silverfish gone, books protected.
Indoor silverfish treatment that stops the damage to books, photos, fabric, and stored goods. Included in every Annual Guardian and 360 Ultimate treatment. From $189.
qbcc + qld health licensed
family-owned, pimpama-based
humid storage, free buffet.
Silverfish need three things: warmth, humidity above 70%, and a starch or cellulose food source. SE QLD provides all three for most of the year, especially in built-up storage areas (wardrobes, linen cupboards, garage shelving, bookshelves backed against external walls). Once silverfish establish, they cause slow but visible damage to books, photographs, wallpaper, fabric (especially natural fibres like cotton, linen, and silk), and any stored goods with starch content.
You usually find silverfish by the damage first, the silver scale-shed left on bookshelves, the holed pages in stored books and photo albums, the fine notching on the edges of folded fabric. Adult silverfish themselves are nocturnal and hide during the day in dark, undisturbed voids. Our standard pest treatment includes silverfish, with focused application to wardrobes, linen cupboards, garage shelving, and roof void access points.
the silverfish problem
Common silverfish (Lepisma saccharinum)
Slender, 12 to 19mm, metallic silver-grey, three long tail bristles. Wingless, fast-moving when disturbed. Lives for up to 8 years in stable conditions, which is unusual for an insect of this size. Females lay eggs in cracks and dark voids, with most activity in undisturbed storage areas.
Where they hide
Linen cupboards behind stacked towels and sheets. Wardrobes behind seldom-worn clothing. Garage shelving with stored books, boxes, photo albums. Behind skirting boards in older Queenslanders. Inside roof voids, especially where cardboard storage boxes sit on the manhole entry. Bathroom cupboards if the cupboard is poorly ventilated.
What you will see
Direct sighting: a silverfish dashes out from under a moved book or towel. They flee from light immediately, which is why most sightings are brief and from the corner of your eye.
Damage to paper: fine notching on the edges of stored pages and photos. Small irregular holes in book pages. Yellow staining on stored fabric and wallpaper.
Damage to fabric: fine notching along the edges of folded fabric in linen cupboards. Cotton and linen most affected, synthetic fabrics largely safe.
Faecal pellets: tiny black flecks like pepper grains scattered in stored boxes and on shelving surfaces.
4 steps. no shortcuts.
Silverfish treatment is integrated into our standard Annual Guardian and 360 Ultimate treatments. The process targets storage zones specifically.
- 01 inspect
Walk-through of all storage areas: linen cupboards, wardrobes, bathroom cupboards, garage shelving, and roof void access. We check for damage signs and active harbourage.
- 02 spray
Professional residual product applied to skirting boards behind cupboards, wardrobe interiors, linen cupboard shelving, and dark voids where silverfish shelter during the day. External barrier treatment limits new ingress.
- 03 bait
Silverfish do not respond to gel bait the same way ants and cockroaches do. Instead, this step is a long-residual dust treatment applied to roof voids, wall cavities, and any subfloor access points where silverfish populations move between rooms.
- 04 guarantee
PestiesProtect+ warranty signed on the day. Service record emailed within the hour. Photo policy and call-back terms in plain English.
silverfish control pricing
Silverfish control is included in every Annual Guardian and 360 Ultimate Protection treatment. No separate booking required, no add-on cost.
annual guardian
- full internal and external spray
- cockroach + ant gel baiting
- covers ants, cockroaches, spiders, silverfish
360° ultimate protection
- everything in annual guardian
- perimetershield: fence lines, garden beds, paths
- roofprotect: insecticide dust + rodent baits in roof void, covers ants, cockroaches, spiders + rodents in the roof space
- treatment under all white goods
- wasp nest removal included
silverfish control in your suburb
Pesties services the Burleigh Heads to Logan corridor plus South Brisbane. Silverfish treatment is included in every Annual Guardian and 360 Ultimate Protection treatment in every suburb we cover. Some of our most-booked:
- silverfish control pimpama
- silverfish control ormeau
- silverfish control coomera
- silverfish control helensvale
- silverfish control hope island
- silverfish control surfers paradise
- silverfish control robina
- silverfish control burleigh heads
- silverfish control springwood
- silverfish control logan central
- silverfish control beenleigh
- silverfish control shailer park
- silverfish control forest lake
- silverfish control sunnybank
- silverfish control calamvale
- silverfish control macgregor
Not seeing your suburb? We cover the entire Burleigh to Logan corridor plus South Brisbane. View the full service area or contact us.
silverfish control faq
Do I need a special silverfish treatment, or is the standard treatment enough?
Standard Annual Guardian and 360 Ultimate Protection treatments include silverfish control as a covered pest. The standard treatment plus focused attention to wardrobes, linen cupboards, and storage areas is enough for the vast majority of SE QLD homes. Heavy infestations in older homes with poor ventilation occasionally need a follow-up application, which is covered under the PestiesProtect+ warranty.
How long until silverfish stop appearing?
You will usually see a sharp drop in silverfish sightings within 2 to 3 weeks. The residual product persists for the full warranty window so any silverfish that hatch from existing eggs encounter the product. Damage to stored goods stops within the first week as adults die.
Are the products safe for stored books and clothes?
Yes. The products we apply do not stain or damage paper, fabric, or stored goods. We apply to shelving, skirting, and structural surfaces, not to the books or fabrics themselves. Once dry (30 to 60 minutes) you can return all stored items to the treated cupboard.
Should I throw out infested books and fabric?
Inspect each item individually. Books and fabric with light damage (edge notching only) are usually fine to keep, the silverfish that caused the damage will die in the treatment. Items with active silverfish or heavy damage, especially in stored cardboard boxes, are worth discarding to prevent re-introduction.
What if silverfish come back?
Every Annual Guardian and 360 Ultimate Protection treatment carries the PestiesProtect+ money-back guarantee. If silverfish activity returns inside the warranty window, send us a photo and we book a free service call. Full T&Cs on our warranty page.
How can I prevent silverfish coming back?
Reduce humidity in storage areas (a small dehumidifier in a problem cupboard works well). Store paper and fabric in sealed plastic tubs rather than cardboard boxes. Vacuum cupboard corners and shelving every few months. Annual pest treatment maintains the residual barrier.
the pestiesprotect+ money-back guarantee
Silverfish are a covered pest under both the 6-month Annual Guardian PestiesProtect+ and the 12-month 360 Ultimate Protection PestiesProtect+ warranties. If silverfish activity returns inside the warranty window, send us a photo and we book a free service call.