Woodlice in the bathroom: how to get rid of it using folk remedies, reasons for its appearance

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 do woodlice look like?

Contrary to the erroneous belief of most people, woodlice are not insects, but crustaceans. Individuals can be easily recognized by their characteristic appearance. For them it is quite repulsive and unpleasant.

What do woodlice look like? The most characteristic and distinctive feature is the body, which looks like a shell of 8 segments. Woodlice are characterized by:

Slightly convex oval body up to 2 cm long.
Two pairs of antennae: the first is short and underdeveloped, the second is long. With their help, woodlice navigate in space and look for sources of food.
A pair of eyes on the sides of the front of the body.
Seven pairs of thoracic limbs are designed to move the individual.
Body color is brownish-brown or marbled gray.
At a certain stage of development, individuals become white, but then their body becomes dark again.

Why know what woodlice look like? This will help develop the optimal strategy for controlling individuals. Crustacean beetles are often confused with silverfish, but the two species can be distinguished upon closer examination. They have quite a lot of striking external differences, which were indicated above. Also, if you touch woodlice, they will squirm or curl into a ball.

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 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.

Do they pose a danger?

Woodlice remain completely harmless creatures, although their appearance seems very unpleasant.

The squeals and screams are caused not by the creature’s aggressive behavior, but by the surprise of its appearance. And these are the most unpleasant consequences of such a meeting. In general, insects try to avoid contact with humans as much as possible. They don't even know how to sting or bite. If you touch a woodlice, it will simply curl up into a ball. And so on until the danger passes, it ceases to show any signs of life.

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These animals are also not a source of microbes or dangerous diseases or bacteria. They are harmless from a sanitary and hygienic point of view. They are not even capable of damaging furnishings to a minimal extent, unless they themselves begin to rot.

Woodlice are unlikely to want to crawl out of a dark and wet bath, so you don’t even have to worry about food in the kitchen.

These insects may not be very pleasant. Especially when they are in places where people usually walk without shoes, generally barefoot. Therefore, it is better to ensure that encounters with woodlice do not become the rule.

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:

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.

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.

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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About folk methods of struggle

Previously, woodlice were most often found in bathhouses. It really was always damp and dark there. Therefore, people already began to invent means to combat these pests.

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Thanks to this method, you can simply remove animals from the premises without causing any harm to them. It is enough to take brooms to expel arthropods. They need to be wetted overnight and then placed in the darkest and most humid places. In the morning you can simply collect the brooms and then take them outside. Brooms can simply be thrown into trash containers. It is permissible to burn them if there is a possibility that the insects could find their way back to the house.

There are also more modern recipes. Take red pepper, salt and tobacco, a pinch each. And add a liter of liquid to them. All that remains is to mix everything and leave the mixture indoors at night. The next morning, just wash everything off.

Mold and dampness in the bathroom - the likelihood of wood lice

There are many other folk recipes. Woodlice can escape if their path in dubious places is blocked by the most common salt. An excellent remedy is dry kvass diluted with boiling water in a ratio of one to five. All surfaces of the room must be treated with this composition. But it is imperative to follow the items from the previous list, because this is the only way to completely protect yourself from the repeated visit of insects. Otherwise, they may return, even if you try to exterminate them from time to time.