Liz CA Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Moved into new place and the critters are jumping everywhere. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Trust me. Bombing is the only solution. We had fleas in our rental, and they got worse and worse and worse. We tried borax, cleaning everything, vacuuming 5 x a day, washing all our clothes, essential oils...everything. We ended up having to bomb the house four (yes FOUR) times. We stayed at my mother's while the bombs were going off, and you have to move all the furniture so the aerosol can get under everything. And then you have to wash everything again. Don't bother with other solutions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arghmatey Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 (edited) Insanely meticulous vacuuming seven days in a row. It works. Google it, and I've done it, too. I'm allergic to the spray. Also, throw away any shaggy rugs. You can never get the eggs out of those. ETA: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/needfleas.htm Edited June 24, 2011 by arghmatey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Already Gone Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 I have had success with aforementioned insanely meticulous vacuuming every day, but it did take more than seven days. Also, we have hard surface floors throughout, which I suspect helped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunshine_librarian Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 We did borax and vacuuming. We would apply the borax overnight, and work it in with a broom. Then vacuum in the morning being sure to discard the vacuum bag afterwards. It can take awhile because it only gets the live ones and you may have some eggs that will hatch. So, check on the length of the flea life cycle. I know for palmetto bugs they suggest it takes three life cycles to completely kill off an infestation and since each of those is two weeks, it can take awhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted June 25, 2011 Author Share Posted June 25, 2011 I have had success with aforementioned insanely meticulous vacuuming every day, but it did take more than seven days. Also, we have hard surface floors throughout, which I suspect helped. Yes, Yes! We only have wood floors and linoleum. I hoped this would make it better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Google food-grade Diatomaceous Earth. We've had great success with it.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 We had good success with frequent vacuuming and getting Frontline -- the liquid for the cat, and the spray for spraying around the house. (Ours were mostly just in one area, though, not widespread.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeanne in MN Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Key to remember is the flea has different stages of it's life cycle. It can be killed at any stage EXCEPT the pupa stage. The reason you must keep vacuuming for days and/or bomb a number of times is because the unharmed pupa will hatch and you have more fleas to kill, until there won't be more to hatch. The pupa hatching is also stimulated by vibrations, which happens when you vacuum! Vacuum a couple times a day to not only get the fleas, but to hatch out the pupa. Also, don't kill yourself washing every article of clothing or fabric in the house; dryer heat will kill fleas too! If your clothing or fabrics don't need to be washed, just run them through the dryer. Do a search for dryer temps and amount of time. I wish to God someone would have told me that when we had fleas. It would have saved a few tears. Hope you have a flea-less house soon! How awful that you just moved in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 I vacuum thoroughly and then sprinkle a light layer of a mixture of 1 part salt, 1 part baking soda, and some lemon essential oil on the carpet. I leave the salt mixture in the carpet (use a broom to brush it until the fibers) until my next vacuum. When I vacuum again, I reapply the salt mixture. Do this for about 3-4 weeks. It dries out the eggs. The length of time is to make sure you continue killing eggs until all young fleas of grown up and died. It's worked well for me over the years. This house was badly infested when we moved it and the cats ended up with tapeworms, so we resorted to this, a spot on treatment, and a dewormer to speed up the process. I haven't checked them recently but none of them are scratching a lot and we haven't seen any on our flea magnet family members. My dog is allergic to them so he makes it pretty obvious when we need to treat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyFernDotOrg Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Another vote for borax and righteous vacuuming. Daily. Also a vote for diatomaceous earth for all animals as a preventative for fleas, but if they already have fleas, use capstar to get rid of them instantly (we call it the flea nuke), then Program for dogs and Tri-force for cats (cheaper, and way better than Frontline). We have had some stubborn infestations, and I refuse to bomb. I would prefer to prevent them naturally, but we have had to go chemical last year. Trying to keep them away with diatomaceous earth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommee & Baba Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Another for vac'ing daily for several days. I also do the salt/baking soda/lemon EO mixture on the carpets and vac. daily and re apply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocelotmom Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Google food-grade Diatomaceous Earth. We've had great success with it.:001_smile: :iagree: When I was a kid, our cats had a horrible flea problem (back before Advantage was an option). We'd bomb every few weeks, and it would be effective for a few days at best. A DE treatment cleared it up for a year or two - if you don't have untreated outdoor pets of your own, probably permanently. All without poisons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecclecticmum Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Bombing was the only thing that worked at one of our previous rentals. What we did after that was make sure we had disposable bags in our vaccuum, and cut up a flea collar and popped it inside the bag before vaccuming. Then threw the bag out straight away after you turn off the vaccuum. Adn yes, insanely vacuum for 4 weeks. As the ones still in egg form are impervious to bombs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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