Warning, protect your star wars against Silverfish

[Snaketibe]

thanks I will look at it. I have now given poisen all over the apartment and the places where I have found them. I so far found them 2 places in my bedroom and in my kitchen.

I have learned that plastic bags do not keep them out. They can bite holes in them to get inside the bag. I took some comics where there was silverfish in them and put them in bags so I later could check the comics for bugs and kill them. When I got the time to check them the bags had small holes in them so they had escaped the bags

I have also read that flower Lavandula does not make silverfish happy, they do not like the smell of it, so I will try to see if I find a few in the garden shop today for my apartment to see if it works So far I have found 20 silverfish and yesterday was the first day for me where I have not found any silverfish. I am now nearly done in the bedroom. I only need to check one closet more. Then I will begin cleaning everything in the kithen and check all closet there.

I have also bought some big plastic boxes for some of my items. I will buy some more today to protect my things. The strange thing is I have a bookcase in my bedroom and there are no bugs in any of this books. Why the **** to they want my star wars in big closed closets more

Hi Lars,

I believe silverfish prefer the dark, and come out more at night. Your bookcase is probably not as desirable to them since presumably it's effectively in daylight for half of the day. Whereas a closed cupboard or closet gives them darkness all day long

Jeremy

 

[bosk70]

Hello Lars

Sorry to hear this

I had silver fish in my kitchen and bathroom, still have some, they seem to like damp / dark areas, had less since I fixed some water / damp issues so the areas are dryer, I keep comics in the flat plastic storage containers hopefully they cannot bite through them, don't want to lose any of my beloved childhood 2000ad comics

Have you any slight damp issues in that cupboard bad ventilation ?

 

[Capetown]

one of my old amiga 500 cases.

Ah, a man of taste.

 

[Pomse2001]

Hi Lars,

I believe silverfish prefer the dark, and come out more at night. Your bookcase is probably not as desirable to them since presumably it's effectively in daylight for half of the day. Whereas a closed cupboard or closet gives them darkness all day long

Jeremy

thanks for the info, I think you are correct about that

 

[Pomse2001]

Hello Lars

Sorry to hear this

I had silver fish in my kitchen and bathroom, still have some, they seem to like damp / dark areas, had less since I fixed some water / damp issues so the areas are dryer, I keep comics in the flat plastic storage containers hopefully they cannot bite through them, don't want to lose any of my beloved childhood 2000ad comics

Have you any slight damp issues in that cupboard bad ventilation ?

any pictures of your plastic storage containers, I think it is hard to find some in the correct size unless I want to pay crazy money. Normally I use comic cases but I need to replace them now to plastic. I have seen they sell them now in plastic on ebay but they are to long for me and all to expensive.

 

[Pomse2001]

Ah, a man of taste.

thanks, I have 2 amiga 500 and 2 amiga 1200

 

[Pomse2001]

A little update, I am now done in my bedroom with cleaning and checking my items so far no more damage. I began sunday in the kitchen and also in the living room. I have also bought a lot of plastic boxes and thrown out a lot of shoeboxes and other boxes. I think the kitchen and the living room will take all of this week so I will not be much on the forum this week. I have 2 kinds of silverfish the big dark one and the small silverfish. I had not seen any for 3 days until this morning I had one on the kitchen floor, 1 silverfish that was no. 21 since I found them.

I have washed all floors in Lavandula cleaning products and all of my bedroom, I have read they hate the smell of that. I have also put a little cup in each closet with Lavandula smell, I hope that will keep them out of my closets I am not 100% sure if it works since there was one on the floor today

 

[Capetown]

You're nothing if not thorough, Lars. Well done.

 

[kabuchi7]

Have you checked under the kitchen cabinets? Depending which type of units you have most of the fitted kitchens in the UK you're able to take the bottom plinth/panel off to give you access under the units. Might be worth a look with a torch if you're able to do that.

 

[Pomse2001]

You're nothing if not thorough, Lars. Well done.

thanks I found 1 silverfish more today in a brown box, I will replace the box with a plastic box tomorrow, I don't think they can get inside this plastic boxes.

 

[Pomse2001]

Have you checked under the kitchen cabinets? Depending which type of units you have most of the fitted kitchens in the UK you're able to take the bottom plinth/panel off to give you access under the units. Might be worth a look with a torch if you're able to do that.

I have no idea if I can get under the cabinets, I have sprayed poison on the floor against the panel off all cabinets so if they go out then I think they will die. I did the same in the bedroom.

 

[Fawns61]

Hi @Pomse2001 If you are using cleaning products with Lavandula (lavender) in them, they may only contain a mild concentrate of it. You might be better off getting some pure essential oil instead and putting some drops in water?

