What to do if there are wood lice in the bathroom

Woodlice in the toilet or bathroom is a fairly common occurrence that spoils all the pleasure of taking water procedures. No, the insect itself is completely safe for humans, but its disgusting appearance spoils the mood and sets one in a warlike mood. The latter calms down a little after many months of struggle with the unwanted neighborhood, and that’s all, because these creatures are very worthy opponents, capable of surviving and adapting. It turns out that without specific knowledge on how to deal with wood lice in the bathroom, victory will clearly not be yours.

Reasons for the appearance of woodlice in an apartment

Woodlice are representatives of crustaceans. They have an intimidating appearance. They have a small oval body, 7 pairs of small legs, as shown in the photo. They come in marble grey, black and white. On top of the body is a shell consisting of 8 segments. The insect has two eyes, partially hidden under the shell, and a pair of antennae. Their appearance disgusts many.

Insects are attracted to food and moisture. They enter the room through ventilation, cracks, and plumbing. You can notice their colonies where daylight rarely penetrates:

bath;
bathroom;
bin;
linoleum;
skirting boards;
spaces between tiles if there is damage;
drain hose from the washing machine;
thresholds;
stands for pots with indoor flowers.

The insect can live between the folds of wet rags that have been left unattended for a long time.

Crustaceans feed on wet paper, skin particles, garbage, dust, lichen, and mold. White woodlice in the bathroom often live on damp towels.

Silverfish

But silverfish will not cause any harm to people, but it is dangerous for wallpaper. The insect lives in damp and dark places. Its nutrition consists of plant substances that contain starch and polysaccharides.

The silverfish ventures outside its home in order to obtain food for itself. And she looks for it in places that are similar in microclimate to her home.

It is not difficult to recognize the named white insect in the bathroom. What does it look like? Its body is elongated and white; it has long front and rear forked antennae. But, by the way, silverfish become white after the third molt. Before that it was dark.

Chemicals

The surest way to combat woodlice in the bathroom and toilet is with chemicals. You can buy them at a hardware store. The following will help you get rid of insects in your bathroom and apartment:

"Tetrix". An expensive but effective remedy that will destroy them in 2-3 days.
"Varan" is an aerosol. The woodlice repellent in the bathroom acts almost instantly upon direct contact. The remaining insects die within 1-2 days.
"Gett." After treatment, the small woodlice in the apartment die within a couple of days. Very toxic and dangerous for fish. Therefore, before processing it is necessary to isolate access to aquariums.

To get rid of insects, you can call a special service that will carry out complete disinfection.

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.

Prevention

To avoid the question of where the small crustaceans came from and how to get rid of them, it is important to carry out prevention. The following recommendations will help significantly reduce the risk of their occurrence:

Maintain normal humidity levels. The room must be ventilated regularly. After taking a shower, open the window. Open the door at night to allow excess moisture to escape.
After washing dishes, wipe the sink dry.
Perform general cleaning weekly. Throughout the apartment and bathroom, wipe the floors with bleach.
In the kitchen, remove crumbs and do not leave cans of cereals open.
Pour a small amount of boric acid mixed with chalk 1:4 under the furniture. This will repel pests. You can use aromatic plants - wormwood, lavender, rosemary.
Carry out cosmetic repairs to the premises. Seal all the cracks where insects come from, repair the taps, eliminate leaks.

When carrying out regular cleaning, use products that will not harm humans, but will help repel insects. Wipe floors and surfaces with soap and soda solution or use chlorine products.

Who are woodlice and how do they get into the house?

Woodlouse.

Despite popular belief, woodlice are not insects, but crustaceans. Their small oblong body is covered with a dense chitinous shell, which is most often colored white, brown or gray.

Woodlice usually make their way into human homes through ventilation shafts and sewers. Also, these unwanted guests can be brought in with soil for indoor plants.

What's the harm?

Woodlice in the bathroom and kitchen is an unpleasant fact. They are not dangerous for humans. The pest does not bite or sting. They scare away only by their appearance and their ability to gather in colonies. When the light turns on, they begin to scatter, which affects the nervous system.

They do not affect food or household utensils, but only plants. Crustaceans' favorite delicacy is live, rotten plants. The question of whether they are capable of carrying various infections and why they are dangerous to humans remains unexplored. There is no evidence that the pest carries the infection.

Crustaceans pose a danger to indoor plants. They eat fresh leaves, damage roots, and compact the soil. The flower quickly dies.

There are a lot of ways to get woodlice out of the bathroom. To get the best results, it is recommended to use several methods at once, especially when there are large numbers of pests.

What to do if you get re-infected?

