I had a pair of full finger gloves sitting it the basement for months, and realized there are cobwebs crossing the ... entrances. I have a huge fear of spiders and even the thought of dead remains inside after a wash freaks me out.

Anyway to perhaps smoke 'em out? Was thinking of putting it over a heater or hairdryer.

...Spiders.....

Wash them.

What is worse than a fear is the reality that a nasty spider may have taken up residence... you do live in an area that could have Black Widows and they like spaces like this.

Feel better ?

If the gloves are machine washable do that... dead spiders can't harm you.

Or you could throw them on the ground and make like Ben Vereen all over them.

Put them on inside out ... to turn them inside out.


Around here, just about anything could have spiders inside ... kleenex boxes, shoes, couch cushions, bedding, jackets ... whatever. Looking around the room right now, I can see 3 of them.

Wash it then put it in the dryer on high. Small spiders are one of the few insects that don't freak me out. I think it's because they kill other nasty insects, I try not to kill spiders, their my friends. Now big hairy tarantulas, I'll scream like a frightened little school girl if I saw them in my house.

....O GOD

Thanks a lot

In the washer it goes I guess.

I'm reminded of a cult classic movie called spiderbaby: https://www.amazon.com/Spider-Baby-Di...pr_product_top

The characters in the movie are more scarier than the spiders, maybe it'll help you get over your fears.

I don't mind spiders either and we don't have any really dangerous varieties this far north... they do a lot of good work and I make it a point not to disturb the gigantic orb weavers and garden spiders that live around my property as they make beautiful webs and catch a lot of bugs.

For as big as these are they are pretty timid creatures... their bodies get as big around as the end of my finger.

And everything that crawls or slithers in Australia seems like it could kill you... funnel web spider anyone ?

Nothing like a hostile little spider that can bite through pretty decent clothing.

Dont forget, they can lurk under your saddle as well. Just though I would share.

microwave unless the gloves have metal.

How about a little trained gecko to go in and eat all the bugs? I'll take spiders over cockroaches anyday.

I don't have spider issues with gloves, but I do have hornets that like to nap in them. I always put my gloves on the ground and step on them a few times to make sure anything in them is dead.

Eh, I'm not sure you'll ever be truly comfortable with them again. Looks like a case of N+1 applying to gloves too. Just toss 'em and buy a new pair. Isn't it fun spending someone else's money?

Well I do have a respect for spiders - I always catch the ones in my house in a clear cd case and put them outside. Half the reason being I hate squishing them. Last I squeezed a nice plump house spider the abdomen literally "POPPED" ... OMG that was the sickest sh*& I ever felt....

Another time I tried catching a strange looking black one on the wall...and it *%*%(ing JUMPED at my face. I swat it to the ground and JUMPED to knee height. Now I know about jumping spiders but rarely in this area.

Well, I can understand phobias. All spiders are obligate predators. They eat primarily insects which makes spiders highly beneficial. By the way, although spiders are arthropods (have an exoskeleton and jointed appendages), they are not insects. They are arachnids. There are only 2 potentially dangerous spiders in the continental US: the black widow and the brown recluse. The black widow's bite is reasonably mild. I understand that it is similar to a wasp sting in severity. The brown recluse's bite is down right scary. It causes necrosis (dying and rotting of the tissue) around the area of the bite. It is not a pretty picture. I do not think you have the brown recluse in San Francisco, so you can relax.

Any spiders you run across in your neck of the woods should be harmless or nearly so. Of course, your phobia gives them a major creep factor over you. Just try to avoid them and not think about them too much (easier said then done).

It is possible for spiders to take refuge in gloves. But I have never ever seen one do it. So just washing the glove or turning it inside out and brushing it off should be an adequate precaution.

Keep the gloves next to your bed at night, and the spiders will crawl out and into your ears and nostrils while you're asleep.
~

Gloves ,like shoes/boots, offer ideal dark homes for spiders and a few other insects. That said, in areas of the country where the Brown Recluse spider lives (a really nasty dangerous spider) gloves and boots are prime places for them to live.

So always bag your gloves when you store them and clean out your boots/shoes with a gloved hand before you put them on.

Brown Recluse spider info........
https://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2061.html

wash them, dry them, turn them inside out and repeat. can't be too careful.

I had those stink bugs in my full winter riding gloves.
Didn't realize it until my hand was in. They're taking
over the country. At least the East coast.

A few of the spiders around the place we lived for my first year here in Australia:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/1430288...7622326021452/

Yikes!
Can you buy cm/inch tape measures in Oz? (In the first pic) Or is that from North of the Border?
Those are very hard to find in the American Heartland.

An amusing read of someone's encounter with a wolf spider:

https://licensedtoblog.wordpress.com/...ider-not-good/

And below is the horror that lunged at my face

I've never had spiders in my gloves, but last year I got my winter boots out only to discover a mouse had filled one with bird seed.

That's one of the things that I didn't like about living in Australia. Spiders and snakes.... All very, very dangerous. Not to mention the mean ass Kangaroos.