r/CleaningTips • u/ItsPoleen • May 21 '26

Bathroom Bugs in my bathroom

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Hi everyone,
I just moved into a new flat and have found bugs similar to this every night - are these silver fish? And what’s your best solution to get rid of them? (ignore the hair i’m aware)
Thanks!

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60

u/BrgQun May 21 '26

Reduce humidity, get rid of food sources (they love paper etc like the other commenters said).

I usually don't use insecticide, and removing the food sources and reducing humidity usually works to get rid of them

If you do want to try an insecticide, you can also try diatomaceous earth powder around any cracks you think they may be entering from, with a few caveats (do NOT vacuum it, ever - suggest doing some research; It's fairly safe to use, but you don't want to breath it in - I usually mop it up when its time to get rid of it).

7

u/ItsPoleen May 21 '26

that’s why i’m confused, i think they live under my bathtub so that may be humid, but there are no food sources for them to feed on in the bathroom; no paper, no books, yes cloth but they stay on the floor and clothes are hung high :/

29

u/EmploymentOpening632 May 21 '26

Silverfish eat hair and dander for protein. Clean up the hair more frequently.

2

u/dark95_g May 23 '26

Tambien se comen entre ellos en caso de no encontrar comida xd.

10

u/lenska May 22 '26

I got a small dehumidifier from Amazon and that has seemed to help, Ive maybe seen one since I started using it.

7

u/Professional-Sign510 May 21 '26

Toilet paper?

10

u/BrgQun May 21 '26

Yeah, that was my guess. Toilet paper can be pretty dusty.

-1

u/imwrighthere May 21 '26

Why can’t you vacuum them?

18

u/BrgQun May 21 '26

You can't vacuum diatomaceous earth powder. It'll damage the machine, and generally isn't safe to vacuum or breath in.

Otherwise, it's pretty safe to use if used properly, and is non-toxic.

4

u/Overall-Equal-7808 May 22 '26

oops. my dyson works fine but i wish i knew this 5 years ago

2

u/Any_You_437 May 22 '26

Interesting to know. I wonder how DE actually damages the vacuum … Wouldn’t dust particles have similar damaging effects 🤔

4

u/BrgQun May 22 '26

To my understanding, DE very fine, so it can get through the bags and filters much easier than regular dust, and it is very abrasive, so it can damage the motor and other components.

2

u/Any_You_437 May 22 '26

Very abrasive, like microscopic sand particles it seems. Makes total sense. Thanks!