In the case where woodlice live in the bathroom and do not respond to all your attempts, it’s time to call disinfectants. These could be employees of the city sanitary and epidemiological station, or employees of a private organization. Usually, it is in the hands of the latter that all the most relevant, effective and most harmless drugs and devices for humans end up.

You know what woodlice eat in the bathroom, and now you have to find out that they can do this at the same time in yours and in your neighbor’s bathroom. This means that you will have to work together to fight against the pest: check hoods and meshes, chimneys and other communications. It is better to contact disinfectants with the whole house, because individually you will have to fight pests forever.

To prevent a re-infestation, eliminate everything that insects love in the bath: from dampness to darkness and dirt. Remember that pests will be with you until the bathroom is perfectly hygienic, dry, light and warm. Keep your home clean, ventilate it often, let sunlight in, and don't skimp on artificial lighting. Thanks to all this, you will be able to protect your home from the invasion of disgusting creatures, prevent the creation of an unfavorable epidemiological situation, and simply enjoy daily water procedures.

Options for the best wood lice repellents

We suggest exploring several options for drugs that will help you cope with beetles or eliminate their food source without much effort. This is especially true for mold. Reviews will help you navigate when completing the task, which drug is best to choose.

Ordinary quicklime

Produced by Russia.
Form – in the form of powder or lumps.
You should not buy construction lime; it is best to purchase rubble lime or for cultivating your garden.
4. Lime is used as a means to remove wood lice; it also disinfects the space in the room, preventing fungi and mold from forming.
Prices vary, depending on the weight of the packages - on average from 23 rubles. for 1 kg, up to 150 or more rubles. for a more voluminous blend.

Review:

Svetlana, St. Petersburg. I don’t know how woodlice appear in the bathroom, but I used lime to get rid of the ones that got into my apartment. I left the bucket overnight. But then I decided to hold it for another day or two. It turned out that all the woodlice ran away somewhere on their own, apparently, and those who didn’t make it in time died themselves. I swept out the dead with a broom. It's simple, like any brilliant solution.

Dichlorvos ECO

Manufactured in Russia.
Form: insecticidal liquid in a pressurized can.
Volume – 190 ml.
Toxicity is average.
Spray the affected areas and leave for 30 minutes, then wash and clean everything.
Average price – 56-75 rubles.

Review of "Dichlorvos ECO":

Sasha, Minsk. I didn’t even expect that dichlorvos could also kill creepers such as woodlice. It turns out that this substance is not only against flying or bloodthirsty jumping insects, but also against crawling ones - woodlice. I poisoned them with them in my shared bathroom. They huddled behind the toilet between the pipes. Everyone is dead!

Antifungal agent "Abedis 06"

Produced by Russia and CIS countries.
Product form – concentrate.
Toxicity – moderate, dangerous for children and animals.
It should be used diluted according to the instructions.
Approximate price – 750 rubles.

Review of "Abedis 06":

Natalya Ivanovna, Moscow. I used this in the bathroom. Abedis removed the mold in one go; I didn’t even think that I would do everything so quickly. That’s why I poisoned the insects with a mixture of tobacco and salt. Because they sometimes ran indoors. Now about 6-7 months have passed and I don’t detect any mold or bugs. Good product, I recommend it!

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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What is the best way to fight it – with the help of professional pest control or on your own?

Disinsection is the destruction of insects. Although wood lice are crustaceans, pest control agents destroy them too. In most cases, you can cope on your own, especially if there are not very many animals.

There are two types of self-disinfestation: folk remedies and chemical ones. The first option involves preparing a solution or mixture at home. Chemicals for treating premises are sold in stores.

The advantage of self-disinfestation is its low cost, especially if you use folk remedies. The disadvantage is the lack of a guaranteed result. True, the effectiveness of disinfestation with chemicals is higher than the destruction of wood lice using traditional methods.

The advantage of professional pest control is guaranteed efficiency. The disadvantage is the high cost of processing the premises.

Damage caused by woodlice

For humans, these insects are practically harmless, since they do not bite or attack. Despite this, they can carry various fungal and infectious diseases on their paws as they move across various surfaces, including in the toilet.

For those who grow houseplants, wood lice can cause harm, although not significantly. With high humidity, moss can grow in pots, where woodlice can breed. These insects compact the soil in the pots of some tropical plants, which is not desirable.

How to get rid of it using folk remedies?

