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Fight silverfish properly with six tips - this is how it works

2020-09-25T13:12:24.675Z


Silverfish are shy creatures that like to romp around in warm apartments. Six effective tips help to keep the pests away.


Silverfish are shy creatures that like to romp around in warm apartments.

Six effective tips help to keep the pests away.

  • Silverfish

    feel comfortable in a warm environment with high

    humidity

    .

  • Most

    silverfish

    live in apartments and preferably in the

    bathroom

    or

    basement

    .

  • There are effective and easy ways

    to prevent

    silverfish

    in your home.

Offenbach - They are small, disgusting and shy of light:

silver fish

.

They particularly like to be in a warm environment with a high level of

humidity

, especially

bathrooms

, laundry rooms and cellars are among the animals' favorite hiding places.

The silvery shimmering small animals are around one centimeter tall and don't like light.

That's why they like to crawl behind baseboards, loose wallpaper and in cracks from which they emerge as soon as the night begins.

The nocturnal encounter is a shock for humans and silverfish

+

Crime scene bathroom: This is where silver fish especially like to romp (symbol picture)

© Christian Charisius / dpa

What neither humans nor

silverfish

expect, but what many humans have already experienced, is a nocturnal encounter.

Especially in the

bathroom

, when going to the toilet in the evening is a shocking moment.

For both.

The little fish, which are of course not fish but insects, shy away from the light and are startled by sudden lighting.

And people are rarely pleased at the unexpected sight of new roommates.

First things first:

silverfish

are not really dangerous for your health.

In small quantities, they do not transmit diseases, nor do they sting or bite.

However, if the population becomes too large,

silverfish

can

damage wallpaper and, in the worst case, contaminate food.

#Insect facts: The #larvae of the #silverfish (Lepisma saccharina) already look like the adult #animals.

More #facts about #insects: 👉 https://t.co/K07MntkL0D pic.twitter.com/dlcbbwQxWQ

- Insect Respect (@InsectRespect) May 18, 2020

With a few home remedies, silverfish can be effectively controlled

That is why you should

contain

an infestation with

silverfish as

quickly as possible, especially since the animals are always ready to mate and lay around 20 eggs in a few days.

It doesn't help that the little pests eat house dust mites, dead insects and molds.

To

effectively prevent

silverfish

in the home, there are a few simple home remedies that anyone can use.

And once the fish have

arrived

in the

bathroom

or basement, they can be eliminated in no time.

Tip 1: Silver fish love humidity, good ventilation keeps the animals away

Silverfish

love a

humidity

of at least 75 percent.

Moist air tends to accumulate in rooms without windows.

But even

rooms

with

windows

can quickly become too

humid

if they are not ventilated regularly and properly.

The German Pesticide Action Network (PAN) advises

against

permanent ventilation

when the

windows are

tilted

.

Because this is not only a popular power

hog

in

winter

, but also does not ensure the correct exchange of air.

The pest experts at PAN therefore recommend burst ventilation or, even better, cross ventilation.

With

intermittent ventilation

, one window is completely opened for five to ten minutes, with

cross-ventilation

the windows of two opposite rooms for two to five minutes.

As a result, the

room

air

can be exchanged

for fresh

air

in the shortest possible time

, and cross ventilation in particular ensures an effective exchange of moist and dry air.

Cross-ventilation also saves electricity in winter, as the

heaters

do not have to constantly generate new heat.

Tip 2: Laundry should never be dried in a windowless room so that silverfish do not feel too comfortable

The laundry rack is often in a windowless room such as the lumber room.

This is not a good idea as the moisture that escapes from the laundry is dispersed in the air and builds up in windowless rooms.

This is the

only thing that

attracts

silverfish,

so it is advisable to dry your laundry outdoors or in a well-ventilated room or in the hallway.

This also has the positive side effect that the

scent of

drying

laundry

gives off an excellent room air freshener.

#ShowHerYourPets Isn't it cute, my silverfish?

pic.twitter.com/RHU98rf5ui

- The kid (@Lausebengel_) December 19, 2019

Tip 3: The bathroom should always be dried well so as not to attract silverfish

Just after

showering

with wet feet on the

bath mat

, then dry off quickly and get out of the

bathroom

: not a good idea.

Moisture collects

in

floor mats

in particular,

and a damp bath mat is the

silverfish's

best friend

.

It should always be ensured that the

bath mat

remains dry and is replaced if necessary.

This also applies to the

bathrobe

and shower towel.

Both should be dried outdoors or in a well-ventilated room and not just left hanging in the bathroom.

When showering, condensing

water

and water droplets

are also distributed

on the

tiles

, in the

wet room

and on the shower cubicle.

This water should be removed with a squeegee after every shower, otherwise it will continue to evaporate and

humidify

the air in the

bathroom

.

It is not advisable to use shower curtains in windowless

bathrooms

, as water collects in them.

This not only ensures higher

humidity

and a higher probability of

encountering

silverfish

, but in the worst case also for mold infestation.

Bathrooms without windows should be open to the hallway as often as possible so that moist air can escape and fresh, dry air can find its way into the bathroom.

Tip 4: When traveling, leave all doors open in the apartment, otherwise the silver fish greet you when you return home

If you are traveling, you should make sure that all doors in the apartment are open so that the air can circulate as best as possible.

If, on the other hand, the air builds up in closed rooms, it is quite possible that a welcoming committee of

silverfish will be

waiting

when you return home

.

Since the animals multiply rapidly, the negative surprise can be particularly big.

By the way, that's Klaus.

The silverfish that lives in my bathroom.

Klaus is always out of my way.

I saved him from the shower before.

I like my Klaus.

pic.twitter.com/0aQY3VZai7

- Death by Glitter (@Death_byglitter) April 11, 2020

Tip 5: Check wallpapers, joints, cracks and baseboards so that silverfish have no hiding place

Silverfish

are light-shy creatures.

They prefer it dark and hide in daylight behind loose wallpaper, in deep joints, cracks in the wall and behind

baseboards

.

A regular check of these potential hiding places ensures that the little pests cannot settle in too easily.

If such weak points are also regularly vacuumed, the

silverfish will

think twice about

whether they want to remain subtenants.

Tip 6: fight silverfish effectively

Even if

silverfish are

harmless and shy, they quickly become a nuisance due to their rapid and continuous reproduction.

Popular household remedies such as vinegar, lemon and lavender put the odor-sensitive fish on the run.

However, they are not effectively fought that way, as these home remedies only scare them away.

For example,

sticky traps

, which are available in hardware stores and drug stores and which attract animals with attractants such as pheromones,

are more effective

.

Cardboard strips with honey also usually do their job reliably.

Pesticides, on the other hand, should be avoided, as well as the unacceptable and excruciating method for animal lovers of mixing sugar with baking powder and laying it out.

That is because this inflates the

silverfish

from the inside, causing them to perish in miserable agony.

Because even if

silverfish

are disgusting and annoying for many people, they still remain living beings.

(By Mirko Schmid)

List of rubric lists: © Christian Charisius / dpa

Source: merkur

All life articles on 2020-09-25

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