It is unlikely that there will be at least one person who did not meet these unpleasant insects in his bathroom.
Today we will talk about wood lice, or as they are called by scientists - silverfish.
They are not capable of harming a person, but they can harm your houseplants, and by their appearance they are unlikely to cause positive emotions in anyone.
Where and why do wood lice come from?
The main cause is excessive humidity. Therefore, before you begin to get rid of these unpleasant insects, you need to inspect the sewer, hood and plumbing in the house for damage, they can become the source of the appearance of wood lice.
Silverfish prefer to live in damp and dark places, they can stay there all day, in the morning they usually go outside in search of food. These insects can live not only near ponds, but in residential buildings and apartments where there is a humid environment, often it is a bathroom or kitchen.
The main condition for the life of woodlice is water, as for food, then everything is simple: they can eat any organic and plant food waste that is in every house. They can even eat plaque on the tiles in the bathroom. Therefore, if you do not conduct regular cleaning, do not monitor the humidity level in the bathroom and the piping, silverfish will appear in your house very quickly.
Also, the causes of wood lice can be:
cracks and crevices in secluded dark places;
the dampness that these insects need in order to breathe normally;
organic residues (such can be a garbage bin stagnant in the house or food leftovers in the pipeline).
In other words, monitor the cleanliness in your home and do not breed moisture, then the question "how to get rid of wood lice" will not arise.
How to get rid of wood lice: what danger are these insects?
The appearance of silverfish should worry most of all people who like to plant indoor plants at home, because if you do not engage in their extermination in a timely manner, you can say goodbye to flowers.
Where do they come from? Most often, they breed in the bathroom, as well as in flower pots, barrels or other places in which there is a favorable environment with dust, moss and fallen leaves. Most of all harm to woodlice can be done by tropical plants, which are very fond of moisture. We are talking about orchids, cacti and ferns. They have a very delicate and thin root system, and the appearance of these insects in pots with these plants is very detrimental to the latter.
Compaction of the soil is also detrimental to indoor plants, which can also indicate the appearance of wood lice. Oxygen starvation occurs in the soil, and the plant simply suffocates. In addition, there is always a risk of various viral infections that silverfish can bring with them. So these small insects, despite their innocuous appearance, can cause serious harm to your favorite indoor plants.
How to get rid of wood lice with the help of folk remedies
Since in modern apartments there is no room with a higher level of humidity than the bathroom, then we will remove wood lice first of all from it. The first thing to do is to deprive insects of their favorite moisture and food sources. Check if the pipes are leaking, if the sewage system is clogged, if pets or household members bring food debris on slippers. If any of these problems is present, then they must be immediately eliminated independently, or if it is not possible, through the housing and communal services. To prevent them from starting up, try to monitor the cleanliness of the rooms, especially for the bathroom and kitchen, do not create a favorable environment with your own hands for the reproduction of these insects.
If you can’t remove it with your bare hands, you can use one of the folk remedies.
1. In 0.5 l of boiling water, we dilute 100 g of dry kvass and spray the mixture in places where silverfish accumulate most.
2. We take ordinary coarse salt and densely pour in places where holes are in the bathroom floor.
3. Take 0.5 tsp of ground red pepper, calcined tobacco salt, for example, from inexpensive cigarettes such as Prima. We shake this mixture in 1 liter of boiling water and spray it on the bathroom floor. After an hour, we wash the floor with bleach or whiteness.
If there are a lot of wood lice and the folk methods are no longer saving, you need to use more powerful chemicals, which are abundantly sold today in any hardware or horticultural store.
How to get rid of wood lice (in the house, in the bathroom, in the apartment) using household cleaning products
First, try to get rid of silverfish using ordinary dichlorvos, with which we usually poison cockroaches and other insects. Other aerosols from cockroaches, for example, Tetrix and Tarax, can be quite effective. Just buy an aerosol can and spray it in places where wood lice are usually collected.
If your favorite indoor plants begin to suffer from silverfish, in this case you can use the preparations "Thunder" and "Ideal".
Each of the above chemicals is quite effective in combating woodlice and other insects, but they have one significant drawback - they are very toxic. Therefore, before starting treatment, you need to remove all households and pets from the house or apartment, and some time after returning home, open all the windows wide so that all the unpleasant odor leaves.
How to get rid of wood lice: prevention of the appearance
Of course, getting rid of the invasion of wood lice in your abode is much more difficult than preventing their occurrence. So that these unpleasant insects never appear in your apartment, you need to follow a number of simple hygiene rules:
1) Wipe the floors thoroughly during cleaning, especially for the bathroom and kitchen;
2) Watch for serviceability of pipes, in case of breakage do not hesitate and eliminate it;
3) Do not forget to clean the ventilation holes from time to time;
4) Ventilate the rooms at least several times a day;
5) When dividing wet cleaning, rinse the floors everywhere, even in places difficult for a person to reach: under the bed, behind the sofa, and more;
6) Use dehumidifiers;
7) Monitor the health of plumbing;
8) Close up all the holes and cracks in the floors, walls and near the skirting boards;
9) Glue wallpaper that has departed from the walls;
10) Do not forget to timely dispose of the bin;
11) Do not clutter up the kitchen with dirty dishes, remove the remnants of food from the kitchen, wipe spilled water or tea from the table;
12) Do not dry the laundry in the bathroom, it is better to do it on the balcony or street;
13) Remove the earth from the pallet for flower pots, wipe them from moisture.
Compliance with all of the above items almost guarantees the absence in your apartment of not only wood lice, but also other insects.
Professional help
If there are too many silverfish in your apartment, and not one of the folk or chemical remedies helps, you should seek the help of special services. You can call for help from employees of the sanitary epidemiological station or another organization that deals with disinfection.
The advantages of calling specialists are undeniable:
use safe products that are odorless and do not leave marks on furniture;
qualitatively process each surface and all possible places in which silverfish can live;
the guarantee of work ranges from 3-6 months. If these insects appear during the warranty period, then re-processing will be done for free.
If wood lice have appeared in your house, and you are going to make repairs, then specialists need to be called before starting work. The thing is that repair can disperse wood lice for a while, and the fight against them can be complicated.
In conclusion, it must be said that woodlice attract apartments with a high level of humidity. Favorite rooms of these insects are the bathroom and the kitchen, it is in them that they feel most comfortable. To avoid problems with them, monitor the level of humidity and cleanliness in the house, wood lice will feel uncomfortable and begin to leave your house.
