Flea - Flea Treatments - For The Home

For The Home

Combatting a flea infestation in the home takes patience because for every flea found on an animal, there could be many more developing in the home. A spot-on insecticide will kill the fleas on the pet and in turn the pet itself will be a roving flea trap and mop up newly hatched fleas. The environment should be treated with a fogger or spray insecticide containing an insect growth regulator, such as pyriproxyfen or methoprene to kill eggs and pupae, which are quite resistant against insecticides. Frequent vacuuming is also helpful, but the vacuum bag must be disposed of immediately afterwards.

Diatomaceous earth can also be used as a home flea treatment in lieu of acetylcholinesterase inhibitory treatments or insecticides which carry with them a risk of poisoning for both humans and animals. However, Diatomaceous earth is at least potentially dangerous to pets and people when inhaled, so care in use is recommended. Application is effective on both the interior and exterior of one's property, but the efficacy of Diatomaceous earth is diminished when introduced to water. Because Diatomaceous earth is commonly available in food grade quality, it is also possible to leave it exposed in areas typically vulnerable to fleas and other insects.

Baking Soda is also used to kill via dehydration, it's available in large amounts as a food grade material and safe for family and pets when used inside the home (carpets and floors) a layer can be sprinkled onto a carpet and worked into the fibers down to where the larvae and eggs are to dehydrate and kill them. It can be easily vacuumed up afterwards with safe disposal... often multiple weekly treatments will be required to remove an infestation completely.

Table Salt Can also be used inside the home in the same way as or in combination with Baking Soda as a low cost and safe method of breaking their life cycle.

Dried pennyroyal has been suggested as a natural flea control, but is not recommended in homes with pets due to its high toxicity to mammals.

Borax is sold as a "Natural Laundry Booster" and can also be used as another home treatment for flea infestations. Borax contains sodium borate which kills fleas by dehydrating them, but its safety for pets is untested.

Using dehumidifiers with air conditioning and vacuuming all may interrupt the flea life cycle. Humidity is critical to flea survival. Eggs need relative humidity of at least 70–75% to hatch, and larvae need at least 50% humidity to survive. In humid areas, about 20% of the eggs survive to adulthood; in arid areas, less than 5% complete the cycle. Fleas thrive at higher temperatures, but need 70° to 90°F (21° to 32°C) to survive. Lower temperatures slow down or completely interrupt the flea life-cycle. A laboratory study done at the University of California showed that vacuuming catches about 96% of adult fleas. A combination of controlled humidity, temperature, and vacuuming should eliminate fleas from an environment. Altering even one of these environmental factors may be enough to drastically lower and eliminate an infestation.