Fleas--how to get rid of them in the house?

[Ottakee]

We have FLEAS in our house and they are biting me. We had this the same time last year.

 

We have 2 cats, just lost our dog, 11 chickens and 3 horses but all of them are OUTSIDE. The fleas though are inside.

 

How can I get rid of these?

[gingersmom]

You need to set off one of those bombs they make for fleas. If that does not work you will need an exterminator.

 

My neighbor befriended a stray kitty with fleas. She got them in her house, garage and car!

[Pamela H in Texas]

We just use salt. Put it down, leave it (wear foot covering while it is down). Vacuum in a day or so. Put it down again and vacuum again. Twice is probably enough but you may want to do it a few days later.

[runninmommy]

We just use salt. Put it down, leave it (wear foot covering while it is down). Vacuum in a day or so. Put it down again and vacuum again. Twice is probably enough but you may want to do it a few days later.

 

Hmm. I have not heard of salt. We are in Alabama and the fleas have been really bad here. We do not have animals in the home either and we have had issues with fleas. I have had an exterminator out 3 times and we still have them.

 

I have heard burning cedar helps.

 

What does the salt do? The same thing as diotomaceous earth? DM is supposed to get in the joints of the fleas exoskeleton and cut into them to kill them. It did not work for us though.

 

I don't have a stitch of carpet in my house. All hard wood and slate. I learned that fleas don't actually "live" on their host. They only get on an animal when they need a blood fix. They like to live in cracks and corners where there is debris like hair/lint or near feces like a cat box.

 

If you have a sure-fire way, I'd love to hear it. My exterminator can't even get rid of them. We have had the house professionally bombed and sprayed, even the couch. The week after the last treatment we had fleas. :glare:

[Jeri in TN]

I second the salt idea. We did it and it really does work (though you may have to do it more than once). Make sure you throw out the vacuum cleaner bag each time you vacuum up the salt. I'm not sure how it works--maybe it just dries up the fleas. You usually have to do it twice to get any eggs you missed the first time that hatch.

 

Salt is cheap and safe so that's probably the best way to go.

[KS_]

We used a product called Flea Fix - if you do a Google search you can find lots of places that sell it. It's not toxic to people or pets and lasts for up to 7 months. It interrupts the flea's life cycle so they can't reproduce and will die out. You'll still have to deal with the adult fleas for a week or two and then shouldn't have any more of them maturing.

 

It's a concentrated liquid you dilute and spray anywhere the fleas might be, including furniture, and let it dry. And that's it. It worked very well for us.

[Firefly]

I've heard that borax, used similarly to salt, works very well but I haven't tried it. What I know does work is vacuuming. You have to break the life cycle. Vacuum at least every two weeks (I do every week), paying special attention to anywhere the pet sleeps or spends time. Empty the canister or bag each time. Good luck to you; there aren't many things worse than a flea infestation! :(

[Frontier Mom]

I've heard that borax, used similarly to salt, works very well but I haven't tried it. What I know does work is vacuuming. You have to break the life cycle. Vacuum at least every two weeks (I do every week), paying special attention to anywhere the pet sleeps or spends time. Empty the canister or bag each time. Good luck to you; there aren't many things worse than a flea infestation! :(

 

That's exactly what I used. It worked wonderfully. Just sprinkle on the carpet heavily, leave it for a few days, vacuum and throw the bag away.

 

I'd never heard of the salt before but, if that works, it is probably the cheapest way to go.

 

One always finds out the best things here!!

[Desert Rat]

I watched my favorite show the other day, How Clean is Your House? The cleaning goddesses said to put a flea collar in your vaccuum bag too. It kills them after they are sucked up.

[vettechmomof2]

I watched my favorite show the other day, How Clean is Your House? The cleaning goddesses said to put a flea collar in your vaccuum bag too. It kills them after they are sucked up.

 

You only need a 1" strip of a flea collar and then remove and throw away the bag after EACH vacumming job. You add a new piece of flea collar each time you vaccum.

[Tammy]

I wouldn't use those poisons.....I would vacuum about every 3 days....and if you have a bag....throw it out each time. If you have a canister type....dump it in a plastic ziplock baggie!

 

.

[Pamela H in Texas]

When I was first told, I was told to use a borax and salt combo. In time, I heard someone left out the borax.

 

Recently, my friend's house was infested and her golden was miserable. She took care of my lab for a few days and came back with a few fleas. Well, turns out my lhasa, who has not had fleas since he left his breeder, is highly allergic. I salted down the whole house really well a couple times and the problem was gone quickly. Here it is a couple months later and we still have no fleas (which I say "of course" but my mom still doesn't believe you can use salt without borax. LOL).

