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Tuesday 13 October 2026
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TRADE WARNING: SPIDER EGG SACS ARE HATCHING ACROSS EASTERN AUSTRALIA. PEST FIRMS NOW QUOTING 3 TO 4 WEEKS.

Australia has just entered its worst spider hatching window in years, and the next 3 weeks decide whether 400 baby spiders per egg sac stay in your walls or leave for good. Here's the $59 plant-oil barrier a retired council pest controller places in his own home every September

Toowoomba, QLD, 9 October last year. The shelf behind the washing machine. Dot counted 23 egg sacs before she stopped. Photo: AHPR reader

Pest control companies across Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria are already quoting 3 to 4 weeks for a spider treatment.

2 mild winters in a row left more breeding females alive through the cold months than anyone in the trade can remember. Their egg sacs, laid between March and August, are programmed to hatch as soon as daytime temperatures hold above 25 degrees.

In Brisbane that week has arrived. In Sydney and Melbourne it's days away.

We sat down with a man who spent 28 years clearing them for a local council to ask what he does at his own house. His answer costs less than 1 callout. And he says the window closes in a fortnight.

Kate LawsonHome affairs reporter · Brisbane · 9 min read · Updated 13 October 2026
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KEY FACTS

25 °Cthe daytime temperature that triggers mass hatching across eastern Australia
400eggs in a single white-tail spider egg sac. A redback holds 250
6 weeksfrom hatching to breeding age. By December, 3 generations in the same wall
3-4 wksthe current wait for a pest control visit across most of QLD and NSW

It starts with 1 warm week.

Not the heatwave. Before the heatwave. The first week in October when the thermometer on the patio stays above 25 during the day and doesn't drop below 18 at night, and the egg sacs behind your washing machine, inside your wardrobe, under your deck, get the signal they've been waiting for since autumn.

"Every year it's the same fortnight, give or take," says Colin Greer, who spent 28 years as a pest control officer for a southeast Queensland council before he retired in 2023. "The first week above 25, the calls start. By the second week of October I'd have 50 jobs on the board and a month-long wait. And here's the bit nobody understands. By the time you ring me, they've hatched. You're not preventing anything any more. You're evicting a colony. And evicting costs 10 times more than keeping them out."

Colin has been inside more than 5,000 Australian homes with spider problems. He asked us not to name the council. He did agree to show us what he does at his own house every September, and it's nothing he was paid to do for 28 years.

It's 2 bags of peppermint, lemongrass and cedarwood pouches, 8 in total. They cost $89. And he's very clear about when they have to go down.

1 spider in May. Egg sacs on her grandson's windowsill by October

Colin's sister-in-law Dot is 68 and lives in a timber Queenslander in Toowoomba. Last May she found a huntsman on the hallway ceiling. Her husband Bob got the broom and flicked it outside.

"Problem sorted," Dot says. "That's what we thought."

By June she was finding webs every morning. In the laundry. Behind the TV unit. In the corner of the spare room where her grandson Archie, who's 7, sleeps when he stays over.

By August she'd stopped counting.

Then came the morning she rang Colin. Archie had stayed the weekend. She went in to wake him on the Sunday. She pulled back the curtain. There, on the windowsill 30 centimetres from his pillow, were 3 white cotton-ball shapes she'd never seen before.

She didn't know what they were. Colin did.

"Those are egg sacs," he told her on the phone. "And if the ones near the window are getting warm, they're about to hatch. Each one can hold 100 to 400 babies. You need to put the phone down and check the rest of the house."

The windowsill in Archie's room, Toowoomba. 3 egg sacs, each holding up to 400 spiders. Dot didn't know what they were until Colin told her. Photo: AHPR reader

Dot checked every room. Behind the washing machine: 5 egg sacs. Under the bathroom vanity: 3. In the roof cavity, when Bob went up with a torch: he stopped counting at 20.

"I couldn't breathe," Dot says. "I just kept thinking about Archie sleeping in that room. Right next to those things. For 2 nights."

Colin's face, when she told him Archie hadn't seen a single spider all winter, said everything.

"That's the worst thing you can hear in October," he says. "You're not seeing them because they've settled in. They don't need to come out. They've got a nest in your insulation, water from your bathroom, and a pantry in the form of every other insect in the house. You don't see the ones that have set up. You find them in October, when the eggs hatch and the babies scatter."

