PLEASE HELP - SILVERFISH INFESTATION

[21dolly]

So sorry but I'm posting for traffic.

I seriously need URGENT help. We recently moved into our new flat a few months ago during the summer. All was well but we've been seeing Silverfish all over the place daily.

Instead of having a boiler we have a huge water tank in a cupboard in the bathroom. This is the hottest room in the flat and because we were also having warm temperatures because of summer, we were seeing Silverfish in the bathroom. I guess that's understandable because it's a warm room and they seem to like warm places.
We'd kill them when we saw them and we also bought a spray that we'd spray around the skirting boards which seemed to work for a few days or so.

The Landlord's agent was quite helpful as they sent round pest control who had a special spray that would last 30 days meaning we wouldn't see them for a while.
Anyway! Within a couple of days I've opened a cupboard in the kitchen to see the biggest Silverfish where the plates are. I've just opened the wardrobe to see another huge one on DDs towel (who is 6 months btw!)

It's just never ending. It's unhygienic and just so annoying to have these little insects everywhere. Can I just add that I didn't know there were different types of Silverfish and these ones look more like Centipedes, it's disgusting! We've tried so many things but if anyone has any tips to get rid of them, please comment below. I'm at my wits end😂

Omg keep getting pest control back constantly thats disgusting. I would also start looking to move.

Silverfish like humidity so if you can borrow a dehumidifier that may help!

It's so disgusting right😭
I thought I was overreacting because I hate insects as it is but seeing these nasty bugs in the kitchen and bedroom has just been the icing on the cake! I'm going to keep on at the Agent because they have to sort this out, it's so bad especially as we have a young baby ffs

There is an electronic gizmo you plug in, it emits a sound ( humans can't hear) that gets rid of them. Try Amazon.

Dehumidifier and they hate lavender

It's damp.
They also eat the glue from bookbinding which is why you open a book and the slimy fuckers slop out at you.
I lived on the seafront and nothing got rid of them. I'm further in town now and haven't had one.

I rather like silverfish. They’re pretty chill housemates really!

Are they actually a pest/hazard/whatever?

We had them in our old house. They seemed pretty harmless.

We used these bait traps to great effect. I think they came from Germany, but it is worth the wait in postage, I promise.
www.amazon.co.uk/Aeroxon-Silverfish-Bait-Box-Pack/dp/B076PMMZL8/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=silverfish+bait&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1638543678&sr=8-5

Put them down near the walls anywhere you have seen them run about in numbers.

We started to see an effect within a couple of weeks.

After two lots of them (they last three months I think) we were practically silverfish free, and have stayed so ever since (a year plus ago since we last put them down).

What about a flea bomb? No idea if it would work but I had to set one off in my house recently and it has a whole list of other things on there that it warned it would also kill.

@BarbaraofSeville

Are they actually a pest/hazard/whatever?

We had them in our old house. They seemed pretty harmless.

I don't think they're classed as pests, no. They're just something you get under certain circumstances.

I think they are harmless technically, but I hate them too. I occasionally see one in my bathtub...they come up the drains. My bathtub is proper enamel and they get trapped there. I kill and flush them.

They eat cellulose so will chew through wood, paper, glue, etc. They can lay 60 eggs a day and these are tiny.

I’d call pest control back because the infestation you have is quite serious as they’re living inside wood cupboards and will need a whole house treatment repeated every few months to solve. The LL should pay for it as the infestation was already there when you moved in.

Indorex flea spray. Kills everything and once sprayed lasts ages.

Indorex

We had little things that looked like centipedes last summer - ant powder killed them initially (I panicked and it was all we had!) then I bought a spray from Screwfix for less than a tenner. Seems to have done the trick although they came back this Autumn elsewhere in the house. A few days of killing and removing the ones I could see plus spraying where they came from and we haven't seen them again.
No idea what they are, they don't look like silverfish but the spray says it it for household pests. It's called Ultra Power by Zero In.

Oh OP I completely sympathise. I’ve had silverfish infestations before in Uni accommodation and another flat I’ve lived in the past and I absolutely HATE them. They gross me out so much. I could never get rid of them permanently

Thank you so much for the suggestions, we're literally going to try everything one by one😂 we've seen them less since the summer but I still can't deal with seeing them so often in every room! It's disgusting and why does it look like a centipede?!!! Yuck yuck. Our contract is for 2 years and we moved here in July so can't move anytime soon🙃

Definitely try lavender! A few bunches dotted around should do it.

Am I the only one here who has absolutely not a bloody clue what a silverfish is? 🙈😂

@Meggie2008

Am I the only one here who has absolutely not a bloody clue what a silverfish is? 🙈😂

Google it! It's horrid, I wanted to add a pic but didn't want to make people cringe😂 nothing big or anything but just not the short of shit you want to see crawling up the walls and in the cupboards of your house!

Ours disappeared overnight when I sprinkled diamaceous earth on the ground and stairs where I’d seen them. Means no chemicals but don’t breathe it in

Pest controller here 🙋🏻‍♀️
Ventilation is key! Consider the use of a dehumidifier, don’t dry clothes on the radiator etc, minimise clutter/ dust/ organic matter. Use a crawling insect spray around the edges of the affected rooms, leave it down without hoovering/ mopping- after 7-10 days have a good hoover round and repeat.
They don’t have a ‘nest’ they are a casual wanderer, which is why they can be tricky to get rid of. They don’t cause a problem in terms of health and they are not hygiene related xx

We had them in our old house, horrible looking things! I made a lavender spray solution up with some lavender liquid and water, if I ever saw one I would spray like mad and that would keep them at bay for a while.

They are living in the loft in my house. They come out of tiny little cracks and into the upstairs rooms.

All good advice up thread. Dehumidifier, repeat the bug spray. Clean regularly to get the ones you can see. And fill up any cracks and crevices you see in your walls, cupboards, floors and ceiling. Don't give them a route out.

Is there a window in the bathroom? Can you leave a window open a little to vent the room?

@21dolly

Thank you so much for the suggestions, we're literally going to try everything one by one😂 we've seen them less since the summer but I still can't deal with seeing them so often in every room! It's disgusting and why does it look like a centipede?!!! Yuck yuck. Our contract is for 2 years and we moved here in July so can't move anytime soon🙃

If you only see them "every so often" it's not an infestation.

I normally see one in the bathroom most days. He is a solitary soul.