Bathrooms are bound to be damp – it’s where we shower and bathe, and subsequently, the floor ends up getting wet once we’re clean. But you’ve likely got an extractor fan and a window in there to open during and after you’ve spent time in there.
However, if you’ve recently taken a trip to the bathroom and thought you spotted a tiny, long-bodied creature scuttling away before your brain could even comprehend it properly – you may have an infestation of a ‘traumatising’ creature.
Cleaning expert Ann Russell responded to a question about silverfish as someone asked how to get rid of them; but what are silverfish?
Silverfish are pests commonly found around the world. They are harmless insects, but they can infest your home. They are usually found in moist, humid areas of homes, and this is why they can often be found in the bathroom. They are long bodied, and silvery in colour, hence their name.
First off, Ann Russell explained that if you see these creatures, “you have got damp,” encouraging anyone to “take the side panel of the bath off and have a look around” and also “check the loo isn’t leaking”.
She shared that it doesn’t have to be “much damp” for Silverfish to be found, but there will likely be a moist place that the critters are coming back to.
Ann then explained that often, damp can get on the hardboard which evens out the floorboards before the flooring that you step on, and that’s where the Silverfish will be living.
“It turns into something a bit like cardboard [once damp] and Silverfish love that,” she explained.
Ann also said that once you’ve “traced down the damp” and “let it dry off” then the “Silverfish will go”. But until then, they’ll have a reason to thrive there.
She did say that they “don’t do any harm”; however, there’s no reason to be concerned about them. They don’t bite, and they don’t pose a threat to humans, so they’re not insects to fear, and Ann said: “I think they’re quite pretty actually”.
She ended the video by reiterating that it’s important to “get rid of the damp” in your home, and then they will leave.
In the comments, someone said they found the animals “traumatic” rather than “quite pretty”.
Another penned: “I have a really bad silverfish infestation as my landlord failed to deal with leaks, so we stopped using the bath & still not cleared up.”
“They’re everywhere in my flat”, someone stressed, with a TikToker saying that they found them in their “rice container”, because they like to eat carbs.
One man shared: “I’ve got them – they come out at night. They don’t bother me & I don’t bother them.” Somebody else penned: “Same, I just say hi to them when I go for a wee in the middle of the night”.
