Bleach is a common household cleaner that most people will have in their homes. So, it is no wonder this question comes up a lot, “Does bleach kill spiders?“.
Although it is meant for cleaning surfaces and disinfecting, it can have many uses.
One use is to kill spiders, but it isn’t the most effective way to get rid of a spider in your home and you could be harming yourself because regular bleach and household cleaning products are not registered pesticides.
Before I get into all that, let’s discuss bleach and how it is used to kill spiders.
Does Bleach Kill Spiders?
Yes, bleach does kill spiders. Bleach can be very effective at killing spiders. It is recommended that you have some type of spray bottle with a mixture of bleach and water and best to not try to pour or splash pure bleach all over your house trying to kill a spider.
You need to know a few things before you use spray bleach on a spider though. Let’s discuss whether bleach kills spiders instantly or not – and how much bleach it takes to kill a spider.
Does Bleach Kill Spiders Instantly?
Bleach is very effective at killing spiders instantly. The chemicals in Clorox bleach are very harsh chemicals for a spider to ingest and to have all over their bodies.
It would be no different with humans. Bleach is harsh enough to cause damage to our skin, irritate or damage our lungs, and can also cause irritation or damage to our eyes.
It’s not good for spiders or humans.
How Much Bleach Does It Take to Kill a Spider?
It doesn’t take much bleach to kill a spider. You don’t want to use too much bleach because that would be overkill and potentially harmful.
I get it! You have a spider in your house!
You’re frantic and just want to kill the spider and get rid of it because if you don’t – you won’t be able to sleep at night. You’ll constantly be thinking about the spider and where it is if you don’t kill it and it manages to hide!
It is still best to slow down a little and ensure you don’t end up hurting yourself or your furniture and walls while trying to kill a spider with bleach.
You need a mixture of three parts water and one-part bleach (3:1 water-bleach ratio) to kill a spider with Clorox bleach to ensure no damage to your surfaces or other areas of your home and to minimize potential harm to yourself.
Below are step-by-step instructions on exactly how to kill a spider with bleach.
How to Use Bleach to Kill a Spider (6 Easy Steps)
Use these 6 steps to kill a spider instantly with bleach.
Step 1. Mix Bleach & Water
Mix three parts of water with one part of bleach in a spray bottle. If you are using an ounce of Clorox bleach, you would mix it with three ounces of water.
Some labels may have the ratio of water and bleach written on them for standard mixtures, so check the label first.
You don’t need to overdo it and you should actually measure out the water and bleach instead of doing the “eye” measurement to ensure you don’t mix too much bleach with water.
Step 2. Shake Well
Ensure the mixture is shaken up and mixed really well before attempting to use the water and bleach solution to kill a spider.
If it isn’t mixed well and diluted enough, too much bleach can cause damage to your surfaces and irritation to your eyes, skin, and lungs.
Step 3. Spray From a Distance
When you get ready to spray, you want to keep the bottle approximately 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 cm) away from the surface and the spider.
It can be tempting to spray the whole bottle if you are frantic, but only a few pumps are needed to effectively kill a spider with bleach.
You don’t want to fill your house with fumes from bleach that could cause irritation to you or your loved ones, so only use what is required to kill the spider.
Step 4. Ventilate Your House
After you’ve sprayed bleach in your home to kill a spider, you’ll want to ventilate by opening windows and turning on fans.
You don’t want fumes lingering in your home from the bleach.
Step 5. Remove the Dead Spider
After ventilating, grab the spider with a paper towel or whatever you are comfortable handling it with and dispose of it.
Just make sure you are not touching the bleach with your bare hands, so put on gloves first if you have some readily available.
Step 6. Clean the Area
After disposing of the spider, immediately clean and wipe down the area where you sprayed the bleach.
You’ll want to ensure the bleach is cleaned up because it could cause damage to whatever it was sprayed on if the bleach is allowed to stay on there for a long enough time.
Why & How Does Bleach Kill Spiders?
Bleach is a generic name used for domestic and industrial products that are used for a variety of things like removing colors and stains from fabric.
Bleach also has disinfecting and sterilizing properties that help kill bacteria, mildew, viruses, and more.
Chlorine is active in most bleach products found within our homes, including Clorox bleach. Chlorine is a toxic gas that has corrosive characteristics.
When you kill a spider with bleach, you are spraying toxic chemicals on their bodies and they are ingesting it. The chemicals that touch their bodies will burn them and kill them.
