Published on November 22nd, 2022
Last updated on February 6th, 2023
Easy Guide On How To Get Rid Of Silverfish Naturally?
No one is safe from the appearance of silverfish in the apartment. You can get rid of them with a thorough cleaning, special traps, and other means. These small insects usually appear when the microclimate is disturbed. They especially like humid conditions. These insects are often called woodlice. But despite their external similarity, they are different.
They can come to your house from neighbors using ventilation shafts and cracks in the walls. And if you do not take steps to eliminate them in time, these parasites can take over all the rooms and settle with you for a long time. Scales, or, as they are also called, silver flies, are a family of wingless insects. The common bug silverfish, moths, and thermobia are the most common insects in the home. Although these insects are safe for humans, they cause substantial damage to things and food supplies. In this review, we will tell you how you can get rid of the scale bug at home and what kills silverfish.
What are the Causes of the Silverfish Bug in the House?
The most common causes are changes in the microclimate of the house, but more about that later. Finding the causes of silverfish in the apartment is not always possible. The most common place to find silverfish in an apartment is in the bathroom, shower, toilet, or kitchen. They can live in dark, warm, and secluded places with high humidity. So where do silverfish come from into the apartment? You can see below:
- By using air vents, grooves, utility wiring, cracks around windows, and thresholds.
- By accidentally catching in bags, handbags, or purchased goods.
- By arriving at pet hair after a walk or trip to the cottage.
- By living on houseplants and getting into the house with a new potted flower.
If the silverfish come crawling in on their own, they usually live either in the nearest basement, a neighbor’s house, or outside. In nature, these insects live under fallen leaves, rocks of stone, and cement.
What Attracts Silverfish to Your Home?
They need a special environment and a combination of conditions to live comfortably. For the silverfish, these are:
- Warmth, optimally between 22-27° C or high humidity – from 75% and higher.
- Darkness, secluded places, areas, and crevices where they can hide.
- Water and suitable food. The scales’ diet includes foods rich in carbohydrates, particularly polysaccharides.
In search of food, the silverfish bugs can travel long distances that are relatively large for their body size. Although they try to optimize their movements and reduce their distance if possible.
Are Silverfish Bad and Dangerous to Humans?
Whether silver flies are dangerous to people, things, and objects in the house depends largely on their numbers. The more insects there are, the more dirt they cause and the more often you can see them. In addition, many pests need more food.
So they will damage fabrics, things, and other objects. To prevent the situation from becoming critical, you should start exterminating the silverfish as soon as you notice them. The sooner you start doing this, the easier and faster you will be able to get rid of the insects. But in general, scales:
- Don’t bite.
- Don’t drink blood.
- Don’t carry diseases.
Nevertheless, like other insects, silverfish live in polluted drains, vents, and soil coming in contact with decaying organics. Their bodies, discarded chitinous coatings, and feces can harbor harmful bacteria. They can cause a local allergic skin reaction on contact and lead to gastrointestinal problems if you eat the food the scales eat.
How to Get Rid of Silverfish in the Apartment Naturally?
Combining preventive measures with extermination measures is necessary to get rid of scales completely and permanently. Your pest extermination plan should look as follows:
- Determine where the pests accumulate and live by observing them and inspecting areas with their suitable habitats.
- Change the apartment’s microclimate so it becomes unsuitable for pests – firstly, lower the humidity level.
- Conduct massive extermination of silverfish using selected means and methods.
- Isolate the house from insect infestation as much as possible. You can do it by repairing minor damage to the apartment and making cosmetic or significant repairs.
What exactly are the scales afraid of, what kills silverfish, and what are some practical ways to do this?
- Thorough cleaning
Firstly, give your apartment a general cleaning. Start with the bathroom and toilet. To get rid of the silver flies in the bathroom:
- clear the room of debris and unnecessary items;
- wash all walls, corners, and floors, using chlorinated detergents;
- dry the room with a dehumidifier or heat fan after cleaning.
You can only begin placing traps for silverfish and treating them with poison.
Then you need to clean the kitchen to dispose of silverfish. Your actions should be as follows:
- pay special attention to the cabinet under the sink and the trash can;
- wash them thoroughly with bleach, and leave the cupboard open to dry completely;
- go through all the cereal and wash the kitchen cabinets, stove and refrigerator;
- wipe the floor with disinfectant.
Silverfish exterminating in bookcases and linen cabinets
- open all doors and dry the space with a heat fan or dehumidifier;
- go through all your belongings;
- place books and other items in airtight plastic bags;
- expel the air, close the bags, put them in the freezer and leave them for a few days;
- then take out the bags and carefully go through all the items;
- carefully turn the pages of books and remove dead insects with tweezers or brush them into a prepared container;
- if the books are new and on a hard cover, simply shake them to remove the pests.
