Each one who has seen these tiny insects rummaging through the collection of your favorite books has only one question – how to kill the insects without extra hassle.
The bugs are considered by scientists one if the oldest on our planet and are believed to inhabit the Earth since very long. In general, these crawlers are absolutely harmless: they are not poisonous or anything else – just the majority of people doesn’t consider silverfish pleasant and don’t fancy having them around.
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How to Kill Silverfish Naturally?
Even if you have never seen a living silverfish in life, you’ll recognize it at once. The bug features outstanding looks: it’s grayish-blue, almost silver, and its whole body is covered with scales. It looks like a tiny silver spot running all over.
The silverfish themselves are not the most pleasant sight as well as results of their activity. That is more, you or, what is worse, some of your guests can find dead bodies of the pests everywhere in your premises, which is not the most pleasant thing as well.
Its whole body is covered with scales.
Quite embarrassing in fact, that is why if you’ve spotted the tiny creatures in your premises – never lose your time and start the battle! Silverfish are also known to attract various spiders, that is why if you let the little guests remain in your home for long, you’ll most probably end up with dealing with spiders as well. Not the best perspective, thus study some of the popular methods used to get rid of the tiny intruders and start controlling the infestation ASAP.
As with the majority of other pests, there are three major ways of forgetting about silverfish. They are repelling the insects or trapping them or finally, making your dwelling less hospitable for the creatures.
The first thing any house owner need to do is to identify the areas where the crawlers flourish. For this you need to check all the rooms and location of your home for humidity: the places featuring humidity more than 75% are most probably stuffed with silverfish. These locations are primarily basements, bathrooms and cracks in the ceilings and floors.
The creatures are nocturnal insects, so the spots in your home where the light never gets in are most sure to become a shelter for these bugs. If you’re not sure about the infestation, check your attic, rooms that are often used and basement first hand. You can always find special signs of having these bugs in your premises, such as: yellowish stains and numerous holes everywhere – on books, wallpaper and other paper items, and even clothing. Also, the creatures shed their skins which you can find everywhere in the places of their lurking.
Block Water and Food
To prevent new guest to come and to make life less comfortable for those who already exist, clean up all your bathrooms and keep your countertops, drains and bathroom walls always dry.
After water you need to deprive the crawlers of food – any food sources should be eliminated.
Keep in mind, that these bugs do not tolerate open spaces, so you need to get rid of all clutter stuffing your rooms and tidy up regularly not to leave any food source for your little guests. Make sure you clean your floors daily, as well as cabinets with books, countertops and tables. Do not let any single crumb be left as it may attract the silverfish as well.
Keep in mind that silverfish is very fond of Newspapers and other paper things.
If you have tons of important papers in your house, try to keep them in plastic containers with good seals so that tiny bugs can’t get in.
Remember: as soon as the bugs find any source of food they will immediately lay eggs and getting rid of them will become a real challenge!
Sticky Traps
If despite all your prevention measures silverfish still appeared in your home, you can always try to use special sticky paper traps for cockroaches that can be bought in any next door supermarket.
How to kill silverfish naturally? Arrange the traps all over your premises, especially next to pipes and drains. The bugs will eventually walk onto it and die. Discard the traps and use it until all the crawling pests are gone.
Jar Traps
In fact, there is nothing simpler than trapping the insects in an ordinary jar. Find an empty jar and clean it thoroughly. Then cover the jar with something dark from its outer part so that the light doesn’t pass through. It’s recommended to use special masking tape, as it features rough surface which is helpful for the bugs as they will be able to climb easily into your trap.
Empty Bank – a simple and effective trap for silverfish.
As soon as the bug is in the jar, it won’t be able to get out as the side are very smooth and slippery and won’t allow doing so. Make sure you’ve put some bait inside your trap to treat the unwelcomed tiny guests: it can be a piece of starchy food (flour or cereals), cotton fabric or a moist shit of paper.
Newspaper Trap
It’s a pretty uncomplicated method which will help you forget about silverfish. Just roll up any old newspaper, its ends should be banded with the help of elastic. Then moisten your trap and just leave it the areas where you spotted the intruders.
Moist and paper are their favorites, thus in the morning you’ll find out that the insects have eaten their way inside the trap and the only thing you need to do now is to throw it away with the bugs inside or just burn it. This should be repeated until you kill all the insects. Make several traps and arrange them in different places, thus you’ll be able to speed the process.
Diatomaceous Earth
The powdery substance can become extremely helpful once you’ve decided to defeat the undesirable intruders in your home. It is just a food-grade, killing everything crawling around. So if you have other insects as well – it will eliminate all of them. What is beneficial, it is absolutely harmless for humans and pets, thus no precaution measures are required while the results are really impressing.
Leave the powder for a night and in the morning just vacuum it with the dead bodies of insects.
To fight infestations just sprinkle some of the earth around, paying special attention to the places silverfish prefer in your rooms. Leave the powder for a night and in the morning just vacuum it with the dead bodies of insects.
Advice: to avoid lungs irritation, it’s recommended to wear a face mask while sprinkling the earth.
Boric Acid
For killing the crawlers sprinkle some of the acid under your bathtub and other places with high moisture level and in the cabinets. Next morning you’ll to observe the first results.
Boric acid – a universal remedy against insects.
Pyrethrin Sprays
Chemical sprays containing pyrethirin will also help you fight the infestation successfully and without any special effort. You just need to spray the substance into all the cracks you can find and along your baseboards, as well as other ways of bugs’ habitual lurking. However, it’s not advices to be used in the kitchen cabinets or next to food sources, as it’s quite toxic for humans as well. Accordingly you need to keep your pets and children away of the places where this spay was applied.
Cedar Shavings
It was proved that silverfish are repelled by the strong smell of the tree, thus it can be successfully applied for fighting silverfish in your premises. Sprinkling some of the substance in the places where the pests dwell will make them go for good. Further, these areas should be vacuumed regularly and the shavings need to be replaces weekly as well.