But if the chemicals don’t burn them to death first, the fumes will suffocate them to death.
It is effective in killing spiders because it can kill them in different ways, but it is a horrible death for spiders.
Will Bleach Kill Spider Eggs?
Bleach will also kill spider eggs. The same mixture of bleach and water used to kill a spider can also be used to kill spider eggs effectively.
You must be careful to not spray too much and not spray directly on the spider eggs or your surfaces to minimize potential damage from the chemicals.
The same effects are happening here. The spiderlings are being suffocated to death by the toxic fumes from the bleach if they aren’t disintegrated by the chemicals first.
Does Bleach Keep Spiders Away?
Bleach does not keep spiders away. If you clean your surfaces with bleach, there is no reason to think spiders won’t still be present.
Once the bleach is sprayed and left on a surface for a while, it can end up damaging your surfaces so it is best to not try to repel spiders by spraying bleach everywhere.
Bleach can be effective against spiders when trying to kill them but it isn’t an effective method in repelling them because once it is dried, it is less effective in killing or repelling any insects and could cause damage to whatever it is sprayed on.
Does Clorox Wipes Kill Spiders?
It is possible to kill spiders with Clorox wipes but using Clorox wipes isn’t a very effective method of killing spiders.
You have to basically smother the spider with the wipe and a spider is less likely to stay under a Clorox wipe unless you have it wrapped up in one pretty tight.
If you are going to kill a spider with bleach, spraying the suggested amount in this article based on the steps above is the most effective method with bleach.
Do Clorox Wipes Keep Spiders Away?
As with bleach spray, Clorox wipes do not repel spiders and are not an effective method of keeping spiders away.
Once a surface is wiped down with a Clorox wipe, it will dry rather quickly.
Since spiders use their legs and tend to not drag their bodies across surfaces, bleach sprayed on a surface or wiped on a surface with a Clorox wipe won’t have any effect on spiders because they won’t touch it and absorb it through their bodies.
So using bleach or a Clorox wipe won’t keep spiders away.
5 Types of Spiders That Bleach Will Kill
Aside from many others, below is a list of five spiders that bleach will kill.
- Black Widow – Bleach will kill this dangerous and venomous spider. Black widows are found where moderate rainfall is present. Some can be identified by the mark on their midsection that has an hourglass shape. Others have a few red spots while some have no markings at all.
- Brown Recluse – Bleach does kill brown recluses. Recluses are also venomous and dangerous to humans. Brown recluses are light brown with a dark brown violin shape on their cephalothorax that points back toward the abdomen.
- Daddy Long Legs – Bleach will kill daddy long legs, but daddy long legs are harmless to humans.
- House Spider – Small house spiders are usually reddish-brown in color. House spiders can be killed with bleach, but they are virtually harmless to humans because the venom they possess is only in small amounts and not enough to harm an average-sized human.
- Wolf Spider – Bleach will also kill wolf spiders. However – wolf spiders can sprint very fast – so bleach is not the most effective way since they may be able to move before enough of the spray has affected or incapacitated them.
Why You Shouldn’t Use Bleach to Kill a Spider
Bleach is not a very humane way for a spider to die. When you kill a spider with bleach, you are basically smothering it to death with the chemicals and the fumes from the bleach.
You could also potentially harm yourself or your surface with the chemicals used in the bleach.
I understand that some people have arachnophobia and just want to get rid of the spider as quickly as possible. No judgment, you have to do what you have to do.
But for the rest of us that aren’t afraid of spiders, the best way to get rid of a spider in your home is to catch it in a container with a lid and release the spider back into the wild.
Remember, common house spiders help keep other pests away and although they do have venom for paralyzing their prey, they only carry a small amount – not enough to affect your average human.
If you have had allergic reactions to insect stings or bites in the past – you may be at higher risk – but the rest of us don’t really have anything to worry about.
But again, I understand if you freak out at the sight of a spider and have to kill it right away.
Instead of using bleach to kill a spider, try a product that kills spiders on contact like Raid Max Spider & Scorpion Killer (link goes to Amazon), and stay away from homemade mixtures when possible.
We get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
Recap
If you are trying to kill a spider with bleach, yes it can be effective!
Just remember that killing a spider with bleach can potentially cause damage to your home and even to yourself.
It is best to catch the spider and release it outside if at all possible.
If you must kill a spider with bleach, just be cautious and follow the steps above to be as safe as possible.
If you enjoyed this article and want to read more like it, give our Spiders vs Humans section a try and see what you find interesting!
