous
November 4, 20151 found this helpful

I've been told dryer sheets help in eliminating spiders and mice??

Reply Was this helpful? 1
January 24, 20171 found this helpful

Moth balls are either naphthalene or para-dichlorobenzene. Neither of these are benzene and their only similarity is that they have a benzene ring in their structure (so do thousands of "natural" chemicals including many essential oils).

Advertisement

Para-dichlorobenze sublimes relatively rapidly. Just wait a few months and they'll be gone with almost no trace. You'll be fine being exposed to it for a few months out of your life--even your kids.

I'd be looking for actual sources of benzene in your life like maybe your job.

Reply Was this helpful? 1
June 4, 20182 found this helpful

You're full of it. You just tried to state that the spiders will remove the moth balls. That's hilarious. Moth balls work....I know this. I used to be infested with brown recluse spiders in several different locations. The only thing that got rid of them was moth balls. In fact the only reason I used mothballs was because the pest control spider guy told me it was the only thing that worked. Before you comment on something you don't know you might want to try it.

Reply Was this helpful? 2
September 25, 20180 found this helpful

I throw about 4 mothballs into my garage and basement a few times a year. Cobwebs are pretty much a thing of the past in both areas. Do not use more than a few. If you can smell them after a day you are using to many. Bugs can smell much better than humans. It does not keep bees away. One under a stove is plenty. Try as few as possible. My friend uses one on both floors of her home and she claims she has no bugs. She is a bit messy so I am surprised.

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
April 11, 20190 found this helpful

There is no benzine in moth balls.

90% of benzine exposure comes from the workplace. These include the rubber industry, oil refineries, chemical plants, shoe manufacturers, and gasoline-related industries. Benzene is also used to make some types of lubricants, dyes, detergents, drugs, and liquid pesticide that can be absorbed through the skin. Other people who may be exposed to benzene at work include steel workers, printers, lab technicians, gas station employees, and firefighters.

Benzine related cancer is accrued over decades of long term exposure, it is not instant.

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
July 31, 20191 found this helpful

Exactly and most reheat viddles in what plastic or did for years unknowingly but come on people where is common sense really going. Be responsible please say it outloud to yourselves be responsible. Don't dump a gallon of them in your kids toy box, that's using common sense. Don't pile them up by fido's dish don't act so scared of the sky falling people I'm not that old and are nations full of sissies and prissies that I'm amazed can feed n cloth themselves. Recap what's that word.

Reply Was this helpful? 1
Anonymous
June 28, 20220 found this helpful

Youre wrong. Mothballs work.

Reply Was this helpful? Yes
Answer this Question
In This Page
Categories
Home and Garden Pest Control SpidersJuly 19, 2022
Pages
More
😎
Summer Ideas!
🐛
Pest Control
🌻
Gardening
Facebook
Pinterest
YouTube
Instagram
Contests!
Newsletters
Ask a Question
Share a Post
Categories
Better LivingBudget & FinanceBusiness and LegalComputersConsumer AdviceCoronavirusCraftsEducationEntertainmentFood and RecipesHealth & BeautyHolidays and PartiesHome and GardenMake Your OwnOrganizingParentingPetsPhotosTravel and RecreationWeddings
Published by ThriftyFun.
Desktop Page | View Mobile
Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Contact Us
Generated 2023-07-05 20:10:07 in 3 secs. ⛅️️
© 1997-2023 by Cumuli, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
https://www.thriftyfun.com/Getting-Rid-of-Spiders-with-Moth-Balls-1.html