 |
| silverfish insect - Silverfish ! |
They can destroy food, wallpaper, leather and anything else that takes their fancy. So you don't want to have them outstay their welcome in your home for too long before they bankrupt you.
They have been known to eat their way through pretty much anything that could be considered a luxury item. They've even been known to have ate their way through expensive silk clothing and bedsheets.
If you have a book collection and you've noticed someone has taken a bite out of it, you will appreciate how horrible these little creatures can be.
Fumigation won't help shuffle them all off this mortal coil. All it will do is kill a few and beat them back into a retreat. And allow them to regroup and launch a counter-attack by munching their way through your expensive coffee. To get rid of them for good, you're going to have to be a bit smarter than that.
As well as being disgusting little bugs though, they're also the Charles Bronson of the insect world. They are extremely tough and hard to kill. These six-legged-mini-ninjas managed to outlive the destruction of the dinosaurs, so you've got a hard task at hand.
How to get rid of silverfish in your home for good
It may not be the room you have spotted them in, but somewhere your house is damp. They can migrate to other parts of the home, especially when looking for food. So you main weapon, is tracking down these damp areas, and fixing them.
To understand how to get rid of silverfish in your home, you have to understand why they are there. They are there because your house is damp. They love damp conditions, a room with a high humidity is like silverfish heaven to them.
Now, your damp problems could be due to various contributing factors, or it could be just the one, but for some reason your home is damp enough to support them. This could be from boiling water on an oven without an extractor, a leaking pipe, or water getting in from outside. It may even be the build quality of the home itself.
You can also sprinkle Borates around (Boric Acid, Borax Powder) as this will kill them. But to get rid of them long term, you need to dry out your home. Ideally you should use both strategies to be more effective in removing them.
But reducing the humidity of your home is the key to solving your silverfish problem, however you go about doing it.
First of all, you need to track down the source of the damp. Look for obvious signs of damp around the home. It could be peeling or discolored wallpaper, it could be rotten timber. Tracking these sources of damp down is the first step. Running a dehumidifier, or keeping the heating on will kill them over time, but it can be expensive to do so, and there's no guarantee they wont return.
How do you damp proof your home?
If you want to declare all out war on your silverfish infestation though, you can replace any single pane windows, damp-proof the basement and attic, repair the roof, repair any leaking pipes and replace the wallpaper and damp floorboards.
There's no easy answer to this. If your home is of a very old construction, then it's going to be more difficult than newer homes. You could spend many thousands of dollars doing expensive building work, and still never get your home fully damp-proof and silverfish free. So you can only do what you can afford and you may have to compromise.
You will have to prioritize and do what you can afford to do.
Likely, you will find that doing a few of the above, in conjunction with a liberal sprinkling of Borax Powder will get rid of them from your home.
Keeping your home dry by running a dehumidifier and the heating, at least for a little while will help a great deal. And if you are boiling food, be sure to keep the oven hood extractor running. To gauge how successful at reducing the humidity you are, you can use a home humidity monitor to check the levels in each room.
Only when your home is dry, can you be certain that you have successfully learned how to get rid of silverfish in your home
If you want to know if any silverfish have been crawling around your dishes or cutlery at night while you sleep, set up a silverfish trap.
Please refer yourself to our main page to get your hands on a complete guide on silverfish insects and how to get rid of silverfish permanently