The worst spider hatching season the trade has ever seen, and the warm weeks haven't even started

Ask anyone who works in pest control across eastern Australia and they'll tell you 3 things happened at once.

The winters stopped killing them. A hard frost used to thin spider populations and stop breeding for 3 months. After 2 of the mildest winters on record across most of Australia, breeding females survived at numbers the trade has never counted (1). In warmer parts of QLD and northern NSW, some species now breed 12 months of the year instead of 8.

The hospitals see it every spring. Around 2,000 people a year are admitted to Australian hospitals after venomous bites and stings, with spider bites among the most common presentations during the warmer months (2). White-tail bites cause burning pain, swelling and skin reactions that can take weeks to heal. Redback bites can cause severe pain, sweating and nausea, especially dangerous for children under 8 and adults over 65 (3).

And nobody is coming. Pest control firms across QLD and NSW are quoting 3 to 4 weeks for spider treatments this October. The average callout for a full house treatment runs between $300 and $600, with ongoing quarterly contracts often exceeding $2,000 a year (4). And the chemicals they use require you to keep children and pets out of the house for 24 to 48 hours after each treatment.

"People think a spider problem is a dirty-house problem," Colin says. "It's not. It's a warm-house problem. Your house is dark and dry and 5 metres from the garden. That's the whole qualification."

Colin Greer, 61, on his own drive. 28 years, 5,000 houses, and a pump sprayer he still keeps on the garage shelf. Photo: AHPR
"It's not a dirty-house problem. It's a warm-house problem. Your house is dark and dry and 5 metres from the garden. That's the whole qualification."Colin Greer, retired council pest control officer

The 6-week clock

What happens after the first warm week, on the trade's own timings. This is why the window is the next 3 weeks, not November.

  1. Week 1Daytime temperatures hold above 25. Egg sacs in walls, wardrobes, the roof cavity and under the deck get the thermal signal. The silk casing softens. Inside, 100 to 400 spiderlings start moving.
  2. Week 2Egg sacs split open. Spiderlings scatter through cracks, vents, skirting gaps and cavity walls. They're 1 to 2 millimetres. You don't see them. But they're in every room the egg sac was near.
  3. Week 4The spiderlings are feeding on small insects and growing fast. Webs appear in new places. Behind furniture, inside shoes, in folded towels.
  4. Week 6The first females reach breeding age. They lay their own egg sacs. Now you have a colony producing new spiders faster than any trap or spray can catch. By December: 3 generations, same wall.

"The whole game is the 2 or 3 weeks before that first warm week," Colin says. "Make the house smell wrong before the eggs hatch and the adults leave, the babies never settle, and the new scouts from outside turn round at the door. Miss that window and you're paying me, or someone like me, to clear a colony in January."

Your home is a 5-star maternity ward for spiders

Most people think they come in for the warmth. Colin says that's half the story.

"Warmth doesn't just shelter them. It switches the breeding on. Outside, a cold snap stops a female laying eggs for weeks. Inside your roof cavity, at a stable 22 degrees, with moisture from the bathroom and prey insects everywhere, she lays an egg sac every 2 to 3 weeks. A white-tail reaches breeding age in 6 weeks. A redback in 8. Do the sums on a piece of paper and you'll stop sleeping."

We did the sums. A single female white-tail that settled in your home last March has, by this October, produced 5 to 8 egg sacs, each containing 100 to 300 eggs. That's up to 2,400 spiders. And her first-generation offspring are now laying their own egg sacs. By Christmas, 1 female has become a colony measured in thousands.

"Your house isn't shelter," Colin says. "It's a 5-star maternity ward. Perfect temperature, unlimited prey, no birds, no wasps, no weather. And the 1 you saw on the hallway ceiling in May? That was the scout."

Why the spray in your cupboard stopped working and traps only make it worse

Here's what Colin watched happen over 28 years, and what the science now confirms.