I have had silverfish in my toilet room, along the edge of the wall. I hate creepy crawlies so regularly spray around the rooms with a mixture of essential peppermint oil and cedarwood oil in a spray bottle filled with water.

I put about 10-15 drops of each essential oil in a spray bottle and fill it with tap water. I also add one or two drops of washing up liquid and shake it up.
I have sprayed some silverfish with this. It stops them in their tracks, and if left in a small puddle of it they do not move anymore. This will probably be safer than poison for you, and will also make your rooms smell fresh. Worth a try.
The peppermint is supposed to be good for spiders and the cedarwood for moths. Citronella is another good one but I don't like the strong smell of it.

Good luck

 

[Pomse2001]

Hi @Pomse2001 If you are using cleaning products with Lavandula (lavender) in them, they may only contain a mild concentrate of it. You might be better off getting some pure essential oil instead and putting some drops in water?

I have had silverfish in my toilet room, along the edge of the wall. I hate creepy crawlies so regularly spray around the rooms with a mixture of essential peppermint oil and cedarwood oil in a spray bottle filled with water.

I put about 10-15 drops of each essential oil in a spray bottle and fill it with tap water. I also add one or two drops of washing up liquid and shake it up.
I have sprayed some silverfish with this. It stops them in their tracks, and if left in a small puddle of it they do not move anymore. This will probably be safer than poison for you, and will also make your rooms smell fresh. Worth a try.
The peppermint is supposed to be good for spiders and the cedarwood for moths. Citronella is another good one but I don't like the strong smell of it.

Good luck

Thanks I have used Ajax lavandula. I will buy the oil.

Wednesday after work I began to pack the stuff from 2 moving boxes into 2 plastic boxes. I found 5 of this black silverfish in them I think I have let them into the boxes myself because the bags with comics from the closet was laying only 2 meters from the moving boxes and the monsters had been making holes in the bags and escaped. So some of them or maybe all of them had moved into this moving boxes. Because I was looking in this moving boxes a few weeks ago after some stuff and there was no silverfish in them a few weeks ago. Well I did catch 2 of the silverfish in the moving boxes so I run some test on them added some Ajax lavandula in a plastic box next to one of them. It could not get up of the plastic box I guess it was to smooth for the silverfish. It looks like it did not get scared of the ajax and just ran into it after it ran into it, it died Then I did test my poison on another one, it did ran a little bit into the poison and ran out again and did not get killed. It was first when it ran into a lot of poison it got killed. So I guess my poison are not good enough.

I have read baking powder are also good, they die if they eat it and they would love to eat it. Maybe I should test it, if there are any silverfish left.

So far I have found 28 silverfish. I have not found any thursday or this morning.

 

[Pomse2001]

update, saturday I found 2 more of the black silverfish, only some very small ones. Both came from the bags with comics. I am now done with checking all this comics. I killed one and the 2nd I did catch alive. I made a glass with a little bit of baking powder and sugar after I had read they like to to eat it but they die when they eat baking powder. I put the 2nd silver fish in the glass but after 24 hours it is still not dead so I guess maybe it do not die fast, maybe it does not work or maybe it does not eat it also the glass are to smooth for it to go up of the glass. So I used some tape on the outside of the glass, then more maybe will go up and fall down into the glass. So far I have killed 31 silverfish. I have only seen 1 or 2 big ones so I guess maybe I have been lucky so I can stop it since mosst of them are very small.

I will buy some lavandula oil today when I get home from work. I am now done with 50% of the kitchen so I will first be done this week. I am also still buying plastic boxes and packing stuff into this plastic boxes. I have also checked about 150 uk weekly star wars comics and put them in comic bags with cardboard. Now I need to buy some more cardboards and comic bags since I have used all the ones I have.

Like the glass the plastic boxes I have bought are also to smooth for the silverfish so they can't crawl up on them, but I still buy them with lid just to be 100% sure.

I will not be much on the forum this week also. I will be back when I am done.

 

[Snaketibe]

Thanks for the updates, Lars, and well done on your perseverance with this problem. I really hope you are able to solve this and find a way to eradicate the silverfish for good. Please keep us updated on your progress.

Jeremy

 

[Pomse2001]

Thanks for the updates, Lars, and well done on your perseverance with this problem. I really hope you are able to solve this and find a way to eradicate the silverfish for good. Please keep us updated on your progress.

Jeremy

thanks jeremy, I have not seen any since saturday I have read they also hate the smell of vinegar and it kills eggs if there are any. So now I also use that on shelves and floor moldings, I think I will try to do that for a long time.

