Spiders in Bed: How to Keep Spiders Away From Where You Sleep

Finding a spider in your bed ranks among the most unsettling household encounters. While spiders rarely bite sleeping people, the idea of sharing your sleeping space with arachnids keeps many people awake at night. Here is how to make your bed an unappealing destination for spiders.

Why Spiders End Up in Beds

Spiders do not seek out beds specifically. When they end up in your sleeping area, it is typically because:

• They are wandering: Hunting spiders like wolf spiders roam at night and may cross a bed simply because it is in their path.
• Bedding touches the floor: Sheets, blankets, and bed skirts that contact the floor create bridges that spiders can climb.
• The bed touches walls: Spiders walking along walls can transfer directly onto a bed that is positioned against the wall.
• Prey insects are present: If insects are attracted to your bedroom (by lights, food, or moisture), spiders will follow.
• Clutter: Piles of clothing, books, or other items near the bed provide spider habitat.

How to Keep Spiders Out of Your Bed

Physical Barriers

• Pull the bed away from walls by at least 3 to 4 inches on all sides.
• Keep bedding off the floor — tuck in sheets, blankets, and comforters so nothing drapes to the ground.
• Remove bed skirts that create a bridge from floor to bed.
• Place bed legs in smooth containers or apply a band of petroleum jelly around bed legs (spiders cannot grip slippery surfaces).

Bedroom Hygiene

• Keep the bedroom clean and decluttered.
• Vacuum regularly, including under the bed and behind furniture.
• Do not store items under the bed.
• Remove piles of laundry from the bedroom floor.
• Check bedding before getting in, especially if the bed has not been used recently.

Prevention Measures

• Place sticky traps under and around the bed to intercept wandering spiders.
• Apply peppermint oil or other essential oil repellents around the bed legs and nearby entry points.
• Seal cracks around windows, baseboards, and electrical outlets in the bedroom.
• Ensure window screens are intact and tight-fitting.
• Follow general spider prevention tips throughout the home.

What to Do If You Find a Spider in Your Bed

1. Stay calm — the spider is not interested in you.
2. Capture it carefully with a cup and paper if possible, to identify the species.
3. Check the rest of the bedding for additional spiders or egg sacs.
4. Strip the bed and wash bedding in hot water.
5. Vacuum the mattress and bed frame.
6. Inspect surrounding areas for webs and egg sacs.

Should You Be Worried?

In most cases, a spider in your bed is a random, isolated occurrence. The spider was passing through, not setting up camp. Spiders do not typically bite sleeping people, and the vast majority of species you find in a bedroom are completely harmless.

However, if you live in an area with brown recluse spiders, take bed-area spider prevention seriously. Brown recluses can hide in folded bedding left on the floor, and bites most often occur when the spider is trapped against skin. Keeping beds isolated from walls and floors is one of the most important prevention strategies in recluse territory.

Addressing Spider Anxiety at Bedtime

For many people, the fear of spiders in bed affects sleep quality even when actual spider encounters are rare. If spider anxiety is impacting your rest:

• Implement the physical barrier steps above. Knowing your bed is isolated from walls and floors provides genuine peace of mind.
• Check your bedding briefly before getting in — a quick visual scan takes seconds and prevents worry.
• Use sticky traps as a monitoring system. Checking traps regularly and finding them empty confirms that spider activity in your bedroom is minimal.
• Keep your bedroom clean and clutter-free. A tidy room with nowhere for spiders to hide reduces both actual spider presence and the anxiety of imagining hidden spiders.

If fear of spiders significantly disrupts your sleep or daily life, read our guide on spider phobia, which covers professional treatment options that are highly effective.

The Statistics in Your Favor

Consider these reassuring facts:

• Most homes contain fewer than 5 spiders in bedroom areas at any given time, and they are typically hidden in corners or behind furniture, not in your bed.
• Verified cases of spiders biting sleeping people are extremely rare in medical literature.
• The vast majority of spider bites occur when people put on stored clothing or reach into dark spaces — not while sleeping.

For comprehensive spider management, see how to get rid of spiders and our complete guide to spiders.

