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The appearance of unpleasant insects in the space of a house or apartment implies the need to solve the problems that have arisen with them in the most radical ways and means. And when it comes to woodlice, the search for the best remedy for these pests can turn into a real obsession. After all, there are a great many ways to combat them: from the popular rumor of using table salt to chemicals. True, the appearance of woodlice in living rooms is still hardly the norm. And if you are looking for how to get rid of woodlice, which are spreading at incredible speed, you should pay attention to the possible ways they move around a residential property.
Much more often, these pests, which are often mistakenly classified as insects, appear in the toilet or bathroom. But choosing an effective method to combat the cause of problems can be quite difficult. After all, you need to remove unpleasant guests in a comprehensive manner, using the most current methods.
Appearance and description
Despite the fact that almost all people call woodlice insects, they are not. Woodlice belong to arthropods and are included in the class of higher crayfish, for which they can safely be called crustaceans.
Woodlice are characterized by a rather specific appearance: they have an oval body shape, the upper part of which is slightly convex. There are two pairs of whiskers, the first pair is not fully developed, as a result of which the antennae are very small, the second pair is well developed. The eyes of woodlice are located on the left and right of the head. Also presented crustaceans are characterized by the presence of 6 pairs of abdominal legs.
What is the reason for their appearance?
The main reason for the appearance of woodlice in a bathroom or toilet is an increased level of humidity in the room, which can occur in the following cases:
- there is a leak in pipes or faucets;
- pipe joints were not repaired for a long time;
- after taking a bath, puddles are left on the floor;
- the bathroom or toilet has not been cleaned for a long time, as a result of which a large amount of garbage has accumulated;
- After taking a bath it is left wet.
If you avoid the cases presented above, you will significantly reduce the likelihood of woodlice appearing in your home.
Reference. Woodlice can also enter the bathroom through cracks in the walls. Therefore, if the bathroom was flooded by neighbors from above and the water was not removed in time, the room will become humid and damp, which will certainly attract woodlice.
What to do if nothing helps?
If you have already tried all the folk and modern remedies, but it has not brought any results, you will have to resort to the help of professionals. There are a huge number of services in any city that deal with eradicating various insects from apartments. The easiest way to find such a service is to carefully study the advertisements posted near the entrance door. If you can’t find anything there, then newspapers, city websites and other media will help you.
Professional disinfectants use strong products and professional equipment that will almost certainly drive woodlice out of your home.
Finally, if sanitary and disinfectant treatment has been carried out, but wood lice continue to roam freely in your bathroom, the reason may lie in the neighbors. In this case, it makes sense to combine the efforts of the inhabitants of several apartments and organize a joint war against wood lice. Of course, it will not be possible to reach an agreement with all the neighbors. Try to convince at least the apartment owners above and below. If you start “military actions” at the same time, then there is a high probability that with joint efforts you will be able to get rid of the arthropod inhabitants of the bathrooms forever.
The main thing is to remember that a clean and dry bathroom is the key to preventing wood lice from ever returning to your home.
What do they eat and how do they live?
Woodlice prefer to be nocturnal and during the daytime it is almost impossible to see them in the bathroom or toilet. The presented crustaceans live in the darkest corners, can hide under tiles or wet towels, and are placed under damp rubber mats. Therefore, if you need to determine whether wood lice are present in the room, it is first recommended to inspect the listed places.
As for the food of the presented crustaceans, it consists of particles of accumulated dirt, small pieces of soggy paper and soggy soap residues. If the kitchen is not cleared out for a long time, then the woodlice will move from the bathroom to the kitchen and feed on leftover human food.
The harm that woodlice can cause to people
- These are, first of all, carriers of viral and infectious diseases .
- They spoil food by accelerating the process of breakdown, oxidation and rotting.
- If you choose a flower pot with an orchid and other similar plants, they can cause the stem and roots to rot.
- When settling in the soil with seedlings or other plants, they compact it and disrupt air exchange.
- Capable of carrying fungal and mold spores on their paws.
Therefore, seemingly harmless woodlice are not such innocent creatures at all. Therefore, you should listen to further recommendations from specialists to avoid such problems.
Photo
Check out the following photos of domestic crustaceans that are infested and crawling in the toilet:
How to fight: exterminator or on your own?
Since wood lice do not have a direct negative impact on humans , there is no need to call an exterminator. It is quite possible to do it yourself, which will be much cheaper.
On a note. But independent destruction of woodlice is possible only if there is a small number of them; if there is a large accumulation of the described crustaceans, it is simply impossible to do without the help of a specialist.
Also, the need to call an insect control specialist arises if the homeowners have already tried to get rid of woodlice on their own, but after a short time, they reappeared.
As a result, we can highlight the following positive aspects of calling an exterminator:
- getting rid of woodlice in the shortest possible time;
- guarantee that woodlice will not appear again in the near future.
Among the disadvantages, only the high cost of the procedure for getting rid of insects is noted.
As for getting rid of crustaceans on your own, here you can highlight significant savings and the possibility of using components that are absolutely harmless to humans. Among the disadvantages is the high probability of reappearance of woodlice.
Remedies for them
If, when asked how to destroy all crustaceans from the toilet, it was decided to independently get rid of the described ones in the apartment, then in this case, when asked how to remove them, you can use both chemical and folk remedies.
Chemical
Among the popular chemicals is a drug called Tetrix . It combines intestinal and contact effects and is quite toxic.