Table salt should be poured into the dark, damp corners of the bathroom, behind the pipes, under the bathtub. The second option: make a strong water-salt solution and spray it in the desired areas.
Throw 3 grams of soda, red pepper and tobacco into 1 liter of water, stir and spray.
Dissolve 100 g of dry bread kvass in 0.5 liters of boiling water. Apply in the same way as previous solutions.
Dilute 10 g of dry boric acid in a small amount of water, for example, 120 ml, sprinkle.
At night, place birch brooms or damp rags in damp corners. In the morning there will be a lot of woodlice in such a simple trap. They need to be shaken out into a bucket or basin and poured boiling water over them to kill them.

We invite you to watch a video on how to get rid of woodlice using folk remedies:

We invite you to familiarize yourself with the description and classification of woodlice, as well as harm and types.

Ways to fight

The apartment is mainly inhabited by individuals of marbled gray or brown-brown color. Their elimination must be approached comprehensively:

cleaning;
sealing cracks;
fight against parasites.

spring-cleaning

Since individuals appear and reproduce in conditions of high humidity and dampness, it is necessary to eliminate these problems. First of all, you should dry the premises thoroughly. Air conditioners and fans should be installed in the bathroom, toilet, and kitchen. There are special moisture absorbers that can help keep rooms dry. It is important to regularly ventilate the premises in the future. Wet clothes, interior items, and books can also be dried.

It is recommended to check the operation of plumbing and household appliances. If there are leaks somewhere, fix them. It is necessary to reduce the formation of condensation. For this purpose, a hood is installed in the room. The equipment must be cleaned regularly.

Garbage and leftover food are removed from the premises. Mold and dirt are removed. The bathtub, toilet, and kitchen are checked for deposits of wet rags, towels, and linen. If the mats do not absorb moisture well and dry slowly, they should be replaced.

You should pay attention to the plants. Crops damaged by pests are transplanted into new soil. Rotten and affected areas are first removed and the roots are treated.

Sometimes there are white woodlice in apartments, which are quite difficult to notice. They are considered terrarium orderlies and act as additional food for exotic animals. But in urban housing conditions, pests prefer to feed on decaying remains. They cause particular harm to tropical indoor crops, as they are very fond of their delicate stems and roots.

Folk remedies

The means at hand will be of interest to supporters of safe ways to deal with uninvited “guests.”

Kvass. We dilute 100 g of dry powder in 500 ml of water. We spray the pest habitats with the mixture. We close the room for eight hours. After this we carry out wet cleaning.
Tobacco. Take half a teaspoon of dry tobacco, soda ash, and ground red pepper. Mix the ingredients, pour boiling water, mix well. We insist for about two hours. We spray the solution indoors. Then wash it off with any chlorine-based product, waiting eight hours.
Boric acid. Dilute 2 g of powder in 500 ml of water. Spray. The acid will destroy the pest's shell, which will lead to its death. You can make balls out of it by placing them around the perimeter of the room. Add a little semolina or egg to them.
Quicklime. The most radical method. Be sure to use protective gloves and goggles. We leave the product in containers in the corners of the room. We leave the premises for three days. Upon returning, we ventilate the rooms well and carry out wet cleaning.
Bleaching. Dissolve 50 ml of bleach in 1 liter of water. Spray the affected areas. Children and pets should not enter the treated premises. After a day, we do wet cleaning, thoroughly rinse off the bleach.
Banya broom. We form a trap from a damp birch or oak “bouquet”. We leave it in a pest habitat. During the night, woodlice will climb into the “house”. In the morning, you should take the broom out of the apartment or throw it in the toilet.
Salt. Sprinkle the product in places where crustaceans accumulate. The method is not effective enough, since wood lice can simply bypass the salt piles.
Combustible mixture. We repel pests with kerosene or gasoline. We soak pieces of fabric in the substance and lay them out in the room. The method is quite risky, given the fire hazard of flammable mixtures. Also, their pairs are unsafe in closed spaces.
Steam. Individuals die at temperatures above 70°C. We treat places where wood lice accumulate with a steam cleaner or a hot jet of a hairdryer. The method does not provide long-term preventive protection.

The main signs that an indoor crop has become a food source for woodlice are the presence of affected areas on the stem, leaves, and soil compaction. In the latter case, you need to take a tool and loosen the soil. If there are larvae or white worms in it, the plant is infected.

Potato baits are used to save flowers. You need to cut a hole in the root crop and place it in a pot. During the night, the pests will crawl into the “shelter”. You should throw them away in the morning.

Chemical attack

Manufacturers produce products that are harmful to pests, but safe for people and pets. Control can be carried out using different types of insecticidal agents.