Traps
To get rid of silverfish in your apartment or bathroom, prepare bait traps. Unlike chemicals, baits are safe, easy to make, and inexpensive. Let’s look at a few options:
- Wrap a glass beaker (on the outside) with tape and put bait (sugar or crumbs) inside. Insects will crawl into the glass to eat. But they won’t be able to get out because they can’t climb up the slippery glass walls;
- Roll up a damp newspaper, sprinkle it with powdered sugar, and leave it overnight. Such bait will help to attract many insects. In the morning, crumple the paper quickly and gently and throw it away from the house (or burn it). Repeat the procedure twice in a row;
- Purchase special sticky traps at hardware stores.
Natural Products
We recommend using gentle natural-based remedies to eliminate silverfish bugs in the house. After all, they will not be able to damage your health and lead to new diseases. Some of them we will describe below:
| Cedar Oil | It repels but does not kill scales. You can soak cotton pads in the oil and place them where you often see insects. Also, you may prepare a mixture of 500 milliliters of water and 10-15 drops of oil, which you then spray on surfaces. |
| Cinnamon | The smell of cinnamon repels silverfish bugs. Its source is cinnamon sticks, powder, or oil mixed with water in a spray bottle and applied to surfaces where the flakes run. |
| Citrus | Oranges, lemons, and other citrus fruits help repel scales, incredibly when fresh, because the smell is most intense. You can use both the skins and the pulp. Once a week, replace the withered scraps with fresh ones to keep the intensity of the odor going. Also, you can apply lemon juice and water to make a surface treatment spray. |
| Cucumber skins | Its effect scales similarly to citrus, and you can use it in the same way as silverfish poison. |
| Cloves | When fighting scales, cloves like spice are suitable. Place the inflorescence where insects accumulate. Also, you can use cloves as an oil, soaking cotton pads with them or preparing a spray with them. However, the smell of cloves is very concentrated. Before you apply it to anything in the house, make sure you like it. It will be difficult to remove it from surfaces and objects. |
| Laurel leaves | Laurel leaves help deter pests. They are convenient to use in kitchen cabinets. |
| Salt | The body coating of the silverfish bug is relatively thin, so any contact with salt can harm the insect, up to and including fatal. You can scatter salt directly on insects or in places where you often see them. Leave the salt for a week, then pick it up with a vacuum cleaner. Repeat the procedure several times, watching for changes. |
| Diatomite or diatomaceous earth | Diatomite, diatomaceous earth, has the same effect on insects as salt but works faster and more intensely. You should scatter diatomaceous earth in areas where the flakes live. By coming in contact with it, the pests will die from dehydration. Diatomaceous earth works only when it is dry. It is desirable to scatter the powder in places with no strong draft. Otherwise, it will fly around the apartment. |
| Boric acid | You will need boric acid powder and chalk to prepare this remedy. Mix the ingredients in a ratio of 1:4. You should place the resulting mass in places of constant habitats of silverfish, for example, in the bathroom, toilet, kitchen, if necessary, pantry, or basement. After one week, you will need to clean up the remnants of the product and the dead pests. Next, you should prepare the mixture again and re-deploy it in the right places. Ensure that not only adults but also newly hatched larvae disappear. |
What Chemicals Kill Silverfish?
Chemical products are quite good at exterminating silverfish in the bathroom, kitchen, and other rooms. These include various sprays and gels:
- As for insecticide sprays for silverfish, they should be sprayed in the infested room and then covered for several hours. Those places where it is particularly humid are treated longer than others. The instructions will always prescribe the recommended soaking time for the product. Next, you need to well-ventilate the room and repeat the treatment after a week.
- Aerosols are an old tried-and-true remedy that helps against the scale and other house insects. They are used as well as other modern sprays, but as a rule, giving these preparations more time to work is desirable. After treatment, you should leave the apartment for a day and be sure to take your pets with you. According to consumer reviews, this treatment is a very effective product what kills silverfish and often does not require re-treatment.
- Among the best gels for scales is “Gerobug”. You need to apply the gel with small stitches or dotted around the perimeter of the entire room. Leave a slightly larger amount of product near cracks and other hard-to-reach places. Its action lasts for several weeks, so quick results do not have to wait. But at the same time, compared to sprays, it is less toxic and more effective.
Final thoughts
Now you know how to permanently get rid of the silverfish bugs in the apartment or house. We have shared a lot of ways to eliminate these insects’ problems. So we hope they are useful and, most importantly, will help you. We wish you good luck!
FAQ
How to prevent silverfish in the house?
The best way to get rid of insects is to keep the apartment clean and avoid things what cause silverfish. We also recommend putting all cracks in the house to prevent insects from spreading throughout the apartment.
How can I get rid of silverfish naturally with cleaning products?
Chlorine-based agents can destroy the flakes’ coatings. Use them regularly to clean bathrooms, toilets, plumbing fixtures, and tiles.
What smells don’t silverfish like?
Silverfish do not tolerate strong-smelling spices such as cloves, cinnamon. Put the spices in your cabinets. This is a great way to repel pests, but not get rid of them.
Can twigs of pine needles be used as silverfish poison?
Scales don’t like the smell of any coniferous plants. So you can use bags of fresh spruce, pine needles, and sawdust for rodents to repel them. Spread pine needles, sawdust, or pellets in areas where you often see pests. Change them once a week. But bags with needles can be left for a year.
