5 Simple Tips to Remove Fleas from Your Home

If you live with a dog or cat, it’s inevitable that you will have fleas! Unwanted house or pet-guests, David Rowe lets us know 5 simple tips to remove fleas from your home…

If you have dogs or cats, there’s a good chance that you’ll find a flea or two in your home. Flea treatment is a must, but even with the best treatment, there’s always a chance that fleas will take up residence in your home.

When this happens, you’ll need to take swift action to remove the fleas from your home. Choosing to wait too long may result in your home being overrun with fleas – never a good thing.

If your dog or cat shuttled fleas into your home, you can try:

1. Chemical Treatments

Chemical treatments aren’t necessarily “simple,” but they can be very effective. Foggers and sprays need to be used safely. These methods are poisonous, so you’ll want to keep kids, yourself and animals out of reach of the treatments. If you use a fogger, you’ll often need to vacate the house for a few hours.

A good option is to choose a product that offers:

Adulticide. A chemical that will kill adult fleas.
Insect growth regulator. An ingredient that kills pupae, eggs and larvae.

Chemical treatments must be used with caution to ensure that contact is kept to a minimum.

Don’t forget to treat your yard, too – it’s where the fleas are originating.

2. Treat Your Pet

If your pet hasn’t been treated, they will continue to act as a shuttle between the fleas outside and the inside of your home. You need to incorporate a fast-acting flea killer, whether this is Capstar, Frontline or another product. Then consider a longer term flea preventative. Ask your vet for details.

And for safe measure, you’ll also want to wash your dog with a product that is known to kill fleas.

How to Provide a Safe Bathroom Environment for Your Dog

By taking all of these measures, you’ll also ensure that any fleas that jump on your pup and burrow themselves into your dog’s coat will die shortly after.

More about fleas

3. Thoroughly Clean Your Home

Be prepared to clean your home from top to bottom. Fleas will remain in your home as long as you allow them. You need to take the right measures to rid your home of fleas, and this means cleaning everything thoroughly.

You’ll want to do the following:

Vacuum daily and empty the bag each time.
Mop and sweep. Fleas can hide in baseboards.
Wash all bedding.

Fleas will make a nice home in your pet’s bedding or your bedding. You’ll need to clean these areas thoroughly to ensure that the fleas are kept to a minimum. Wash blankets, sheets and other bedding in hot water to kill off fleas and eggs.

Steam cleaning is a great option, too, because the heat will kill any eggs in the home.

*Removing fleas from your home needs to encompass all angles, pets and surroundings*

4. Treat the Home with Borax

Borax, not to be confused with boric acid, can be used to treat your home. Borax is odorless, and it’s not toxic to humans. This product will work by shredding the innards of the fleas. Crystalline structures on borax are small enough to shred the flea’s insides, but they’re too small to impact a human.

You’ll need to be very careful if you have cats because it can lead to breathing problems.

Borax should also never be put on a pet’s coat.

When using borax, you’ll want to:

Vacuum the floor first
Sprinkle borax in contaminated areas
Use a brush to brush the borax into the carpet
Leave the borax for up to 2 days, keeping dogs and kids away from the area
Vacuum up the borax

You’ll want to continue these steps until all of the fleas are dead.

5. Diatomaceous Earth

An alternative to borax is diatomaceous earth. You’ll find this natural powder in many home improvement and garden centers. What I like about this product is that it’s not toxic to animals. You’ll want to buy food-grade versions of this product.

And all you need to do is sprinkle the diatomaceous earth in high traffic areas around the home.

When ingested, the product will cut through the exoskeleton of the flea and cause them to die slowly.

Hopefully these tips will help you remove fleas from your home.

About The Author:
David Rowe is the lead writer at World Of Puppies. He has a keen interest in dog health, training and nutrition. He also owns a French Bulldog named Max.