Earwigs, centipedes and spiders are natural predators of silverfish, so why not leave that house spider alone in the corner?
Earwigs, house centipedes, and spiders such as the spitting spider Scytodes thoracica are known to be predators of silverfish.
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.
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.
Use boric acid.
It will kill both the silverfish and their eggs.
Once you've tackled the moisture and sustenance problems, the silverfish population should rapidly dwindle. However, these insects can be quite hardy. Denying them food sources and dark, moist hiding places is sufficient to prevent a severe infestation, but it won't wipe them out completely.
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.
Silverfish are especially attracted to damp clothing and paper. Warm and moist spaces are their favourite. That's why leaving dirty dishes is a bad idea as they attract these and other pests. The most common attractors are food, clutter, and moisture.
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.
Vacuum and/or steam clean fabric furniture and carpets to kill Silverfish and to reduce dirt and grime build-up. Ensure any food crumbs, dirt, dust, dead insects and bird nests have been removed and cleaned as soon as they have been noticed. Avoid clutter, especially storing or discarding unutilised paper items.
Because silverfish can subsist on a range of foods, including wall paper glue, book bindings, paper, clothing starch, fabrics, flour, cereal, leather and dead insects, it's hard to completely eliminate the things they need to survive in a home.
An environment with a constantly humid atmosphere is an ideal place for silverfish. Keeping your place dry is important in preventing silverfish from coming back. This can be a big task, especially for those living in areas with the winter season.
Female silverfish produce one to three eggs per day, or clusters of two to twenty. The pests deposit eggs in cracks around the inside of a home or attic, making them difficult to find. Unlike some other insects, silverfish can produce eggs all year.
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.
If you have an infestation, household sprays containing synergized pyrethrin and pyrethroids such as bifenthrin, cyfluthrin, tetramethrin, and phenothrin should kill firebrats and silverfish on contact and provide some residual activity.
Once silverfish enter a property that provides them with food, humidity, and shelter, they usually decide to stay and enjoy the constant temperature and humidity levels; meaning silverfish can quickly become not just a springtime pest, but a year-round pest!
Although silverfish can be active during every season, their indoor activity often peaks in the springtime. Southern California winters can actually provide more moisture and better conditions for silverfish to live in outdoors.
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.
Chrysanthemums
They are also known to have the ability to purify indoor air and remove toxins. More than that, chrysanthemums are also potent at repelling roaches, ants, ticks, silverfish, lice, fleas, and bedbugs. Chrysanthemums can also make a space look pretty, so don't be afraid to place them all over the house.
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.
Silverfish feed on the sugar and starch in a range of household items, such as books, photographs, documents, and wallpaper. Soap, hair, dandruff, and dust can also be food sources for silverfish, along with glue, clothing, silk, cotton, and linen.
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.
Lavender is a popular essential oil to use to repel silverfish as it is a popular scent to use around the home and is readily available in shops. As it's made of natural ingredients, you can spray it onto almost any surface without worrying about chemical damage.