 

Anyway, friend had her golden shaved and kept her house salted down (but did use borax in the yard). It took probably 2 weeks for them to get relief but he's a happy doggy now :)

[joannqn]

We just use salt. Put it down, leave it (wear foot covering while it is down). Vacuum in a day or so. Put it down again and vacuum again. Twice is probably enough but you may want to do it a few days later.

 

 

I use baking soda and salt. It dries out the eggs so that they can't hatch. However, I've found that it can take a couple/few weeks because the adult fleas can life up to two weeks. During that time, they are still laying eggs that need to be dried up.

 

I've written up the steps I follow at eHow. It's gotten rid of SEVERE infestations.

[hornblower]

I wouldn't use those poisons.....I would vacuum about every 3 days....and if you have a bag....throw it out each time. If you have a canister type....dump it in a plastic ziplock baggie!

 

.

 

:iagree::iagree:

 

 

except

 

I vacuum the living areas pretty much every day or two. I have my own dogs, foster dogs & a cat + I foster fancy rats. All my fosters are treated once before coming in but they still sometimes bring something with them. Plus the animals go outside to parks & bring things back but with regular vacuuming I have been able to avoid using chemical insecticides for years now.

 

On the odd times when I've thought that maybe we picked some fleas up, I do a vacuum every 12h twice, then return to once a day. I like to do it in the evenings as I have a theory that they don't like light too much but by evening they're hungry & will be more likely to be peeking out.

 

Remove as much as you can off floor - cushions, laundry baskets, shoes etc and vacuum. Use the crevice tool along the edges. My own sense is that you don't need to be crazily thorough each time; I think it's frequency of vacuuming rather than quality. If you're going to spend more time on it, focus on the crevices - under bookcases, under couches, inside couch cushions. They like to hide in nooks & crannies.

 

You'll need to do your bedding too.

 

Gently, without too much shaking, scoop all the bedding together. If it all fits into one load of laundry, put it in. It's helpful to use the dryer as that will also help kill any eggs which made it through the wash. If it doesn't all fit, then take it outside, preferably farther away from your house & leave it there in batches until you can bring it in - you don't want to seed them in your laundry room.

 

Vacuum all around the bed, vacuum the mattress. I'd do this daily until you don't see bites.

 

Would you consider treating the animals outside?

 

Ants are good for eating fleas outside so if you have ants, don't destroy them.

 

diatomaceous earth or borax can be sprinkled on outside areas - I think not near the chickens though - and also put a bead of of diatomaceous eart along all the doorways. But I think if your outside animals are carrying a large parasitic load then they'll keep shedding it in the environment & on you & you'll be reinfesting yourself.

 

I'd treat the cats & horses, do a thorough vacuuming for a few weeks & things should settle down.

[Firefly]

What do you guys think about borax? Poison or harmless mineral? I've read mixed things about it. I've never used it for flea control-- just the vacuuming has always worked. But I've wondered about trying that if I ever had a really bad infestation where the vacuum didn't do the trick.

[gamommy]

Heavy vacumming has also been effective here, twice per day with our regular vac which is immediately empited into the outside trash. Another tool we've used is the flea trap. Shallow pans filled with water and a bit of dish soap. We light a tea light candle and float it in the pan. Fleas are attracted to the light and jump into the pan, but can't get back out because of the soap. This would not be the most efficient way to tackle a large infestation, but is helpful to see which rooms fleas are in and to track progress. We did it in the evening after our littles were in bed, but before we turned in for the night because of the candles.

[Ellyndria]

Salt. I was allergic to flea products, so when there were fleas in my grandma's house a long time ago, my mom put a layer of salt down over all the carpets. I don't remember if she did it a couple times or what, but I do know that it worked.

[MomLovesClassics]

Homemade flea traps. Set nightlights in all your sockets near the floor. Put solid white plates filled with water and dishwashing liquid. In the morning look at all the fleas you caught. It takes a bit, but it is non toxic. Remember fleas are attracted to white, so they will jump on your socks.

[Desert Rat]

Thanks, Allene. Good to know.

[texascamps]

From my experience in Houston, another flea happy place:

 

Vacuum at least three times a day. Empty the vacuum in the toilet, not in the garbage, even the garbage set outside......they will hunt you down........

 

 

Set off the bombs every few days then vaccum, vacuum vacuum.

 

 

I would vacuum in the morning and I could see all the fleas jumping around inside my vaccum receptacle. I would vacuum again around 11am and I could see just as many fleas in the receptacle.... It took a good 5 days of constant vaccuming and bombing to get rid of them....

 

Oh, and the dog got bathed and vacuumed about the same frequency.

