Tiny Jumping Bugs In The Bathroom – Revealed

At the peak of summer, there’s a sudden appearance of tiny jumping bugs in the bathroom. 

They’re blackish. And their numbers increase in your bathroom pretty quickly.

Soon, they become a nuisance in your bathroom and places like the kitchen, basement, and even in your bedroom!

So, what are these tiny critters that hop from one place to another?

Where do they come from? And what can you do to stop them?

Keep reading to find the answers.

Springtails – The Tiny Jumping Bugs In The Bathroom

The tiny jumping bugs in the bathroom are springtails. Springtail bugs are harmless bugs that enter homes during the peak of the summer months.

When the weather outdoors becomes too hot and dry, springtails will look for mild places and moist areas to live.

Springtails will target those areas in your home where there’s maximum water usage.

So, your bathroom is their prime real estate.

However, places like laundry rooms, basements, and even kitchens can be their hiding places.

Springtails are moisture bugs. They survive in the damp places of the outdoors.

So, if you’ve got a pond or a swimming pool on your property, or wet soil beds, then these tiny jumping bugs will inhabit these places.

Outdoors springtails don’t prefer to live under direct sunlight. So, they’ll hide in the damp areas in the shaded places.

Outdoors, the springtails will feed on the fungi, molds, and decaying organic matter.

Springtails will feed on the molds, algae, and fungi that develop on the bathroom floor, walls, bathtub, shower drains, and bathroom sink inside your bathroom.

What Do Springtails Look Like?

Springtails (Collembola) come in different colors. Most of them are tiny black bugs.

However, there are greyish and bright-colored springtails too. Some of the springtails can also have yellowish stripes.

A fully grown adult springtail grows only up to one-sixteenth of an inch.

Because of such a small size, springtails might not be visible to you in the bathroom unless their number grows.

Their body shape is cigar-shaped and globular. So, springtails are not as oval or oblong-shaped as other bathroom bugs.

Springtails can’t fly. They don’t have any wings, and they’ve got six legs.

But springtails are good jumpers. A tail-like appendage, known as furcula, is attached to the springtails’ abdomen.

When disturbed, springtails use the furcula to hoist themselves. With its help, springtails can jump up to up to 4 inches.

As springtails are tiny and can jump, you may confuse them with fleas.

When these springtails are jumping around in your bathtub, you may wonder why there are fleas in your bathtub.

Springtails don’t bite humans and pets. They’re not even a risk to your plants.

However, springtails can damage the seedlings in your yard or garden by feeding on their roots.

How Do Springtails Enter Homes And Bathrooms?

The cracks on the walls, vents, open doors, and open windows are the primary places that springtails use to get inside your home.

Many other tiny bugs and flies, including ants, use those cracks to invade your home.

Springtails can also be present in the potted plants and firewood you bring inside your home from your yard.

Once inside your home, springtails will move close to the water source or damp areas.

That’s the time when they make a move towards your bathroom.

However, they can directly jump into your bathroom through the bathroom windows.

Even though these hexapods are not pests, springtails can soon be a nuisance in your bathroom.

Their springtail infestation can grow fast if you don’t take steps to get rid of them.

When their numbers increase, these tiny black jumping bugs gather in places like plumbing underneath sinks, drain areas, bathtubs, sinks, and even toilet bowls.

Fortunately, getting rid of springtails inside your bathroom is straightforward.

You can do that even without hiring a pest controller.

Let’s find it out.

How To Get Rid Of Springtails In The Bathroom?

There are five primary steps to eliminate springtails in the bathroom –

1. Remove organic wastes in your yard
2. Fix water leaks
3. Seal gaps and cracks on your home’s walls and windows
4. Remove molds on your bathroom floor and walls
5. Control the moisture in your bathroom 

Let’s get into each of them.

Step#1 – Remove Organic Wastes In Your Yard

Let’s face it. The source of springtails in your bathroom is your yard.

These tiny jumping black bugs hide in the damp organic wastes like leaf litter, compost piles, and places like mulch beds.

