How to Get Rid of Fleas
Wash lived-in areas and items., Spray an insect growth regulator (IGR) like methoprene or pyriproxyfen., Become friends with your vacuum cleaner., Use botanical dust mixed with Borate acid., Reclaim your back yard., Fill shallow bowls of water with...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Wash lived-in areas and items.
Throw all of the pet bedding in the washing machine and let it go for a deep spin.
That includes anything that the pets like to regularly lie or sleep on, which isn't always intended to serve as pet bedding.
Wash it all
- the bedsheets, the throw on the sofa and the bathroom rug.
If the item is not salvageable or the inside of the pet bedding is full of dirt (dander, flea eggs, flea larvae, and flea excrement) best to throw it out and purchase a new bed.
Even if you wash the cover and put the inside of the bedding back in the cover, the eggs will still hatch.
Fleas attack humans, too.
If you suspect that you might be a victim of those blood-sucking vermin — even if you don't — you're going to need to wash your sheets and upholstery as well.
Anything that you regularly touch is a vector for fleas.
Wash it thoroughly. -
Step 2: Spray an insect growth regulator (IGR) like methoprene or pyriproxyfen.
Room foggers (total release aerosols) aren't as effective as sprays unless they contain an IGR to prevent the larvae from turning into adult fleas.
Without IGRs, larvae won't be controlled because they won't be reached at the base of carpet fibers where they develop., While the loose, potentially flea-infested items are being washed, arm yourself with a vacuum and suck the flea life out of every surface, nook and cranny you can find.
While you're doing this, send the pet(s) outside, or confine them to the bathroom, so that any fleas they're carrying won't jump onto the surface you just vacuumed.
Sticking a flea collar or broken-up mothballs in the vacuum cleaner helps to kill off the buggers that you've sucked up so they can't come back to haunt you.
Fleas mostly won't survive the vacuum, but you want to play it safe.
Focus on areas that don't get much exposure to sunlight (fleas like humid and cool spots), anywhere that you find dried blood and feces (flea debris), upholstered furniture, and crevices around baseboards and cabinets (that's where the eggs and larvae are probably hiding).
When the vacuum bag is full, seal it in a plastic trash bag and put it in a covered trash container, preferably outside.
Otherwise, the little buggers can crawl out and make themselves cozy again. , An adult flea will live only about a week without blood from its host, while a flea larva can live several months.
Treating your house with a safe, natural insecticide like botanical dust and borate helps attacks the larvae as well.
Botanical dusts are perhaps the oldest natural insecticides.
Borates are minerals that are used widely as wood preservatives, detergents, and insecticides, acting as stomach poisons to fleas.
They have low toxicity and are safe to use around humans.
While the botanical dust and borate mixture is very safe, care should be taken not to breathe it in.
Use a mask when applying the dust mixture in the home.
You should dust the carpet, the furniture, the bed, the dog or cat's bed.
It's good to do this when you're leaving your house for a good while, say 24 hours.
When you come back, either vacuum and wash the sheets on both beds, or simply wash the sheets and leave much of the borate mixture in the carpet as a deterrent to future flea reproduction. (It is safe.) , Before letting the pet(s) outside, prune foliage and trim grass to expose flea larvae to sunlight.Look around.
Do you see any dark, moist spots? Find a way to expose them to sunlight if you can.
Even after you have exposed these places to the sunlight, you may find that your pets are still bringing in fleas from outside.
The best way that you can solve this dilemma is to use either cedar wood chips or Eucalyptus leaves.
Fleas hate them, and they are all-natural, so you won't contaminate nearby plants (and other useful insects) or even run the risk of harming your pet.
Purchase cedar wood chips from your nearby convenience store and spread them over the affected areas.
If your dog can stand it, place cedar wood chips in its kennel.
Place eucalyptus oil in affected areas.
You can even plant eucalyptus bushes, although they grow quite robustly and can negatively affect the ability of other plants to grow around it. , This is pretty much a homemade flea trap.
The water and dish detergent mixture is like a toxic swimming pool for fleas.
Fleas, lured in by a light source, jump into the water and cannot escape.
Place the water and detergent mixture in a very shallow bowl, low enough to the ground so that the fleas accidentally hop into it.
An old flying disk or low-walled bowl does the job quite well.
Place the mixture next to a low-hanging light source, preferably something a little stronger than a night-light.
The fleas are attracted to the light.
After a few days, you should begin to notice that your bowl has turned into a flea cemetery. , A 4x4m room needs a 10 L/Day dehumidifier (it removes 10L of water in the air per day).
Apparently, fleas require 50% or higher relative humidity to live.
Keep the humidity in your room under 50% for 2 days will kill adult fleas and larva, and stop flea eggs from hatching.