[runninmommy]

I wouldn't use those poisons.....I would vacuum about every 3 days....and if you have a bag....throw it out each time. If you have a canister type....dump it in a plastic ziplock baggie!

 

.

 

I did everything I could before using poisons. I am against chemicals and endured various failed treatments before deciding to use them. We vacuumed and cleaned very well, very often. As I have said, we have no carpet anywhere in the house. I used diatomaceous earth (which is organic and made of diatomes) several times, various home remedies, cedar chips etc.....

 

My poor son had bloody bites all over and we were all miserable. The chemicals knocked some out but they are still here. This has been going on for 3 months. It is better but still a problem.

 

Really, what would you do if your kids/family were miserable and nothing was working?

[KS_]

I did everything I could before using poisons. I am against chemicals and endured various failed treatments before deciding to use them. We vacuumed and cleaned very well, very often. As I have said, we have no carpet anywhere in the house. I used diatomaceous earth (which is organic and made of diatomes) several times, various home remedies, cedar chips etc.....

 

My poor son had bloody bites all over and we were all miserable. The chemicals knocked some out but they are still here. This has been going on for 3 months. It is better but still a problem.

 

Really, what would you do if your kids/family were miserable and nothing was working?

 

That's why I ended up using Flea Fix - I tried a number of natural methods and it just wasn't working. I did a lot of research and decided that it was the best option for us. The second time (different house) we had an infestation, we had an infant, and I re-researched the toxicity of it and still felt it was OK to use. It worked quite well and quite quickly.

 

ETA: It can also be sprayed outside, around areas where pets/animals spend time, and still is supposed to be effective for 6-7 months.

Edited August 25, 2009 by KH_

[hornblower]

Camille - are you treating your animals? I've been at your blog & I'm just guessing that you're bringing them in from your animals. I'd consult vets & treat every. Chickens etc can all carry them.

 

I'm just guessing that you're just reinfesting the house from the outside. They can also live in the grass etc so it's a big battle.

 

Also - I'm wondering if you could nab one & have it id'd. There are different species with differing favourite hosts & it might help you narrow down where they're coming from.

 

For yards etc, I've heard regular watering of grass etc can help as they're less likely to survive if they get really wet. Also there are some predatory nematodes which you can get & spray on the grass.

 

Last thing is to improve the quality of your animal's feed. Time & time again I've seen animals begin to no longer be as troubled with parasites when we change their diets.

[runninmommy]

Camille - are you treating your animals? I've been at your blog & I'm just guessing that you're bringing them in from your animals. I'd consult vets & treat every. Chickens etc can all carry them.

 

I'm just guessing that you're just reinfesting the house from the outside. They can also live in the grass etc so it's a big battle.

 

Also - I'm wondering if you could nab one & have it id'd. There are different species with differing favourite hosts & it might help you narrow down where they're coming from.

 

For yards etc, I've heard regular watering of grass etc can help as they're less likely to survive if they get really wet. Also there are some predatory nematodes which you can get & spray on the grass.

 

Last thing is to improve the quality of your animal's feed. Time & time again I've seen animals begin to no longer be as troubled with parasites when we change their diets.

 

No animals are allowed inside. We have sprayed the front/back porch and treated with several things as well. These are sand fleas. I don't know if it makes a difference or not. We have a lot of sand around the property.

 

The animals have been treated every month and we are pretty careful about that.

 

I have not heard of Flea Fix. I will have to look that up. I do know that the pest companies have been turning people away because they are so busy just with fleas this year.

 

At this point I am willing to sprinkle salt, borax or magic fairy dust.

 

The worst part is that I am a very uptight/clean person. Having bugs in the house drives me insane and makes me feel dirty.:glare:

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I will look up the methods mentioned that I have not heard of.

[Friederike in Persia]

Putting a flea collar on our dog has helped a lot, so do check out your animals again.

We still get fleas up to 2 times a week (mainly brought in by neighbour kids) and flea bombs, together with washing the kids beddings as well as showering them and washing the clothes that they were wearing does the trick each time. When I catch it late 2 of my kids get really bad with bites swelling up,.... and I've found that as well as anti-histamine cream, anti-histamine drops really help.

Hope you can find a way to get rid of those little nuisances!!

[Amber in AUS]

We lived in a house with fleas briefly (company supplied accommodation) the pest exterminator said that flea eggs can live for up to 7 years without hatching and will hatch out from vibrations after any period of dormancy. Our house had been vacant for 6m and they hatched our because of our vibrations when we moved in. We went on holiday 5m after the 1st treatment which had been successful and on our return the vibrations hatched them out again, they were again treated and we moved out soon after.

 

The pest guy said to run the lawn mower in the yard and the vac around the house continuously after the spray had been put down to hatch out as many as possible.