How To Fight Silver Fish

Probably all residents in INF 129 know the problem: You come home after a long day, switch the light on and then suddenly you notice some little creatures crawling around: Silver fish. And they appear again and again although you keep hunting them.

If you do some research on them, you'll find out that they don't affect your health at least, but, of course, they are pretty disgusting and embarrassing if you have guests around. I read that they like to bite on your clothes and books, but I have never noticed anything like this.

So you are probably telling yourself: “Alright, if you invade my apartment, I’ll fight back! You guys have no chance against modern chemistry!” But after two years, I have to say: It’s hard, if not impossible, to get rid of them completely. It is actually more surprising that there are buildings without them, since they are experts in staying alive. In this post, I want to share some of knowledge of my warfare against them and want to show you how you  can at least reduce the number of them. I guess with none of the methods, you can get rid of them completely. This would require a more comprehensive approach like improving the wall sealings etc.

Sticky Traps

The first thing you do, is probably to buy one of these sticky traps. Their method is simple: the insects are attracted by some kind of bait, go into the box and then stick to a glue and die. After trying various sorts of these, I have to say, that they are not working at all. You can see even silver fish walking directly next to it without being drawn to the box. There are also traps without the bait and just glue. The principle is that you lay them on spots where you expect them. They are also not working well. The height of the paper the glue is put on is simply too high, so they avoid the trap instinctively.

Insecticide Spray

There are several brands, but they are all probably used the same way: The spray is applied on spots where you think they usually show up. Since they are coming out of gaps in the wall sealings, this is best sprayed there. In the one bed-room apartment these are the ends of the curtain rails, the end of baseboards or close to compressor of the fridge (since there it’s warm). If you did it right, you will find dead silver fish at the spots. The downside of this method is: You spray around an insecticide in your bedroom and living room. This could be more harmful than the insects themselves. Also, you have to apply it regularly to have a constant effect.

During my search I found this spray, which sounds even better: Norax "Silberfisch Sprüh" . It claims to be able to infect silver fish and the infected ones will infect others, so it should be pretty effective. I haven't tried it yet. I don't know how effective this is in a larger building like INF129 or if it is nice to pile up insect cadavers inside your walls. Don't they start to smell at some point :)?

Household Methods

On the internet you can read about some easy household methods:

Wet rag covered with plaster

I have not tried this one so far, but it seems reasonable, since I noticed they are drawn to the rags I use to dry my dishes and the curtains. Before going to bed / switching of your lights, you put the rag on the floor. On the next morning you can shake them out of the rag.

Potato

Leave a cut potato lying on the floor over night. Silver fish love starch and sugar. They will start eating it and you can throw them away the next morning. I also haven't tried this one: Too much effort.

Sugar + Baking Powder/Borax

Mix them 1:1. The sugar acts as a bait, the other ingredient kills them. Put the powder in cracks and gaps of which you think they use as an entry to your home. Sounds like a promising alternative to the spray. Have not tried this one either.

Airing and Temperature Decrease

The easiest and best method so far. Try to keep the temperature as low as possible and air your rooms as often as possible, especially after taking a shower. They like warm and humid conditions, so if you make it more uncomfortable for them, it will be more unlikely that they choose your room and go to your neighbors instead :P

Hope you found this useful. If you have other ideas or tried other methods, feel free to post them here as a comment.