To use it, the following actions are carried out:
- It is necessary to wear rubber gloves, a change of clothes (preferably ones that can then be thrown away or thoroughly washed), a mask or respirator, and safety glasses.
- The product is sprayed around the room according to the instructions.
- After treating the bathroom, you should leave the home for several hours, and after the specified period has passed, ventilate it well and thoroughly wash the floors.
Important! When spraying the drug, it is necessary to ensure that children and animals leave the home.
The drug Tarax is used a little differently, but the effect does not decrease:
- the product is diluted in water, and then, using a brush or syringe, it is applied to the suspected habitats of woodlice;
- Over time, the water evaporates, and a thin film of the substance remains and can persist for 4 weeks.
You can also use drugs such as Varan and GET to kill woodlice; they are used in a similar way to Tetrix.
Folk
It has been noted that folk remedies in the fight against woodlice are less effective than chemical ones , but if there is a small amount of the described crustaceans in the bathroom or toilet, then you can use such methods.
A fairly popular method for killing woodlice is a mixture of tobacco, red pepper powder and soda; to use this product you need to follow these steps:
- Each of the described components is taken in the amount of 3 grams, and then the resulting mixture is diluted in a liter of water.
- The prepared solution is used to treat all cracks in the walls and other suspected habitats of woodlice.
- The room is closed and not used for 8 hours.
After the specified period, you need to thoroughly rinse the bath with a weak bleach solution.
You can also use birch brooms:
- In the evening, birch brooms should be placed in the corners of the bathroom (they have a rather attractive smell and taste for woodlice, so they will not be able to resist such a delicacy).
- In the morning (before sunrise), the brooms are collected and burned.
In addition, many housewives, in an attempt to get rid of wood lice, scatter salt in the corners, which is not particularly effective, but it can destroy several individuals.
From the video you will learn how to get rid of woodlice in the toilet and bathroom:
Prevention
If the owners of the home managed to get rid of woodlice, then in order to prevent their reappearance they need to adhere to some rules:
- You need to carefully control the level of importance in the bathroom or toilet. You should monitor how well the ventilation works and whether the pipes are intact. It is recommended to give up the habit of drying clothes in the bathroom.
- Needs to be kept clean. Under no circumstances should wet rags be placed in the corners of the bathroom. Occasionally, general cleaning should be done.
- Monitor the condition of walls and corners. If the slightest cracks occur, they must be removed immediately.
On a note. The main thing to remember is that wood lice will never live in a bathroom where it is dry and clean.
The main advantages of our services are:
- Carrying out thorough preparation of premises for processing. We provide detailed consultations that allow the owner of an apartment or house to create conditions that are most conducive to the destruction of insects.
- Competent and individual selection of insecticidal preparations. We successfully use various technologies and means, including modern ones, such as microencapsulated emulsions with prolonged residual activity. The decision to choose the optimal drug and technique that will give the maximum effect is determined after visiting the site and assessing its specifics, the degree of infection and a number of other factors.
- We develop individual sets of preventive measures, because our company is concerned not only with ridding you of insects, but also with minimizing the risks of their reappearance in your apartment or house!
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What if they reappeared due to dampness?
If woodlice reappears in your home, you need to check whether all preventive measures have been followed. If all the measures have been followed, then you should contact professional exterminators; they will definitely destroy the wood lice forever. If not all measures were followed, then it is necessary to eliminate the cause that provoked the reappearance of woodlice and destroy them by any effective method.
If you carefully monitor the cleanliness of the bathroom and toilet, and do not allow the humidity level to increase, then woodlice will definitely not settle in your home.
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Who is this silverfish?
Common silverfish (also beautifully called “sugar fish”) are usually called small wingless insects belonging to the bristletail order. The size of the insect is less than two centimeters. The flat body, tapering towards the tail, resembles in its shape an elongated triangle or a silvery drop. Thanks to the small silver-gray scales covering the body, the name of the insect in Russian appeared - silverfish. The white elongated silverfish has two long front and three rear antennae that are clearly visible, and short legs are barely visible along the body. Experts note that the insect acquires a light color only after the third molt, and until that time its color is dark gray. The habitat of silverfish in natural conditions is dark and well-moistened areas, under fallen compacted leaves, stones or old snags. Insects that have settled in an apartment or house will select similar living conditions - they definitely will not like a dry and bright room. Unfortunately, a modern bathroom can be considered an ideal place for the appearance of small parasites of all kinds. It is in this room that silverfish most often appear. Interestingly, according to one version, the homeland of this insect is the tropics, so silverfish are looking for a moist, secluded place at a temperature of 21 degrees Celsius. Light frightens these swift tiny creatures; they lead an active lifestyle in the dark, getting out of their hiding places at night. These insects are quite rare in large numbers in the bathroom, usually one or two individuals.
Silverfish prefer to eat products of plant origin, which may contain starch and polysaccharides. This can be flour, sugar, fabrics, paste, paper - often toilet paper. Sometimes silverfish are brought into the house in a roll of toilet paper, into which it could have crawled in the warehouse. Consequently, this insect can pose a danger to carefully stored family photographs, book bindings, wallpaper and various papers. In addition, from organic food, silverfish can consume mold fungi and unicellular algae, small pieces of garbage accumulated under rugs, old rags, etc. For humans, silverfish are completely harmless, they cannot bite, they do not spread pathogenic bacteria, they do not cause harm to health, but they are annoying only by the fact of their presence in the toilet or bathroom and the rare damage to photographs, toilet paper or wallpaper.
