Finding dozens (or hundreds) of tiny spiders scattered across a wall or ceiling usually means an egg sac hatched somewhere nearby. A single spider egg sac can release anywhere from a handful to several hundred spiderlings depending on the species, so acting quickly prevents them from dispersing throughout your home. The good news: baby spiders are fragile, and a combination of immediate removal, targeted cleanup, and basic prevention will handle the problem.
Find and Remove the Egg Sac First
Baby spiders don’t appear out of nowhere. There’s an egg sac nearby, and if you only kill the visible spiderlings without removing it, you may end up with another wave. Common house spiders (Parasteatoda tepidariorum) produce teardrop-shaped, papery brown sacs roughly the size of a pinky nail, often tucked into porch corners and garages. Triangulate cobweb spiders, another frequent indoor species, build perfect cottony white spheres and tend to hide them under furniture, behind appliances, and along baseboards.
Check these spots first: ceiling corners, window frames, behind toilets, under furniture, inside closets, in garage rafters, and behind stored boxes. Egg sacs are usually anchored to a surface with silk, so look for small round or teardrop objects attached to walls, ceilings, or the undersides of shelves.
Vacuum Everything Up
A vacuum with a hose attachment is the fastest, most effective tool for this job. Vacuum up every visible spiderling, then target the egg sac itself. Baby spiders are too small and light for most other removal methods, and trying to squish them individually just scatters them further.
What you do after vacuuming matters just as much. If your vacuum uses a bag, remove the bag immediately and place it in an outdoor trash bin. Spiderlings can survive inside a vacuum for a while, and leaving the bag sitting indoors gives them a chance to crawl back out. If you have a bagless vacuum, take the canister outside, empty it into a sealed bag, and wipe the canister clean before bringing it back in.
For spiderlings clustered on a web in a corner, you can also wrap the web around the end of a stick or dowel, collecting spiders and silk together, then dispose of the whole thing outside.
Use a Direct Spray for Stragglers
After vacuuming the bulk of the spiderlings, a spray helps catch any you missed. You have two main options: a simple soap-and-water solution or a store-bought insecticide.
A mix of water and a few drops of dish soap in a spray bottle kills baby spiders on contact. The soap breaks the surface tension of water and coats their bodies, which suffocates them. This works well for small clusters you can see and target directly.
For broader coverage, non-residual insecticide sprays (often containing pyrethrin) kill spiders on contact and work as a space treatment for rooms where spiderlings have spread. Residual sprays, which contain longer-lasting compounds like permethrin, bifenthrin, or deltamethrin, continue killing for days or weeks after application. Apply residual sprays along baseboards, in corners, around window frames, and in other spots where spiders travel. Follow the label directions for indoor use and ventilation.
Essential Oils as a Deterrent
Peppermint oil is the most commonly recommended natural spider repellent, though the scientific evidence behind it is mostly anecdotal. Spiders smell and taste through sensors on their legs, so strongly scented oils may discourage them from crossing treated surfaces.
To make a repellent spray, add about five drops of peppermint oil to a 16-ounce spray bottle of water with a small squirt of dish soap, then shake well. Spray it around doors, windows, dark corners, and anywhere you’ve seen spider activity. You’ll need to reapply at least once a week, and possibly every few days if spiders reappear quickly. Other oils that people use for the same purpose include eucalyptus, tea tree, lavender, lemon, and citronella.
Essential oils work better as a follow-up deterrent than as a primary removal method. They won’t eliminate a large batch of spiderlings the way vacuuming or direct spraying will, but they can help discourage new spiders from settling in the same spots.
Seal Entry Points to Stop the Cycle
Spiders get indoors through surprisingly small openings. A gap of just 1/16 of an inch is enough for a spider or insect to squeeze through. Sealing these entry points is the single most effective long-term prevention step.
Start with exterior doors. Lie on the floor and check for light coming through under each door. Install door sweeps or thresholds, and run a bead of caulk along the bottom outside edge and sides of each threshold. Garage doors should have a rubber bottom seal (vinyl cracks in cold weather and stops sealing properly). For sliding glass doors, line the bottom track with foam weatherstripping.
Next, seal utility openings where pipes and wires enter through the foundation or siding: outdoor faucets, electrical outlets, gas meters, dryer vents, cable lines. These are some of the most common entry points for spiders. Use silicone or acrylic latex caulk for small cracks, and expandable foam or copper mesh for larger holes. Caulk around window frames, fascia boards, and any visible cracks in the exterior. Repair torn window and door screens.
Reduce What Attracts Spiders Indoors
Spiders follow their food supply. If your home has gnats, flies, ants, or other small insects, spiders will move in to hunt them. Reducing indoor insects, especially around lights and windows, removes the main reason spiders set up camp inside. Keep outdoor lights off when not needed (or switch to yellow bulbs, which attract fewer insects), and address any moisture issues like leaky pipes or poor bathroom ventilation that draw bugs indoors.
Clutter gives spiders places to hide and build egg sacs undisturbed. Cardboard boxes stacked in garages, storage rooms, and closets are prime real estate. Switching to sealed plastic bins eliminates hiding spots and makes future egg sacs much easier to spot. Move woodpiles, yard debris, and stored items away from the exterior walls of your home, since spiders nesting in those materials often migrate inside.
Sticky traps placed along baseboards and in corners provide a passive, chemical-free way to catch wandering spiders and also give you a sense of how many are still active in the house. Place them out of reach of pets and small children.
What if They’re Venomous
Most baby spiders you find indoors are harmless species. But if you live in an area with brown recluse or black widow populations, it’s worth a closer look before handling anything. Brown recluse spiders are uniformly colored (light beige to dark brown) with no patterns on their legs or abdomen, fine hairs instead of spines on their legs, and a body no longer than 3/8 of an inch. Their most distinctive feature is six eyes arranged in three pairs, though you’d need a magnifying glass to see this on a spiderling.
If you suspect venomous spiders, avoid reaching into dark spaces bare-handed. Shake out shoes, gloves, and clothing that’s been sitting on the floor or in storage. Move beds away from walls, remove bed skirts, and clear items stored under beds. Store seasonal gear and rarely used clothing in tightly sealed plastic bags or bins, especially in garages and basements. These precautions matter more than any spray, because most bites happen when someone unknowingly presses against a hiding spider while getting dressed or reaching into a box.
For a confirmed infestation of venomous spiders, professional pest control is a reasonable step. For the common house spiders that produce the vast majority of indoor egg sacs, the vacuum-and-seal approach handles the problem effectively on your own.