So, before you start to get rid of springtails in your bathroom, you must get rid of their source.

That’s why, start with removing the organic wastes in the yard.

You’ll remove their hiding places and food source by getting rid of the organic wastes.

If there’s a compost pile on your property, it’d be best to spray a mixture of white vinegar and water in your compost pile.

That’s one of the best natural ways to keep bugs from making your compost piles their nesting and feeding grounds.

The compost piles are home to bugs like fungus gnats, drain flies, cluster flies, mosquitoes, and springtails.

Pro Tip: If there are overgrown shrubs and bushes along the home’s perimeter, trim them.

Springtails use the vegetation adjacent to the home’s walls as a pedestal to jump inside your home.

Step#2 – Fix Water Leaks To Deny The Springtails The Moisture They Need To Survive

Once you remove their breeding and feeding grounds, it’s time to deny them another important life source – moisture.

Springtails enter homes and bathrooms in search of moisture and water sources.

That’s what keeps them alive.

And the moisture levels of your home increase when there are leaking pipes on your property. 

Check the pipes around your home’s foundation. Any leakage in these pipes will increase the overall dampness levels of your home.

That attracts not just springtails but many other bugs too.

Then check out for any leakages inside your home. Start with the plumbing area underneath the sinks of your bathroom. 

Fix the water leakages with a sealant.

Step#3 – Seal Gaps And Cracks On Your Bathroom’s Walls And Windows

The cracks and crevices are the entry points for these jumping bugs. 

Springtails will crawl through these thinnest and tiniest gaps and take shelter in your bathroom.

Find those gaps on the bathroom walls, floors, the home’s foundation, and the windowsills and crawl spaces.

The cracks on the shower grout are home to many tiny bugs and larvae of flies like drain flies.

And the crevices on the bathroom walls can be a secret hiding place for wasps too!

So, on finding those gaps, caulk those crevices.

It’ll be best to use a silicone-based sealant to do the job, as these sealants are tough, durable, and waterproof.

Also, bugs can’t chew through them.

However, if the cracks are too big and need repair, do it.

These cracks are entryways to harmless bugs like springtails and invasive pests like roaches and termites.

Plus, they’re hiding places for bugs like pseudoscorpions and centipedes.

Step#4 – Remove Molds On Your Bathroom Floor And Walls

Molds that grow on the bathroom floors and walls because of dampness are food for springtails in the bathroom.

Before removing those molds, take a vacuum cleaner and vacuum clean your bathroom.

Vacuum cleaning will remove the wastes in your bathroom. It’ll also remove any springtails that the vacuum cleaner may encounter.

However, ensure that your bathroom is dry enough for vacuum cleaning.

After cleaning, take a mold cleaner. Pour the mold cleaner on the moldy surfaces on the bathroom floor and walls.

Take a scrubber and scrub off the molds from the surfaces.

Molds and fungi are food springtails in the bathroom. Removing the molds will deny them the food source that springtails need to survive and breed.

Molds are also a source of mold mites that inhabit bathrooms. So, removing the molds will eliminate the springtails and the mold mites.

Step#5 – Control The Moisture Levels In Your Bathroom 

If you live in a humid state, then moisture levels in the atmosphere will always be high.

That’s bad news.

High humidity levels in a home’s air always attract bugs and pests.

But there’s an easy way to reduce the moisture levels – dehumidifier.

Install a dehumidifier in your bathroom if bugs and flies are a nuisance despite taking all the measures.

You can also use a fan inside your bathroom to keep the bathroom dry.

Keep the fan on after a shower or after water usage till the water on the bathroom floor dries up. 

Conclusion

Springtails are the tiny jumping black bugs that you see in your bathroom.

Their sightings are common during the summer months. Springtails enter homes when the weather outdoors becomes too hot, and sources of moisture dry out.

But springtails are harmless bugs, and they don’t bite humans and pets.

However, their numbers in their home can spike up if you don’t get rid of them.

This guide revealed the five steps that you can use right now to eliminate springtails without using any insecticide sprays.