Expert Insights

Finding spiders in or near the bed is one of the most distressing spider complaints I handle. In 15 years of pest management, I always approach these calls with empathy while providing factual reassurance. The reality is that spiders found on or near beds are almost always there by accident — they are not targeting sleeping people. I once helped a terrified client in Memphis who was finding spiders in her bedsheets. A thorough inspection revealed a gap between the wall and the headboard that spiders were using as a highway. Sealing that gap and moving the bed slightly away from the wall solved the problem completely. — Sarah Mitchell, BCE

Sources and References

• University of California Riverside Spider Research
• National Pest Management Association (NPMA)
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Main Causes

Indoor spiders activity reflects two drivers — a hospitable indoor environment and a sufficient supply of insect prey. Spiders enter through gaps under doors, around windows, utility penetrations, and any opening leading to attics, basements, garages, or crawl spaces. Once inside they settle wherever undisturbed corners, low light, and easy prey access converge. Cooler weather pushes outdoor species inside in late summer and fall as they seek mating sites or shelter. The most important upstream driver is the indoor insect population — homes with active fly, gnat, moth, or other pest activity sustain larger spider populations than homes without prey. Cluttered storage areas, accumulated webbing, and outdoor lighting that draws nocturnal insects all amplify the indoor pressure.

How to Identify

Identification matters because risk and control differ significantly by species. Most household spiders — cellar spiders, common house spiders, jumping spiders, wolf spiders — are harmless and beneficial. Two species in North America warrant caution: the black widow with its shiny black abdomen and red hourglass marking, and the brown recluse with its violin-shaped marking and uniform tan-brown coloring without leg banding. Check webs for shape and structure: tangled cobwebs in corners indicate cellar or common house spiders; funnel-shaped webs near ground level indicate funnel-web species; sheet webs across grass are usually grass spiders. Single sightings without webs are usually transient outdoor species and do not indicate an infestation.

Risk and Severity

Most spiders found in and around North American homes pose no medical risk to humans and provide net benefit by reducing other pest populations. Two species warrant medical caution: the black widow, whose venom can produce systemic symptoms including muscle cramping, abdominal pain, and elevated blood pressure; and the brown recluse, whose bite can produce a slowly developing necrotic lesion in a minority of cases. Bites from either species generally respond well to medical care, and fatalities are extremely rare. The far more common spider-related problem is aesthetic — webs, egg sacs, and visible spiders cause distress without medical significance. Risk concentrates in undisturbed storage areas, garages, basements, and outbuildings.

Solutions and Actions

For most spider species the goal is removing webs and reducing prey rather than chemical treatment. Vacuum or sweep down all visible webs weekly, including egg sacs, in garages, basements, attics, eaves, and exterior corners. Reduce indoor insect populations by maintaining screens, sealing entry points, and addressing any active pest issue — fewer insects means fewer spiders. Apply a residual insecticide barrier to the foundation perimeter, around windows and doors, and in eaves to deter newly arriving spiders. For confirmed black widow or brown recluse populations in storage areas, use professional pest control, wear long sleeves and gloves when handling stored items, and shake out shoes and clothing left in garages or basements. Single sightings indoors without webs are usually transient and need no chemical response.

Prevention

Preventing spiders from reaching beds requires eliminating the structural pathways they use to access sleeping areas. Pull the bed a minimum of 3 to 4 inches from all walls — spiders routinely travel along wall surfaces and transfer directly onto beds that make contact. Keep all bedding tucked so no sheets, blankets, or bed skirts touch the floor, as trailing fabric creates a direct bridge from floor to mattress. Remove clutter from under and around the bed; stored items and clothing piles provide shelter and prey habitat immediately adjacent to sleeping areas. Place sticky traps around the bed legs and along nearby baseboards to intercept wandering spiders before they reach the sleep surface. In brown recluse territory, per UC IPM, an isolated bed with no wall or floor contact and no under-bed storage is the single most effective prevention measure against contact bites. Apply peppermint oil or other essential oil repellents around bed legs as a supplemental deterrent. Inspect bedding left on the floor before use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are there spiders in my bed?

Spiders found in beds are typically there by accident. They may have fallen from the ceiling, climbed up from the floor, or been traveling along the wall and ended up on the bed. They are not attracted to beds or sleeping people specifically. Keeping the bed away from walls and removing bed skirts reduces the likelihood.

Can spiders in my bed bite me while I sleep?

While theoretically possible, spider bites during sleep are extremely rare. Spiders are repelled by the vibrations, heat, and carbon dioxide produced by sleeping humans. Most leave the bed area quickly. The vast majority of skin reactions people attribute to nighttime spider bites are caused by other factors.

How do I keep spiders off my bed?

Move the bed a few inches away from walls, remove bed skirts that touch the floor, keep the area under the bed free of clutter, and avoid storing items under the bed. Place sticky traps around bed legs if you are concerned. These steps make it much harder for spiders to reach the bed.

What should I recheck first for spiders in bed?

Recheck the exact place, timing, and repeated signs connected with spiders in bed before changing your plan. A single sighting or old web can mean something very different from fresh activity in several rooms. Confirm whether insects, clutter, moisture, gaps, or stored items are supporting the issue, then match the response to what you actually found.