  • Spider spray. Spiders walk on the tips of their legs. They barely touch surfaces. The pesticide barrier that kills ants and cockroaches is nearly useless on spiders. And spray does absolutely nothing to egg sacs. You can hit an egg sac directly with a full can. The spiders inside still hatch (5).
  • Sticky traps. They catch the 5 that wander across the paper. 500 more hatch every week from egg sacs the traps can't touch.
  • The ultrasonic plug-in. No peer-reviewed study has ever shown ultrasonic devices repel spiders (6). Colin has watched a huntsman sit on the wall 10 centimetres from one.
  • DIY vinegar or peppermint on cotton wool. Evaporates in 48 hours. By day 3 the scent is gone and she's back.
  • Professional pest control. Works temporarily. But at $300 to $600 per treatment, quarterly, forever? And with the chemicals they use around children and pets? Plus, spiders in Queensland have developed resistance to the common pesticides. Colin has seen redbacks walk through a fresh treatment zone (5).

"So what am I supposed to do?" Dot asked him. "Just live with them?"

"No," Colin said. "But get this into your head. You can't spray your way out of an October hatching. They breed faster than you can kill. You need something that makes them want to leave. All of them. At the same time. And never come back."

The laundry cupboard in half the houses Colin visited. Spray the spiders ignore, traps they walk past, a plug-in they stopped noticing on day 1. Photo: AHPR

Why the trade treats a spider bite like a medical event

3 weeks after finding the egg sacs, the worst happened. Archie was staying at Dot's for the school holidays. On the Saturday morning he padded into the kitchen holding his foot.

"Nanna, something bit me. It really stings."

2 red marks above his ankle. The skin already swelling. Hot to the touch.

Archie's foot, the Saturday morning. Dot took this for the GP before driving to the hospital. Photo: AHPR reader

They went straight to Toowoomba Hospital. The doctor: "This looks like a white-tail bite. The swelling and the location are consistent. We'll start treatment and keep an eye on it for infection."

Antihistamines. Pain relief. Wound care. Between the GP referrals, wound care supplies and the pharmacy bills, the total came to over $1,200 out of pocket.

But the specialist's verdict broke Dot: "Mrs McKenna, I'd recommend your grandson doesn't stay overnight until the spider situation is resolved."

"I couldn't have my own grandson stay the night," Dot says. "Because of spiders. Because I waited. Because I thought they'd go away when it got cold. They didn't go away. They bred."

"What kind of nanna," she says, "lets it get to that."

Dot, the morning after the specialist rang. Bob took this. "I didn't know he had," she says. "That's what it did to me." Photo: AHPR reader

The $5,200 quote and the piece of paper that replaced it

Dot rang 3 firms. The first could come in 22 days. The second in 4 weeks. The third came the next day, charged $80 for the inspection, and quoted $5,200 for a full year of quarterly treatments plus exclusion work.

"They're not conning you," Colin told her. "That's what evicting costs. Multiple visits, chemicals, follow-ups, a bloke on a ladder sealing the eaves. That's the price of being late."

Then he did what he says he did for 28 years, off the record, for families who couldn't afford the job. He wrote on a piece of paper what she needed, and told her to have it in the house within the week.

The piece of paper, still on Dot's fridge. Photo: AHPR reader
  • Something that makes them want to leave, so nothing dies in the walls.
  • Something that keeps working for 30 continuous days, because there's more than 1 generation in there.
  • 3 oils together, not 1. Peppermint for the nose. Lemongrass for the legs. Cedarwood for the trails. "The garden-centre sachet is peppermint on its own and it's gone by Tuesday."
  • Pressed into a pouch, not soaked on cotton wool. "If you can smell it across the room on day 1 and can't on day 3, that's cotton wool. You want a solid pouch that lets go slowly."
  • No poison, no chemicals, so the grandson and the dog can be in the house while it works.
  • And it goes down now. "Not after the next egg sac. Every day you wait in October, there's more of them."

"And 1 more thing," he said. "Put 1 under the deck. That's the no. 1 spot for redbacks in Queensland. Dark, dry, undisturbed for months. The spot where Archie plays. Make it smell wrong before she sets up."

What a 28-year spider man puts down at his own house every September

Peppermint. Not the $4 sachet from Bunnings that stops smelling on Tuesday. Pressed pouches.

The product is called Spider Shield, and Colin came across it the way most tradesmen find things, from another tradesman. A younger officer on the council had started leaving them in the houses he'd treated, "to stop the callback." The callback is the industry's dirty secret: you clear the spiders, and 6 weeks later the family rings again, because the scent has faded and the next scout found a way in.

