February 12, 2025, 4:01 pm | Read time: 4 minutes

What’s that crawling across the kitchen or bathroom floor? Silverfish are rarely welcome, but they often appear in these rooms. myHOMEBOOK explains how to get rid of these annoying creepy crawlies and how to prevent them from settling in the first place.

Are Silverfish Dangerous to Humans?

Although silverfish are anything but pretty to look at, they are absolutely harmless to humans. They do not sting or bite and pose no risk to pets. In fact, they are not pests at all, as they eat house dust mites, for example, which can trigger allergies.

How Can You Prevent Silverfish in Your Home?

The best way to prevent silverfish is to tackle the conditions they need to survive. Specifically, this means:

1. Ensure a dry indoor climate. Ventilate regularly and do not dry laundry in the home.
2. Carefully seal food that has been opened, and do not leave it standing around in the kitchen.
3. Seal open cracks and places such as skirting boards or sections of wallpaper. This will prevent silverfish from settling there.
4. Silverfish often retreat into drains. It can, therefore, help if you regularly flush them with hot water.
5. The insects appear in high humidity and can, therefore, indicate mold. This should, therefore, definitely be treated.

How Can You Get Rid of Silverfish?

If it is too late to take preventative measures, there are also some tricks that can be used to get rid of silverfish. At this point, however, it is important to point out that these insects do not transmit any diseases and are harmless to humans, so there is no reason to fight the pests from a health perspective.

What Home Remedies Help?

If you are disgusted by them or their numbers have simply become too great, you can get rid of them with the following household remedies:

1. Silverfish avoid odors such as fresh lavender, lemon, or cucumber. With this type of expulsion, however, the animals often only look for new hiding places and corners in rooms; they do not disappear permanently.
2. It is also advisable to cut a potato in half, hollow it out, and lay it out on a piece of paper. Overnight, the silverfish will be attracted to it, so you can simply take them outside the next day, along with the potato.

How Do You Find the Nest?

Silverfish build their nests in places where there is a high level of humidity and which are reasonably protected. Cracked wallpaper, gaps in the floor, broken pipes, or similar places are ideal for this. Silverfish can also nest behind skirting boards. Incidentally, one female can lay up to 100 eggs.

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Combat Silverfish in the Home with Traps

There are also ways to kill the insects, for example, with sticky traps, which are available to buy in shops. They attract silverfish with certain scents. When buying these traps, make sure that they are insecticide-free and moisture-resistant. Alternatively, you can simply smear strips of baking paper with honey and lay them out. The effect is the same: The animals are attracted and stick to the traps.

Note: All measures against silverfish should be carried out in the evening or at night, as the insects are nocturnal. Once the insects have been eliminated, it is important to implement preventative measures so that they do not return.