Silverfish control in London
These small, silvery insects thrive in damp, dark places such as bathrooms, kitchens, and basements. Though they’re not harmful, they feed on paper, glue, and fabric, causing gradual damage over time. Their presence often signals excess moisture.
Risks of silverfish
Destruction of property
Silverfish allergy
Can attract other pests
Our way. The right way.
Investigate
We carry out a thorough inspection of your home, top to bottom, inside and out, to look for silverfish activity, damp areas, hiding places and any conditions that are helping them thrive.
Protect
Your Pestpatrol technician will apply targeted treatments in key areas where silverfish live and feed, such as bathrooms, kitchens, airing cupboards, lofts and along skirting boards, using safe and professional products.
Fortify
We help keep silverfish away by pointing out gaps, cracks and other access points, and by advising on moisture control, ventilation and storage so your home is less attractive to them in future.
Keep Watch
We will explain what signs to look out for, such as sightings in bathrooms and cupboards or damage to books and clothes, and ask you to contact Pestpatrol if you notice new activity between visits.
Report
After each visit you receive a clear written report explaining what we found, what we have done and our recommendations to help keep your home free from silverfish.
Follow up
If needed, we arrange follow up visits to check progress and top up treatments, and we are on hand between appointments if you have any concerns or spot further signs of silverfish.
Frequently asked questions
Silverfish are not known to bite or spread disease, so they are not usually harmful to people or pets. However, they can damage belongings by feeding on fabrics, paper and stored food, and in some cases their presence and shed skins may aggravate allergies or respiratory problems.
Silverfish often move in from outside when they find damp, sheltered spots around a building. They can also be brought indoors by accident in cardboard boxes, second hand books, stored papers, fabrics or infested dry food products, then spread out into bathrooms, kitchens and lofts.
Silverfish feed mainly on carbohydrates such as sugars and starches. They will happily eat paper, cardboard, glue in book bindings, wallpaper paste, linen, silk, some stored foods and even dead insects, which is why they are often found in cupboards, lofts and around bookshelves.
Professional pest controllers start by finding where silverfish are hiding and what is attracting them, usually damp, dark areas. A Pestpatrol technician will treat key spots with suitable insecticides or dusts and advise on reducing humidity, fixing leaks and sealing gaps to make your home less welcoming to silverfish in the long term.
Silverfish eggs are tiny, usually about 1 millimetre long, and are oval in shape. When first laid they are soft and whitish, then they become tougher and more yellow or cream coloured after a short time, often hidden in cracks, crevices or behind skirting boards.
No, silverfish do not bite humans or pets. The main concern with them is damage to items such as books, clothes and wallpaper rather than any direct harm to people.
You can help to control silverfish by reducing humidity, fixing leaks, improving ventilation, decluttering, storing papers and fabrics in sealed containers and using sticky traps in places where you have seen them. Because they hide very well, a professional treatment from Pestpatrol is usually the most reliable way to get rid of an established silverfish problem.
The cost of silverfish pest control depends on the size of the property, how many rooms are affected and whether there are underlying damp issues to address. Pestpatrol provides clear, tailored quotations after an inspection, so the best way to find out the price is to contact us for a free, no obligation survey and quote.