5 household items for combatting silverfish

Preferring warm and damp places, silverfish creep out of their hideaways as soon as it gets dark. Despite being an annoyance, they're actually harmless and can even get rid of mold and dust mites — great for people who suffer from allergies. Even so, most of us prefer not to have these tiny creatures within our own four walls. That's why we've come up with five tips for combatting silverfish...

shutterstock/Henrik Larsson

1. Potato

Silverfish like to eat wallpaper paste, dandruff, hair or mold since they prefer a diet containing plenty of starch. That's why potatoes are great for luring these creepy crawlies out from their hiding places.

Cut a potato in half, hollow it out a little, and make a small indentation on its side. Place the potato on a piece of foil with the indentation facing downward. The silverfish will crawl underneath the potato so that they can feed off it. As soon as enough of these insects have been attracted to the potato, you can pick up the foil and throw it away.

2. Honey

Silverfish also have a weakness for sweet things, so honey or syrup work just as well as potatoes. Spread some honey on a piece paper or baking parchment and leave it out. The insects that eat from it will be stuck to the honey.

3. Baking powder

If you don't want to show those little silverfish any mercy, prepare a mixture made up of baking powder and sugar. Lured by the sugar, the insects will unknowingly eat the baking powder that then expands inside them.

shutterstock/Julia Sudnitskaya

4. Lavender

Instead of catching the little bugs, you can also scare them off. To do so, leave out lavender fragrance sachets around your home or add a few drops of lavender oil to the water when you're mopping the floors. The silverfish will soon make themselves scarce upon smelling the lavender.

shutterstock/pilipphoto

5. Glass trap

Here's another bug trap: fill a Mason jar with oatmeal and wrap it with crepe tape. Alternatively, you can lean a wooden stick against jar up to its opening.

Attracted by the oatmeal, the little critters will crawl into the jar, but won't be able to find a way out as they can't get a foothold on the glass.

shutterstock/Authentic Creations

Beyond being a nuisance, silverfish are usually a sign of problems in your home, indicating too much humidity, mold or poor insulation. That's why it's important to find out what's causing the little bugs to appear.