I noticed last summer that I got a ton of cobwebs in my barn. I have had this barn for at least 6 years and never had a problem until now. What is the best way to clean them? The ceilings in the breezeway and stalls seem to be the most challenging part at this point.
At my barn we take the handle of a broom and attach one of those fluffy hand-held sweeper things (name is escaping me at the moment) and use them to sweep and get rid of the cobwebs. The broom makes it easy to reach and the fluffer attaches to and grabs the cobwebs.
Or a shop vac, if you don’t want to have to take them off the feather duster by hand …
When empty of course, a leaf blower :yes:
Spiders
So that it’s not an endless battle, how does one rid their barn of the SPIDERS that create the annoying cobwebs?
[QUOTE=GallopHer;3861380]
So that it’s not an endless battle, how does one rid their barn of the SPIDERS that create the annoying cobwebs?[/QUOTE]
You move your barn to the center of town with no trees or foliage around. You stop feeding hay, at least in the barn. Absolutely no straw. No light at night, they attract bugs, and spiders love bugs. No manure in the barn, flies love manure, spiders love flies.
Common guys, help me out! 
There’s gotta be more.
[QUOTE=Diamondindykin;3861085]
I noticed last summer that I got a ton of cobwebs in my barn. I have had this barn for at least 6 years and never had a problem until now. What is the best way to clean them? The ceilings in the breezeway and stalls seem to be the most challenging part at this point.[/QUOTE]
i use a broom
First I move all of my animals out of the barn for a day…I use a power washer, which gets the spiders their webs and tons of dust and dirt. Then after it dries - I go back and spray spider killer by the light fixtures and other areas they love to gather…and I STILL have a huge population back by summer…
You institute an insect (6 legged creature) control plan, whatever that might be. Composting manure or having it removed twice a week, fly predators, an insecticide spray system in the barn, fly spraying horses. There are many choices. You have to find what works for you. The better you repel, prevent, or kill flies, the fewer spiders you have.
Regular broom does the trick.
[QUOTE=monstrpony;3861135]
Or a shop vac, if you don’t want to have to take them off the feather duster by hand …[/QUOTE]
Shop Vac works great. My barn did power wash this past summer when the horses were in turn out. That worked great, too, but you have to strip the stalls first.
I sweep and blow my barn every day and I think that helps to control dust and cobwebs. I keep an old broom around and pick at the cobwebs I can reach when I see them, and then every fall after the bugs are done with, I do a thorough de-cobwebbing the entire barn and loft, with a broom, leaf blower, shop vac and pine sol! I love pine sol. Of course, my barn is small and Im home all day so I have time to pick at stuff all day…like cobwebs and dust.
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Dust is pretty much the reason for cobwebs, unless you see an actual spider web. But the strands of cobwebs that get into the nooks and crannies or hang off beams are usually just an accumulation of dust.
This is probably silly, but I have duct taped two brooms together and wet the ends and get the webs down. I have heard of a device called a “webster” used on RV’s. Too bad you couldn’t get a really long swiffer(sp)?
Karen
I use a broom and stand on a ladder to get the really high-up ones (my indoor has 16’ height at joists).
Usually has to be done at least twice during the warm weather.
As for getting rid of the spiders - Don’t!
Spiders eat flies, lots of flies & other bugs - this is a Good Thing.
And I swear it is not one of the chihuahua-sized spiders that live in my barn forcing me to say this…
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Shop vac with a piece of PVC conduit to reach the high spots. Empty the contents to the chickens. :winkgrin:
We use one of those round duster things on an extension pole to get up into the rafters and ones in the aisle and stalls get blown down when we do the aisles with the leaf blower (before doing water). Not much of a problem with them when we do the blowing daily.
damn double posts…
Round duster thing is called a Webster. We used them all the time in the barn I grew up in.
I use a shop-vac. It works great. When the weather warms up, I’m going at them with a pressure washer too!