Each pouch releases a concentrated blend of 3 essential oils: peppermint, lemongrass and cedarwood. The makers call the combination TripleSense, and the name is the science.

A spider has chemical receptors on its legs and body that are roughly 1,000 times more sensitive than yours (7). It navigates by scent, finds prey by scent, marks safe territory by scent. Its entire survival depends on those receptors.

Peppermint's menthol overwhelms those receptors completely: in a room that smells of it, the spider can't detect prey, can't detect the trail home, can't tell whether the coast is clear. Its nervous system triggers a hardwired flee response. Not a learned behaviour it can adapt to. A survival reflex coded in its DNA for millions of years.

Lemongrass carries citral and limonene. These disrupt the spider's navigation and hunting system. It loses its ability to sense movement, to locate safe zones, to orient itself along a wall.

Cedarwood jams pheromone communication. Spiders can't mark your home as safe territory. They can't signal egg-laying sites. They can't communicate with other spiders. Your home drops off their map.

Nose. Navigation. Communication. 3 senses. 1 pouch.

The trial behind the blend: time spent in the treated zone dropped to near zero by day 3, and the avoidance was still holding at day 45. Photo: AHPR

And here's why she can't get used to it the way she gets used to the ultrasonic plug-in. Noise is learned. This isn't. All 3 oils work on the same raw nerve that makes your eyes water when you chop an onion. You can't get used to an onion. Neither can she.

"To you it smells like a herb garden for a day or 2, then you stop noticing it," Colin says. "To her it's a wall of fire, and it's still a wall of fire in week 4, because it's pressed into the pouch, not sprayed on. She turns round and goes next door. Which, I grant you, is not great for next door."

It does 1 more thing. Spiders mark every route with pheromone trails that tell the next one "safe house, egg sacs welcome." The pouch doesn't just drive out the ones that are there. For 30 continuous days it wipes out the trail, so the new arrivals in November find nothing that says come in. Your home goes invisible.

Where the 8 pouches go

1 pouch covers roughly 14 square metres, or 1 problem zone. Colin's own house is a 3-bed Queenslander with a shed and a deck. He uses the 2-bag pack (8 pouches, $89) and this is his list, in the order he does it, on a Sunday in the last week of September.

  • Behind the washing machine or fridge. Warm, dark, undisturbed. The no. 1 nesting spot on every house he's ever surveyed.
  • In the master bedroom wardrobe. White-tail spiders hide in folded clothing. 1 pouch on the shelf keeps them out.
  • Under the bathroom vanity. Huntsmans follow moisture. 1 pouch under the sink sends them away.
  • In the shed or garage. Redbacks nest in dark, dry corners. 1 pouch near the workbench. Large shed, use 2.
  • Near the roof cavity or manhole access. Spiders travel through the roof space and enter rooms through ceiling gaps. 1 pouch at the access point blocks the highway.
  • Under the deck. The no. 1 hiding spot for redbacks in Queensland, NSW and Victoria. Dark, dry, undisturbed. The spot where the grandchildren play.

8 pouches. About 15 minutes. They work for 30 continuous days, then you swap them. 2 packs takes an average house, shed and deck to Christmas. 3 sees you to March, when the nights cool below 18 and the breeding slows.

Under Colin's own sink, by the waste pipe. "That gap's the front door. Make the front door smell wrong." Photo: AHPR / C. Greer

The 2-week test in a Toowoomba Queenslander

Colin didn't set a trap at Dot's. He put 1 behind the washer, 1 in the roof cavity, 1 under the bathroom vanity, 1 in Archie's room, 1 in the shed, 1 under the deck, 1 in the laundry and 1 in the master wardrobe, and he told her to note every spider she saw from that night so they'd know.

Day 2: 1 spider in the bathroom. Usually she'd see 5 or 6 across the house. Day 5: zero. Dot checked everywhere, twice. Day 7: for the first time in 6 months, not a single spider anywhere. "I cried, if I'm honest," Dot says. Week 3: Archie came to stay. He checked under the bed. Checked behind the curtains. Then he looked up at Dot and said, "Nanna, the spiders are really gone?" Week 6: still nothing. Dot swapped the pouches. Half-term: the grandchildren stayed 3 nights. March: not a spider all summer, in a Queenslander that had 30+ egg sacs in September.

