I'd take it outside and do a gentle hose rinse on it. Hold the hose in one hand and use your other hand to turn the leaves this way and that way....that will do a good job of cleaning the plant of anything, including dust.

I'm a little perplexed that these critters were in the soil and not on the plant. Are you sure that they were spiders of some sort?

I took the Bay out when I got home last nite, but it was too dark to spray it down. When I went out this morning to look at it there were no spiders or anything else, just a slightly dusty plant that needed a drink. I'm almost certain they weren't spider mites, too big...seemed more like when I've seen spider egg sacks hatch. No spiders to be seen in the room either, so wierd!