How to get rid of silverfish?

Lauren · Sep 30, 2008

I was just going to put away my wedding dress and veil in the victorian trunk I use for storing family treasures and I opened the lid to find a small bowl with several silverfish in it- and still alive! I moved another thing and found another. How do I get rid of them? Should I wash all the fabric things in there, empty it out, and is there a bait I can use to catch them? Really sad...

LizzieMaine · Oct 1, 2008

Boric acid powder scattered around the baseboards and other places where they hide will often help. They need a relatively moist environment to live, so you might also consider a dehumidifier in the infested area -- and by all means get some silica gel dessicant packets and scatter them around inside your trunk. If you can stow the trunk in a dry environment, even better.

Foofoogal · Oct 1, 2008

Move like me. lol I cannot seem to rid myself of these awful critters. Hoping a cooler climate will help.
Moisture is what brings them and paper.
I have alot of magazines and books. I just put some books in the freezer to kill the ones on some of my very old books. Maybe it will work for your clothes. Wrap the clothes in plastic for the freezer and then take the plastic off.
While your clothes are cooling off do the boric acid like Lizzie stated.

dhermann1 · Oct 1, 2008

Freezer is also highly effective against moths.
Question: Do silverfish actually damage stuff? I know they're creepy, but I wasn't aware that they were harmful.

KittyT · Oct 1, 2008

dhermann1 said:
Question: Do silverfish actually damage stuff? I know they're creepy, but I wasn't aware that they were harmful.

Short answer: Yes!

Long answer (from Wikipedia):

The favorite food of silverfish is any matter that contains starch or polysaccharides, such as dextrin in adhesives. These include glue, book bindings, paper, photos, sugar, hair, and dandruff. Silverfish can also cause damage to books, tapestries, and textiles. Silverfish will commonly graze in and around showers, baths, and sinks on the cellulose present in many shampoos, shaving foams and so on. Apart from these cases, the damage caused by silverfish is negligible and they have no direct effect on human health beyond psychological distress to those who are frightened or disgusted by their appearance. Other substances that may be eaten include cotton, linen, silk and synthetic fibers, and dead insects or even its own exuvia (moulted exoskeleton). During famine, a silverfish may even attack leatherware and synthetic fabrics. In extreme cases, silverfish may live for a year without eating.[2] Silverfish can be found anywhere in homes including, but not limited to, garages, closets, underneath beds, couches, electrical appliances such as keyboards and generally preferring dark areas.

flat-top · Oct 1, 2008

KittyT said:
Short answer: Yes!

Long answer (from Wikipedia):

The favorite food of silverfish is any matter that contains starch or polysaccharides, such as dextrin in adhesives. These include glue, book bindings, paper, photos, sugar, hair, and dandruff. Silverfish can also cause damage to books, tapestries, and textiles. Silverfish will commonly graze in and around showers, baths, and sinks on the cellulose present in many shampoos, shaving foams and so on. Apart from these cases, the damage caused by silverfish is negligible and they have no direct effect on human health beyond psychological distress to those who are frightened or disgusted by their appearance. Other substances that may be eaten include cotton, linen, silk and synthetic fibers, and dead insects or even its own exuvia (moulted exoskeleton). During famine, a silverfish may even attack leatherware and synthetic fabrics. In extreme cases, silverfish may live for a year without eating.[2] Silverfish can be found anywhere in homes including, but not limited to, garages, closets, underneath beds, couches, electrical appliances such as keyboards and generally preferring dark areas.

Gross!

Dr Doran · Oct 1, 2008

My favorite line:

KittyT said:
psychological distress to those who are frightened or disgusted by their appearance. .

DerMann · Oct 1, 2008

Well I won't be sleeping for another week, now. I had never heard of silverfish, and now I'm freaked out.

Rachael · Oct 1, 2008

that's nothing; a local hospital recently had an outbreak of bedbugs. Napping outdoors seems like a better idea all the time!

Barbigirl · Oct 1, 2008

~

I have never even heard of these. I have no idea at all what their appearance is but am under psychological distress, frightened and disgusted imagining what their appearance might be.

Odalisque · Oct 1, 2008

This lovely bugger is a silverfish. Him and his cronies are currently residing in my bathroom.

LizzieMaine · Oct 1, 2008

Silverfish are the bane of anyone who collects books, magazines, or other vintage paper -- they seem especially fond of old newsprint, and will leave scattered little perforations all over the surface of a page where they've grazed. They especially like old newspaper that's been used to line drawers or trunks, and from there can get into your stored fabrics -- so it's a good idea to inspect such stored goods regularly.

And I speak from sad experience.

dhermann1 · Oct 1, 2008

That explains why I've always seen them in rooms with wallpaper. They must love that stuff, and the old fashioned glue, too. Yuck! They're so squiggly and slithery. Even tho they're tiny (that picture is MUCH enlarged) they're pretty gross.

Undertow · Oct 1, 2008

Yep, keep your room free of clutter, use some boric acid, try to keep things dry. I've had my problems with these little nasties, too.

They like to hide in dark, moist areas so a pile of stuff along the edge of a wall is a great place for them. Also watch for them in bathrooms where they'll sneak around and eat hairs, fingernails, etc. Gross fest, if you ask me.

Justdog · Nov 1, 2008

Silverfish

Size 15 flat soled boot!!!

http://doyourownpestcontrol.com/silverfish.htm

Foofoogal · Nov 1, 2008

I was keeping all the small bags of stuff that they use to keep shoes dry silicate? maybe. Tossing them in back of my closets as I am the shoe queen. Seems when I moved I found that the very thing I was using to help dampness was what the little silverfish were loving. The paper on the little bags was yummy it seems to the critters. I am now up in Ozarks so maybe the dampness of Texas will be hopefully gone. How dumb was this? I should of just bought some of the dampness stuff in a bucket.
They can do alot of damage in short time to books. I know.

:eusa_doh:

olive bleu · Nov 1, 2008

this thread is making me itchy.

Jerekson · Nov 1, 2008

They live in keyboa #$%_++_$ s?

DecoDahlia · Nov 1, 2008

Reusable Dessicant

If humidity/moisture are a worry/issue, then you might want to get a reusable dessicant (more effective than the small packets which come with shoes). They can be found here:

htt
p://www.lightimpressionsdirect.com/item.action?itemGroupId=28

Hope this helps!

Naama · Nov 1, 2008

LizzieMaine said:
Silverfish are the bane of anyone who collects books, magazines, or other vintage paper -- they seem especially fond of old newsprint, and will leave scattered little perforations all over the surface of a page where they've grazed. They especially like old newspaper that's been used to line drawers or trunks, and from there can get into your stored fabrics -- so it's a good idea to inspect such stored goods regularly.

And I speak from sad experience.

I didn't know that at all.... I always thought the only place you can find them is the bathroom... But I think they look kinda cute (usually I hate insects) but I wonder why they eat glue....? can't be very nourishing.....

Naama

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