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An annoying thing where I live is when I park too close to the edge of our driveway and spiders make our side mirrors their new home. Because we have a couple of palm trees at the edge of the driveway where a ton of spiders live, if we park too close, then spiders will make their way over and live inside of the side mirror. It’s apparent that they have done this as soon as I get to the car and notice all the spiderwebs all around the side mirror.
The space behind the side mirror is the perfect home for a spider and why they choose to set up shop there. The space between the side mirror and the door also makes a great place to spin a web to catch flying bugs for food. If you’ve ever tried to spray water directly into the space between the side mirror and the side mirror housing before, you’ll find that it’s incredibly difficult to blast the spider out of there.
In order to get rid of the spiders living behind in the side mirrors, you’ll need a little more than just water from a hose. You’ll need something like a spray that will stun the spider in order to lure it out of the side mirror. Spider killer sprays will most certainly do the job, but even if you had a chemical cleaner at home, that might work too. In my case, I used some Windex Glass Cleaner, which did work for me.
If you have power mirrors, you can simply move the mirror all the way pointing towards the car. This will give you the most amount of room to access behind the mirror. If you have manually-controlled side mirrors, you can use something like a plastic trim removal tool to move it by hand.
Spider Killer Spray: Terro Spider Killer Spray / Hot Shot Ant, Roach & Spider Killer
Interior Trim Tools: Tresalto Auto Trim Removal Tool Kit (5pcs)
If you don’t have power mirrors, use something like a trim tool to manually move the mirror in all directions and see if you can find the spider(s) living behind your side mirror. Usually the optimal position is when the mirror is turned so that it faces towards the vehicle. This typically gives you the most access behind the mirror.
Sometimes you might not be able to see anything, which is fine. You just need access so that you can spray the spider killer or equivalent cleaner spray into this area.
Here, I’m using just glass cleaner to spray into this crevice. Spray generously and in all directions inside of this space.
Immediately, this little spider came hobbling out fazed from the glass cleaner. At this time, you can crush the arachnid with a paper towel. After ensuring that there are no other spiders, clean up the rest of the spiderwebs with a paper towel too.
Finally, rinse down the entire area and spray water generously into the side mirror to ensure everything you sprayed has washed away.
I’ve found this simple method to be incredibly effective at getting rid of spiders in the side mirrors. It’s really not necessary to remove the mirror portion off of the side mirror to accomplish this. So with just some chemical spray, a paper towel, and water, you can flush those spiders out with ease.
