Silverfish Pain

richiewyatt

Hello, 

We recently moved house but soon after moving in we started discovering Silverfish, they mainly turned up in the bathroom but we do find them all over the house. We bought some Silverfish spray but they still keep turning up. When researching on the internet everything suggested we have a leak or damp issue, there is no obvious sign of damp or a leak, and we've had floor boards up and everything is bone dry. Where else might they be coming from? Any advice on how I can find and get rid of them would be greatly appreciated. 

Many Thanks
Richie

Cornucopia

Silverfish are relatively harmless, if somewhat concerning.

I understand that they are relatively hard to dispatch, but quite easy to catch, and once caught they can be placed outside.

They feed on paper and wood, amongst other things, so if there is no obvious source of dampness, I'd be looking for those food sources.   

twopenny

I've always understood that they like dry and dusty. As above, book cases, crevices in kitchen cupboards.

Possibily once lived in regular hovering and cleaning will reduce them.

It may be that it's just a brood that's recently hatched and now there's disturbance they will vamoose

If you know the area they emerge from most try some essential oil dripped onto the carpet/floor. Sandlewood, Cedar or Lavender are traditional deterents..........remember Cedar wood boxes for storing things, Lavender bags etc. It's to deter such as this.

https://www.angi.com/articles/how-get-rid-silverfish.htm

Chloe_G

We've always had a quite a few silverfish in our bathrooms. I recently looked at all my old art sketchbooks which had been packed away in stout cardboard boxes - the boxes had silverfish in them and they had chewed the paper - really horrible!

Pammieh

Could not get rid of them out of our kitchen corner for years..used to freak the kids out - harmless or not
We then got a flea infestation from the cats... and used the spray the vet recommended - indorex - around the cracks between floors and skirting boards.
Fleas were gone and we've never had the silverfish back either! 
Best of luck...they are really horrible - hated coming in and turning the light on and they move...(shudders)

Cornucopia

Silverfish - they aren't silver, and they aren't fish.   

I wonder whether it is feasible to hoover them up, if there are a lot of them?

Pammieh

Hmmm but they 'shimmer' (shudders again - and they've been gone 5 years!) and they don't walk or crawl - they look like they are gliding...
You may be able to hoover them? But emptying the bag would be a bit gross! 
It can be just a few though - but they keep coming back again and again and again... And they hide...so they are in view when you turn the light on and then - quickly - glide away!

Cornucopia

They do kind of crawl - just that they can move pretty quickly when they want to.    They have 6 legs and various antennae.    They can climb vertical surfaces, but not smooth glass.

outtatune

Diatomaceous earth is super cheap and should kill them if you can identify the cracks they're appearing from. And because it slowly dehydrates them there's a good chance they'll survive long enough to carry the grains back to their feeding areas and pass them on to the next victim.