Aerosol. Suitable if pests are localized in one room. For large areas you will need many cans. The products “Varan”, “Kombat Superspray” and analogues do not have a long-term effect. They are also inconvenient to use. Care must be taken when using them - use protective clothing and goggles, and ventilate the room well after spraying.
Concentrate. It needs to be diluted and sprayed. The drugs included in the group are highly effective and economical, as they are diluted with water. Tetrix products “Xulat Micro”, “Delta Zone” and others are adapted for household use. They are distinguished by their prolonged action and are presented on the market in different packaging.
Powder. Scatters around the perimeter of the room. The products “Tarax”, “Phenaxin”, “Neopin” are quite effective. But not all individuals move along the floor. Many of them like to huddle on walls. In this case, powder products can be used as an auxiliary control measure in combination with other methods.
Pencil (chalk). Convenient to use if you need to process vertical surfaces. Acts as a kind of barrier. Apply with several strokes, for example, on the ventilation grille. Getting through it, woodlice will die.
Gel. A product designed to kill cockroaches and ants is also effective for eliminating crustaceans. However, the struggle can last a long time - about a month.
Trap. Bait with a sticky base is less effective and is often used for preventive purposes.

It is advisable to use insecticides if all routes of entry from the outside have been blocked. It is recommended to choose not highly effective drugs, but products that are safe for humans and pets and do not have a strong odor. Any product must be used according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Help from professionals

If you cannot get rid of pests on your own, you can use the services of special services. This option has a number of advantages.

Safety. In the course of their work, professionals use those drugs that are not capable of causing harm to others. They are odorless and do not leave marks on surfaces.
Careful processing. Specialists have various tools in their arsenal that allow them to destroy pests in the most inaccessible places of housing.
Commitment. Most services provide a guarantee of, for example, three to four months. If crustaceans appear earlier, the craftsmen will re-process for free.

If individuals are found during repairs, it is recommended to call the service before starting all work. Woodlice that are disturbed during repairs may “move” to another room, and their search will become more difficult. Also, the presence of debris and dirt can provoke increased reproduction of “centipedes”.

What are the reasons if these insects are infested in the bathroom and home toilet?

In human habitats, woodlice comes to damp and dark rooms. This is why it appears:

pipes or faucet are leaking;
after swimming there are puddles on the floor;
while taking a shower, water flows into the joint between the bathtub and the wall;
constant dampness in the room due to the fact that the neighbors above are flooded or the roof is leaking;
a pipe under the house burst;
the room is poorly heated or the ventilation system does not work.

A method suitable for a basement, cellar or garage

In the garden, individuals quickly eat vegetable crops, but in the basement they can spoil the harvest stored there.
The reason for the appearance of woodlice is high humidity. Therefore, people often find insects in the basement, cellar or garage, or other non-residential premises.

In the garden, individuals quickly eat vegetable crops, but in the basement they can spoil the harvest stored there.

A good solution to the problem is to use quicklime (calcium oxide). The composition is used only in non-residential premises.

When small particles of lime enter the air, they cause irritation of the mucous membranes, sneezing and coughing, therefore special attention is paid to safety precautions when working with calcium oxide:

Use a respirator, a tight bandage, and special glasses.
Protect the skin of your hands with rubber gloves.
Provide natural ventilation.

How to identify a pest

Woodlice and silverfish are equally unpleasant to look at and equally not parasites of humans. They can be pests, nothing more.

This type of symbiosis between humans and small arthropods is called commensalism, its essence is that a person receives neither harm nor benefit from them, but the “settlers” will always find food next to a person.

Woodlice are small crustaceans, and silverfish are from the class of insects.

Woodlice have an oval and convex body 10-15 mm long; its shell and long mustache are clearly visible.

Their usual habitat is wildlife; in an apartment they have to live in the toilet and bathroom - where there is the most moisture. They mostly feed on plants and decaying organic matter.

Silverfish have an elongated, elongated body. As well as long antennae and several curved tails at the back of the body. Color silver, black, greenish, colorless.

Individuals can grow in size from a few millimeters to 1.3 cm. They feed on organic debris and love cellulose (they can be found on books and near paper wallpaper). They readily eat any fabric and can damage clothing.

Read here How to get ants out of the house - reasons, methods and recommendations on how to get rid of them once and for all (100 photos)

Both of them make you want to get rid of them, no matter how harmless they may seem. And the methods of fighting against both species will be similar.

Woodlice habitat

Woodlice grow in dark, damp places, so in apartments woodlice often appear in bathrooms.

Household dirt can also attract them to the kitchen - under the sink, kitchen cabinets, in cracks - if small food debris has accumulated there. Woodlice are attracted to rotting, and if you do not regularly empty the trash can, they will begin to live in the peelings of vegetables and fruits.

Another habitat for them in the apartment is flower pots, especially those in which flowers grow that require abundant watering.