I am still cleaning in the kitchen and looking in all the closets. Monday I bought 7 more plastic boxes and I used the last one yesterday. So I will buy some more today after work. So I can pack more items in plastic boxes.

So far I have not found more damage.

I bought some lavandula oil but it does not smell much

 

[Pomse2001]

So far I not found any more silverfish, yesterday I checked all my boxes and instructions for my amiga and pc games and some old computer magazines from the 80s and 90s.

I have bought some new poison for siverfish that I also used yesterday.

I hope to be done sunday

 

[Fawns61]

Hi, @Pomse2001 well done on your efforts so far, hopefully it is paying off for you.
I haven't tried lavander essential oil so do not know how strong the scent is supposed to be. Depending on where you buy it from, there can be differences too.
I don't know if you have bought any peppermint or cedarwood essential oils but they are also supposed to repel them. Most creepy crawlies don't like strong scents.
Silverfish also don't like citrus scents eg. orange and lemon. As well as the oils for these, you can scatter orange and lemon peel around if you use them. They need replacing frequently.

 

[Fawns61]

1) Lemon juice can be used (good for cleaning limescale from taps too), and it is supposed to kill them if they come into contact with it, so is a good replacement for any poisons.
2)A home-made trap to use is to fill a glass jar with any of the following: flour, dried cereal, small pieces of bread, starchy food etc.
Wrap masking tape around the whole of the outside of the jar, to enable them to climb up it and get inside the jar for the 'bait'.
Place the jar(s) in areas where you think they are hiding, and check the jars regularly.
3) Baking soda. I know you have tried this with salt but maybe you need to do the following:
Mix a bit of baking soda, a cup of water, and a tablespoon of honey, into a bowl. Mix it all together to form a paste. Put some of the paste on a piece of card or paper to lure them into a glass jar.
4) Put some rolled up newspaper, dampened with water, onto a plate and leave it overnight where you want to trap them. The moisture will attract them. They will climb inside the newspaper to feed and take shelter. In the morning, throw the newspaper in an outside bin.

On the subject of moisture - which is what attracts them, as well as food - do you have a dehumidifier you can use if the rooms have excess moisture in the air?

If possible and safe to do you can check behind appliances, as creepy crawlies like dark, undisturbed corners to hide behind.

Finally, as you mention using poison I am guessing that you do not have any pets, so this is more a warning to others reading this - be careful using any essential oils or poisons if you have pets and/or children around. ALWAYS READ THE LABELS FIRST, and if you have any medical conditions, check that the products are not ones you have to avoid ie I think tea tree oil is not good for asthmatics?

Sorry for the long posts, hope some of it helps

 

[Pomse2001]

1) Lemon juice can be used (good for cleaning limescale from taps too), and it is supposed to kill them if they come into contact with it, so is a good replacement for any poisons.
2)A home-made trap to use is to fill a glass jar with any of the following: flour, dried cereal, small pieces of bread, starchy food etc.
Wrap masking tape around the whole of the outside of the jar, to enable them to climb up it and get inside the jar for the 'bait'.
Place the jar(s) in areas where you think they are hiding, and check the jars regularly.
3) Baking soda. I know you have tried this with salt but maybe you need to do the following:
Mix a bit of baking soda, a cup of water, and a tablespoon of honey, into a bowl. Mix it all together to form a paste. Put some of the paste on a piece of card or paper to lure them into a glass jar.
4) Put some rolled up newspaper, dampened with water, onto a plate and leave it overnight where you want to trap them. The moisture will attract them. They will climb inside the newspaper to feed and take shelter. In the morning, throw the newspaper in an outside bin.

On the subject of moisture - which is what attracts them, as well as food - do you have a dehumidifier you can use if the rooms have excess moisture in the air?

If possible and safe to do you can check behind appliances, as creepy crawlies like dark, undisturbed corners to hide behind.

Finally, as you mention using poison I am guessing that you do not have any pets, so this is more a warning to others reading this - be careful using any essential oils or poisons if you have pets and/or children around. ALWAYS READ THE LABELS FIRST, and if you have any medical conditions, check that the products are not ones you have to avoid ie I think tea tree oil is not good for asthmatics?

Sorry for the long posts, hope some of it helps

thanks mate for the help

No I do not have any dehumidifier.

So far I have not seen any now for 9 days and I have not found any more damage. I am still cleaning and checking closets for bugs I will first be done this week.

I was thinking they could have come inside my home with a packet or more packets or from my job we also have them at work. So I am done with taking packets inside the apartment.

I have traps and there are not any in them but maybe I have killed them all. But there can be eggs I guess so I will continue to clean much more for some time and use poison, vinegar and ajax with lavandula.

I will also try the wet paper. When I am done checking and cleaning.