If you are experiencing an infestation of these pesky little bugs, you may already have found out that exterminating silverfish insects is no easy task – unless you know the right way to do it. There are three essential secrets to successfully removing silverfish from your home for good, but before we go into you have to understand the insect and how it lives.
Silverfish insects are ancient creatures, they have been around on this planet for some 300 million years, so they are born survivors. Some of the reasons they are so hard to get rid of their exceptionally long lifespans for insects; adults can live up to 3 years. They also breed like rabbits for their own adult lives; female silverfish will lay hundreds of eggs through their lives. And they can eat almost anything, from your Cereals to your books and clothes, to your houseplants.
Now, most people rush out to get some silverfish insect poison and lay it all around the house, often successfully killing off dozens of these bugs. But the fact is that unless you take three essential steps before you lay out the poison you will almost always find more silverfish around in a few weeks. Here are the three things to do before the poison:
Step 1: Stop Inviting Them In
You must first try to locate the entrance they are using and seal it up. This might be a crack under a door or window, or perhaps a crack around a pipe, or the hole in your bathroom ventilation system. So many people do not even think of doing this, and yet it makes all the difference. What is the point in killing off the silverfish insects already in your home, but then making no effort to prevent more coming in? But this step is not as important as the next;
Step 2: Remove Their Ideal Living Conditions
Your home is somehow offering silverfish a wonderful place to live, otherwise, they would not be there. They love, they need, moisture and dampness. And they love warm, dark, moist places. So search around your home and try to dry out any excessively damp places, where they are.
It might be the bathroom if you always have a wet floor. Or the damp area in your attic near the boiler. Or depends on your kitchen under some cupboards or the fridge. Search around and do your best to dry out these areas, you can use a dehumidifier to help. And finally, equally importantly;
Step 3: Remove The Food Supply
You want to stop giving your resident silverfish insects a free meal. And if you have an infestation then they definitely have easy access to food. Or they would simply go elsewhere.
It’s certainly worth doing some more in-depth research into what exactly silverfish eat before you take this step, as they eat a wide variety of things, from your Cereals to the glue in the bindings of your books, to your clothes and even house plants.
During this week or two of exemption, you should seal up and make it difficult to access any of these foods and more. Then you can kill the adults and any hidden eggs that hatch will produce silverfish insects that find themselves in an inhospitable environment with no food. And they will either leave or die.
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