Dot's own count, every morning with a torch. 6 on day 0. 1 on day 2. Nothing from day 5. Graphic: AHPR

Last week her neighbour knocked. "I hate to ask, but we've had them since August. How did you get rid of yours?" Dot told her. 2 days later, a text: "Ordered 2 packs. Why does nobody tell you about this?"

Why nobody in the trade will tell you this

We put that question to Colin, and he gave the answer a man can only give once he's retired.

"A callout is $300 to $600. The average job is 3 visits. And the good money is the quarterly contract, $40 or $50 a month, for ever, to check bait stations. If I sell you an $89 kit that stops the callback, I've made $89 once. If I sell you exclusion work plus monitoring, that family's worth $8,000 to me over 5 years. The trade knows plant repellents work. There's just no living in them for us."

"I'm not in the trade any more. So I'll say it. Put the pouches down before the first warm week and you'll never need my number."

The cost of Spider Shield against the cost of waiting

What you do this spring
What it costs
What you get
Bunnings spider spray
$15 a can, repeated
Dead on contact, colony untouched, egg sacs unaffected
Sticky traps
$12, and your patience
5 caught, 500 hatching every week
Ultrasonic plug-in
$40 to $60
Day 1 hope, day 3 nothing
Private firm, 3 visits
$300 + $300 + $300, in 4 weeks
Eviction, chemicals, 48 hours out, a callback in 6 weeks
Spider Shield before week 1
$59, today
They go next door instead
WHERE TO GET IT

Direct from the maker: 40% off the first 500 packs

$59$99

4 pouches per bag, 30 days each. 1 bag (4 pouches) at $59. Most families order the 2-bag pack (8 pouches) for $89 because Colin's list has 8 spots. 4 bags (16 pouches) for $159 takes a larger home through to January.

30-day satisfaction guarantee. Dispatched within 24 hours from our AU-partner warehouse. Order today and it's down before the first warm week.

GET SPIDER SHIELD FROM $59Down before the first warm week · 30-day satisfaction guarantee

UPDATE, 16 October 2026: the first weeks above 25 °C are forecast for most of eastern Australia within the next fortnight. Of the launch packs at the current price, 272 are left. When they're gone the discount ends, and any order after the first warm week is an eviction, not a barrier. Orders placed today go out within 24 hours.

You've got 2 choices right now

You close this page

The first warm week arrives. The egg sacs in your walls hatch. By November, spiders in every room. By December, 3 generations breeding at once. The grandchildren's visit cancelled. A pest controller quoting $5,200 with a 4-week wait. Or worse: Archie's story repeats in your house, with your grandchild, and a hospital bill you didn't need.

You put 8 pouches down this weekend

It arrives in 5 to 8 days. 15 minutes on a Sunday: washer, wardrobe, vanity, shed, roof, deck. The first warm week arrives. The egg sacs hatch. The spiderlings hit a wall of fire and scatter next door. No webs. No bites. No callout. You swap them at Christmas, and again in February, and in March you've spent $89 on a summer that would have cost you $5,200 and your sleep.

The questions readers keep asking

I've tried peppermint. It didn't work.

You tried a sachet, or cotton wool with oil on it. Both are peppermint on its own, and both are gone in 48 to 72 hours, which is why she was back on Thursday. Spider Shield is 3 oils, on 3 senses, pressed into a pouch that releases for 30 continuous days. That's Colin's whole checklist, and it's the difference.

Is it safe with the grandchildren and the dog?

It's plant oils pressed into fibre. No poison, no chemicals, no trap, nothing that snaps and nothing that dies. Keep it out of reach like any household product, and the house is safer with it than with a bait station under the sink.

Does it work on redbacks, white-tails and huntsmans?

All of them. A redback's sensory system is every bit as sensitive as a white-tail's, and it's the same 3 receptors. Colin's council work covered every common Australian species.

They're already in. Is it too late?

No. This is the 1 method where nothing has to die, so it works on a colony as well as a scout. Double up: 2 pouches at each problem spot, and take the 2 or 3 pack. Expect the sightings to stop within 3 to 10 days, and keep the pouches fresh for the rest of the summer so the trail stays wiped.

What if it doesn't work for me?

