Silverfish dislike the smell of cedar, so one good natural preventive method is to make a spray using cedarwood essential oil (10 drops to 4 ounces of water, shake gently before each use). Spray in damp corners and/or in closets and near bookshelves. You can also spray down your rugs and upholstery.
Sprinkle DE (Diatomaceous Earth)
Diatomaceous Earth or "DE" is one of the most popular silverfish repellents and it does work in keeping the pests away from your home. DE is non-toxic and is made from the fossilized remains of diatoms - tiny and aquatic organisms.
Use boric acid.
It will kill both the silverfish and their eggs.
Cedarwood or cedar oil will not only repel silverfish, but it can also kill them when used in the areas they inhabit. While cinnamon has a pleasant smell for us, silverfish cannot stand it and will drive them away quickly. Cloves have a scent reminiscent of cinnamon and like cedar oil, both repels and kills silverfish.
You are most likely to find them in wall void spaces, basements or ceilings and dark, undisturbed corners. Look behind refrigerators and around boiler rooms. Silverfish hate light and stay confined to dark areas.
Although they prefer places like bathrooms and closets, it is possible to find silverfish bugs in beds. These insects are about half an inch in length with silver teardrop-shaped bodies and long antennae. While they're more annoying than harmful, these pests can damage bedding.
If you don't treat the factors that caused your silverfish problem, they'll return and you might find other problems arise with time as well. Once you've tackled the moisture and sustenance problems, the silverfish population should rapidly dwindle. However, these insects can be quite hardy.
Citrus fruits act as a very excellent and effective home remedy for silverfish. These nocturnal pests get repelled by citrus fruits. You can use orange and lemon peels to keep them at bay. Keep the fruit peels in the places which you think are infested and this will drive these pests away from your house.
Earwigs, house centipedes, and spiders such as the spitting spider Scytodes thoracica are known to be predators of silverfish.
The strong aroma of peppermint oil, like that of lavender oil, is enough to repel silverfish. In fact, most essential oils have insect-repelling properties because of their concentrated odor. Essential oils of tea tree, cinnamon, and eucalyptus are some other great options to help eradicate silverfish (2).
Table Salt. If you have salt at home specifically the table salt, you can use it as your repellent for silverfish. The table salt can dehydrate the pest which will lead to their death.
Silverfish can't stand smells of lemon, vinegar, and lavender. They stick to some honey on a piece of paper or in a glue trap from the drugstore. You can also mix some baking soda with sugar because silverfish will die if they eat baking soda. A halved, hollowed out potato can also help.
You could take any number of baits to silverfish matches – casters, pinkies, worms, pellets and even bread – but I find it very difficult to spend half my match trying to find the best bait when there are lots of bites to be had. That means that finding the fish and sorting the feeding is especially important.
Vinegar
Silverfish, like many other insects, cannot tolerate the smell of vinegar, so spraying it around your house will keep them away. Be sure to spray in all the corners and cracks where they like to hide.
Each silverfish egg measures about 1 millimeter in length, and is more elliptical than circular (though it isn't quite oval-shaped). When first laid, the eggs are white and soft. After a few hours of exposure to oxygen, the eggs toughen up and turn yellow.
These insects live a long life, anywhere from 2 to 8 years. They can also survive a long time without food, sometimes up to a year. However, they are sensitive to moisture and need high humidity to survive. Silverfish grow in damp, dark, and cool places.
Unlike centipedes, which can provide a painful bite—and which silverfish are often mistaken for—they don't even have strong enough jaws to pierce human skin. Ending the silverfish right then and there with a good squish might make you feel better temporarily, but their populations can grow fairly fast.
Use borax. Borax is an effective way to kill silverfish. For best results, purchase borax at your local home goods store, and spread a thin layer anywhere you've noticed silverfish. It's particularly appropriate for use on the back side of cabinets, along baseboards, in closets, and beneath appliances.
If you need to control a silverfish infestation, there's only one choice – Hovex. Hovex's 18g Moth and Silverfish Camphor Balls are a simple yet effective way of deterring silverfish from your home. The balls are encapsulated and designed to simply hang in your chosen location.
An effective repellent for silverfish is good old-fashioned soap. Just place cakes of soap in clothing drawers, wardrobes, and the linen press and before long, those little pests will be gone. Kitchen cupboards can be washed with Sunlight soap to keep them silverfish-free.
Both adults and nymphs are sensitive to low and high temperatures. Development and activity are severely hindered at temperatures below 16 °C and stop completely at 11 °C (4). Temperatures above 26 °C limit their lifetime and they will only survive for a few hours at temperatures above 40 °C (4).
Silverfish hate the smell of citrus, cinnamon and lavender. If you are looking to repel them naturally, a great idea is to use essential oils to clean your home or as a home fragrance (such as candles and diffusers) to keep them away.
Silverfish can't stand the smell of mothballs. Mothballs will not kill silverfish; rather serve as a deterrent from areas where they are placed. Spices such as sage, bay leaves and cloves also serve well as good repellants.
Not only will silverfish enjoy feasting on your hair, dandruff and skin cells, but there also is not much that they won't indulge in.
These silverfish bugs can typically be found in humid, moist areas of the home including basements, attics and bathrooms. People have noticed silverfish when they come down on ceiling soffits and/or drop from skylights and canister light fixtures in the ceiling, likely entering through shake roofs.