Use autumn's favourite scent, cinnamon, to deter spiders

Luckily, a common scent associated with autumn is cinnamon, but another benefit of this popular scent is that spiders don’t like it.

With plenty of cinnamon products on the market, you can use them in the best way that suits your home. Adding a few decorative cinnamon sticks to a bowl placed around the house or cinnamon-scented candles could be a great option to help prevent spiders from entering your home this year.

Essential oil sprays like peppermint and eucalyptus can help

Strong-smelling oils like peppermint and eucalyptus can deter spiders from your home. Mix your chosen essential oils with water to create a spray solution which can be used around your home. Be careful with the oil you choose if you have other pets in your home, especially eucalyptus, as it is toxic to cats and dogs.

Other scents like lavender, cedar, rose, and citrus smells can also be considered. Candles and room sprays in these smells could also be used around the home. Spiders are said not to like strong, pungent smells, so these oils tend to discourage spiders from entering the home. Cedar blocks or cubes can be purchased for around the home; if you don’t already have wooden furniture, spiders are deterred by the earthy smell.

Basil and cloves can help deter fruit flies

Basil’s strong and aromatic smell is said to deter the fruit flies. Set a potted basil plant or a bunch in areas where flies may enter your home, for example, near windows or close to your sink, to help deter them from the area.

Cloves are also known to have similar properties when it comes to chasing fruit flies. Add cloves and lemon to a small bowl and leave in the affected area; this solution creates a strong-smelling scent that fruit flies will want to avoid.

The apple cider vinegar and washing-up liquid hack to eliminate flies

One of the main solutions to try is the mix of apple cider vinegar and washing-up liquid. You can purchase apple cider vinegar from most supermarkets for around £3.90.

To create the solution, fill a pot, jar or mug with a mix of the vinegar and a dash of washing-up liquid; make sure the solution fills at least half of your chosen container. The smell attracts the fruit flies to the container and traps them.

You can choose to add a lid with small holes over your container to allow flies in and keep other pets, animals or children away.

Use £1.30 cupboard staple white vinegar for cleaning around the home

Spiders enjoy hiding in the corners and crevices around the home. It’s best to keep up your regular cleaning routine, but use cupboard staple white vinegar to clean surfaces where spiders could enter your home. Areas around windows, doors and other general cleaning areas can be cleaned with white vinegar, but watch for varnished surfaces, as it can damage the surface.

You can purchase ready-made white vinegar solutions from most retailers for around £1.30 or make your own solution by filling a spray bottle with half white vinegar and half water.

Cover food and remove any off fruits and vegetables

Flies tend to go after well-ripened fruit and vegetables; fruit tends to ripen quicker in the hotter weather, which draws the flies in. Bananas tend to be a main cause, but all other produce, like potatoes and onions, can attract them. Sugary drinks and even alcohol can also bring in these flies.

Make sure you are cleaning your kitchen regularly and emptying your bins to help eliminate where fruit flies will lay their eggs, as well as unclogging kitchen sink drains, as this can also be an area they target to leave their larvae.

Also ensure you cover things like left-out pet food from your cats and dogs, as this can also attract flies.

Make sure doors and windows are closed when they can be

An obvious one, but one to remember: if you can and don’t need them open, make sure to close all windows and doors to stop spiders and flies from entering your home.

If they are open, use one of the previous methods above to try and deter them from entering your home, but if windows or doors don’t need to be open when the weather starts to cool, it’s best to keep them shut.