You've got 30 days. If the spiders don't stop, or you simply change your mind, contact customer service for a return. Small return processing fee and return shipping apply.

When does it arrive?

Orders go out within 24 hours and arrive in 5 to 8 business days anywhere in Australia. Order today and it's down before the first warm week. A pest control firm, right now, is 3 to 4 weeks.

Comments (47)

Sorted by most liked
BM

Barry M. · Gold Coast, QLD · 2 days ago

Put 6 down on the Sunday after reading this. We'd had redback egg sacs under the back deck every spring since we moved in. Wednesday: nothing. It's now day 9 and I've checked with a torch like a mad bloke. Nothing. The house smelt of herbs for a day and that was it.

Reply👍 148
DK

Dave K. · Toowoomba, QLD · 2 days ago

Sceptic here. Peppermint oil is the oldest trick in the book and I've had cotton wool balls in the roof that did nothing. Bought 1 pack to prove it wrong. Shed's been spider-free 6 days. I'll eat my words when I've done a month, but I've ordered the 3-pack.

Reply👍 121
CG

Colin G. Featured in article · 1 day ago

Dave, the cotton wool is the giveaway. Smell it on day 3. If you can't, neither can she. That's why yours "did nothing." Pressed is the whole trick.

Reply👍 96
JK

Jeanette K. · Newcastle, NSW · 1 day ago

Our granddaughter refused to stay over because of the huntsmans. We tried everything from Bunnings. Nothing worked. These pouches cleared the house in about 10 days. She stayed last weekend and didn't check under the bed once. Worth every cent.

Reply👍 87
ML

Maureen L. · Bendigo, VIC · 1 day ago

I've been terrified of spiders my whole life. Found white-tails in the linen cupboard and nearly had a heart attack. Ordered these the same night. 5 days later, not a single spider. I keep reordering every month now.

Reply👍 79
CP

Carol P. · Cairns, QLD · 18 hours ago

The car bit is real. Found webs under the bonnet and in the wing mirrors every winter. 2 pouches under the bonnet since Saturday, the rest round the house. Wish I'd known about this last year when I paid $280 for fumigation that wore off in 6 weeks.

Reply👍 64
Sources: (1) Bureau of Meteorology, winter temperature records and mild-season commentary across eastern Australia. (2) Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, hospital admissions for venomous bites and stings. (3) Healthdirect Australia, white-tail and redback spider bite clinical guidance. (4) Choice Australia, pest control pricing survey across major cities. (5) CSIRO and state government pest management advisories, pesticide efficacy and resistance in common Australian spider species. (6) International Journal of Pest Management, review of ultrasonic pest repellent efficacy. (7) Comparative sensory biology, arachnid chemoreception and olfactory receptor sensitivity. Manufacturer specification for Spider Shield.

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THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT AND NOT AN ACTUAL NEWS ARTICLE, BLOG, OR CONSUMER PROTECTION UPDATE

ADVERTISING DISCLOSURE: This website and the products & services referred to on the site are advertising marketplaces. This website is an advertisement and not a news publication. Any photographs of persons used on this site are models. The owner of this site and of the products and services referred to on this site only provides a service where consumers can obtain and compare

THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT AND NOT AN ACTUAL NEWS ARTICLE, BLOG, OR CONSUMER PROTECTION UPDATE

ADVERTISING DISCLOSURE: This website and the products & services referred to on the site are advertising marketplaces. This website is an advertisement and not a news publication. Any photographs of persons used on this site are models. The owner of this site and of the products and services referred to on this site only provides a service where consumers can obtain and compare

This page is a paid advertorial for Spider Shield, and Australian Home & Pest Report is a publication of the advertiser. The account above is a dramatisation based on the experiences of Spider Shield customers and retired pest control professionals; names, places and some details have been changed, and the people quoted are paid contributors who are not affiliated with, employed by or endorsed by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the Bureau of Meteorology, CSIRO, Healthdirect Australia or any local authority. Statistics are quoted from the public sources listed above and were correct at the time of writing. Spider Shield is a plant-oil repellent intended to deter spiders from treated areas; it does not kill spiders, results depend on the size of the infestation, the number of pouches used and the building, and an established infestation may still need professional treatment. Keep out of reach of children and pets and follow the instructions supplied. Customer comments reflect individual experiences and are not a guarantee of results.