You just need to vacuum the flea jerky and their eggs. -
Step 3: Become friends with your vacuum cleaner.
-
Step 4: Use botanical dust mixed with Borate acid.
-
Step 5: Reclaim your back yard.
-
Step 6: Fill shallow bowls of water with dish detergent.
-
Step 7: Get one or two dehumidifier(s) depending on the size of your room.
Detailed Guide
Throw all of the pet bedding in the washing machine and let it go for a deep spin.
That includes anything that the pets like to regularly lie or sleep on, which isn't always intended to serve as pet bedding.
Wash it all
- the bedsheets, the throw on the sofa and the bathroom rug.
If the item is not salvageable or the inside of the pet bedding is full of dirt (dander, flea eggs, flea larvae, and flea excrement) best to throw it out and purchase a new bed.
Even if you wash the cover and put the inside of the bedding back in the cover, the eggs will still hatch.
Fleas attack humans, too.
If you suspect that you might be a victim of those blood-sucking vermin — even if you don't — you're going to need to wash your sheets and upholstery as well.
Anything that you regularly touch is a vector for fleas.
Wash it thoroughly.
Room foggers (total release aerosols) aren't as effective as sprays unless they contain an IGR to prevent the larvae from turning into adult fleas.
Without IGRs, larvae won't be controlled because they won't be reached at the base of carpet fibers where they develop., While the loose, potentially flea-infested items are being washed, arm yourself with a vacuum and suck the flea life out of every surface, nook and cranny you can find.
While you're doing this, send the pet(s) outside, or confine them to the bathroom, so that any fleas they're carrying won't jump onto the surface you just vacuumed.
Sticking a flea collar or broken-up mothballs in the vacuum cleaner helps to kill off the buggers that you've sucked up so they can't come back to haunt you.
Fleas mostly won't survive the vacuum, but you want to play it safe.
Focus on areas that don't get much exposure to sunlight (fleas like humid and cool spots), anywhere that you find dried blood and feces (flea debris), upholstered furniture, and crevices around baseboards and cabinets (that's where the eggs and larvae are probably hiding).
When the vacuum bag is full, seal it in a plastic trash bag and put it in a covered trash container, preferably outside.
Otherwise, the little buggers can crawl out and make themselves cozy again. , An adult flea will live only about a week without blood from its host, while a flea larva can live several months.
Treating your house with a safe, natural insecticide like botanical dust and borate helps attacks the larvae as well.
Botanical dusts are perhaps the oldest natural insecticides.
Borates are minerals that are used widely as wood preservatives, detergents, and insecticides, acting as stomach poisons to fleas.
They have low toxicity and are safe to use around humans.
While the botanical dust and borate mixture is very safe, care should be taken not to breathe it in.
Use a mask when applying the dust mixture in the home.
You should dust the carpet, the furniture, the bed, the dog or cat's bed.
It's good to do this when you're leaving your house for a good while, say 24 hours.
When you come back, either vacuum and wash the sheets on both beds, or simply wash the sheets and leave much of the borate mixture in the carpet as a deterrent to future flea reproduction. (It is safe.) , Before letting the pet(s) outside, prune foliage and trim grass to expose flea larvae to sunlight.Look around.
Do you see any dark, moist spots? Find a way to expose them to sunlight if you can.
Even after you have exposed these places to the sunlight, you may find that your pets are still bringing in fleas from outside.
The best way that you can solve this dilemma is to use either cedar wood chips or Eucalyptus leaves.
Fleas hate them, and they are all-natural, so you won't contaminate nearby plants (and other useful insects) or even run the risk of harming your pet.
Purchase cedar wood chips from your nearby convenience store and spread them over the affected areas.
If your dog can stand it, place cedar wood chips in its kennel.
Place eucalyptus oil in affected areas.
You can even plant eucalyptus bushes, although they grow quite robustly and can negatively affect the ability of other plants to grow around it. , This is pretty much a homemade flea trap.
The water and dish detergent mixture is like a toxic swimming pool for fleas.
Fleas, lured in by a light source, jump into the water and cannot escape.
Place the water and detergent mixture in a very shallow bowl, low enough to the ground so that the fleas accidentally hop into it.
An old flying disk or low-walled bowl does the job quite well.
Place the mixture next to a low-hanging light source, preferably something a little stronger than a night-light.
The fleas are attracted to the light.
After a few days, you should begin to notice that your bowl has turned into a flea cemetery. , A 4x4m room needs a 10 L/Day dehumidifier (it removes 10L of water in the air per day).
Apparently, fleas require 50% or higher relative humidity to live.
Keep the humidity in your room under 50% for 2 days will kill adult fleas and larva, and stop flea eggs from hatching.
You just need to vacuum the flea jerky and their eggs.
About the Author
Melissa Jimenez
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow lifestyle tutorials.
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