How To Keep Silverfish Out Of Your Nashville Home

Silverfish don’t typically make the list of home and business owners’ worst potential pests. They’re not vectors of diseases like roaches and rats. They don’t destroy buildings like termites and carpenter ants. They can’t sting or bite. So most people see the occasional silverfish in their home and smash it and move on. However, many people don’t know that silverfish can actually do property damage. Though they’re not going to wreck the foundation of your Nashville home, they can ruin costly and potentially irreplaceable items, and you don’t want a houseful of them.

Silverfish Description

Silverfish live up to their name. These small, segmented insects taper in width, starting with the head. The rear end is narrower than the head, and it even has a three-pronged tail that resembles a fin. Silverfish have shiny, silvery bodies that resemble fish scales. Even the way they run can sometimes resemble a fish swimming.

These insects like to live where there’s lots of moisture, and they avoid human contact whenever possible. You might see them hanging out in basements or bathrooms where they can take advantage of the humidity. They also love to hang out in the corners of your home where they think they can’t be seen.

Silverfish might sound like roaches in that they crawl around humid places and hide from humans, but they’re a lot picker than their roach comrades. While roaches eat just about anything, silverfish eat mostly starches and proteins. They’ll get into grains, fibers, veggies, sugars, cereals, and pet foods. They can also ruin things like cornmeal and flour.

However, the biggest problem with silverfish is their penchant for eating fabrics and paper. An untreated silverfish infestation can do similar damage caused by moth larvae. In fact, silverfish damage to clothing and books is often mistaken for moth damage. Silverfish can ruin an entire wardrobe full of clothing or a whole bookshelf worth of books. This can translate into costly replacements and even the loss of irreplaceable items.

What To Do About Silverfish

Silverfish prevention can be difficult, especially when it comes to exclusion. Silverfish are so tiny that there’s really no way to keep them from slipping into your home if they want in. That’s why the trick to preventing silverfish is to keep them from wanting in. There are several ways to make your home less appealing to these bugs:

Seal all dry foods in your pantry in airtight containers.
Vacuum and dust often to suck up potentially starchy particles.
Store clothes in vacuum bags or hard plastic containers with tight lids.
If you keep books in storage, seal them up as well.
Cover trash with tight-fitting lids to seal off starchy items.
Don’t leave pet foods or pet bowls sitting out.
Use dehumidifiers to reduce moisture in places like basements and bathrooms.

Many people use mothballs to repel silverfish. This is not a good idea. Mothballs won’t actually kill silverfish – they’ll only keep them away from the places where they can smell the chemicals. Furthermore, mothballs contain naphthalene toxin, which gets into the air and can poison people and pets. Some people also try to use natural repellents like cedar, cinnamon, citrus, or cloves. However, these repellents will keep silverfish away from the immediate vicinity where they are. So silverfish might not bother a clothes drawer with cloves in it – they’ll eat your wallpaper instead.

Total Silverfish Control With Urbanex

Fortunately, there’s a better way. Here at Urbanex, we offer state-of-the-art pest control that can eliminate any size silverfish infestation – no matter how established. So call us at (270) 743-9513 or visit our contact page to schedule your home pest control service today!

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