homescontents

7 Effective Home Remedies For Killing Fleas

20K Shares

Effective Home Remedies For Killing Fleas

If you have a pet at home, you would probably be aware of the term ‘fleas’. These miniscule pests are every pet owner’s nightmare and are really hard to get rid of. In addition to sticking onto your pet and not letting go, they can infest the house and latch onto anything from carpets, sofas and upholstery to towels, clothes, accessories and even appliances. Worse yet, they can even get latch onto your body and cause nasty flea bites.

The problem with fleas increases mainly during their breeding season which happens to be during spring and summer. And even though this happens outside for the most part, your pet would most probably pick up a couple of these pests when he/she returns home after a walk. And if this happens, you would have the extra burden of regularly cleaning up your entire home along with your pet.

Effective Home Remedies For Killing Fleas

There are countless products available for eradicating flees from your pet and your house. However, most of these store bought products would contain chemicals that can be toxic for pets and humans alike. An alternative option would be to use homemade remedies to kill the fleas and get rid of them completely. If you are looking for such a remedy, check out the options mentioned below.

1. A Little Bit Of Salt And Plenty Of Vacuuming

An excellent way to get rid of fleas stuck to the carpet involves sprinkling some salt liberally all over the carpet. Wait for a day and vacuum the carpet to get rid of the fleas that would have died overnight.Do the same every other day to keep your carpet free of fleas. You can also try this method on rugs, sofas and other furniture.

Salt And Plenty Of Vacuuming

2. Combine Baking Soda And Salt

The carpet happens to become a major flea repository during an infestation, and can become a perfect hiding place for the pests even if the rest of your house is free of them. This goes to show why people tend to vacuum their carpets and rugs more often during a flea infestation. Another suitable home remedy to remove fleas and their eggs from the rugs and carpets in your home involves first sprinkling the salt all over the carpet and following it up with baking soda. Once the carpet is covered generously in these ingredients, use a broom to sweep gently from left to right and vice versa so that the carpet absorbs the salt and baking soda properly.

Baking Soda

Leave the carpet like this for about a week or so after which you can vacuum it. During this period, the fleas and nits would become dehydrated and die naturally. Note that you need to repeat the sprinkling process (salt + baking soda) at least twice in between this period to target newly hatched fleas as well. After vacuuming the carpet at the end of the week, make sure you throw the vacuum bag away or dispose of it somewhere outside your house. This would prevent re-infestations.Although this method is best suited for rugs and carpets, you can try using it on the floor as well as other appliances around the house.

3. Try The So Called Light Test

Although we don’t have much idea about the effectiveness of this particular remedy, more than a few individuals vouched for the same and gave us plenty of reasons to put it up here. Fill a vessel with water and add some dish wash detergent to it.

Try The So Called Light Test

 

Mix the solution nicely and place the vessel on the floor near a bright lamp overnight. The next morning, you would probably see more than a couple of dead fleas floating around in the vessel. The general explanation for this is that the fleas would get attracted (rather blinded) by the brightness of the light and would jump into the vessel.

Also Read

9 Best Home Remedies For Flea Infestation
3 Top Herbal Remedies To Cure Flea Bites

4. Add Some Citric Acid To Your Floor Washes

Adding some lemon solution to the cleaning water would enable you to get rid of fleas from the house effectively. The citric acid content of the lemon would make it hard for the fleas (and nits) to survive. Therefore, mopping or washing the floor with this solution can effectively get rid of fleas and keep them away.You can either opt for a homemade lemon solution (mix the juice of 5 lemons in ½ gallon of water) or buy a cleaning product that contains lime for the same purpose.

Add Some Citric Acid To Your Floor Washes

5. Use Borax Powder Or Boric Acid

Sprinkling some borax powder or boric acid on the carpets and furniture can effectively get rid of fleas. You can also pour the boric acid into a spray container and spray the acid around the room (borax powder needs to be mixed in water to form a solution beforehand).

Use Borax Powder Or Boric Acid

Let the boric acid (or) borax solution soak for a while (maybe for about 10 minutes) and vacuum it up along with the dead fleas and nits. Note that both borax powder and boric acid can harm your pet. So make sure you send them outside before spraying your house with these ingredients.

6. Use Homemade Chemical Sprays

If you are averse to using store-bought chemical sprays for fleas, make your own homemade chemical spray that would be equally effective in getting rid of the fleas and cause no side effects to your pet (or yourself) in the process.Mix 16 ounces of lemon juice, 8 ounces of witch hazel extract and 1 gallon of vinegar with ½ gallon of water. Shake the solution nicely and pour it into a spray bottle.

Use Homemade Chemical Sprays

You can spray this solution on almost everything in the house, including the walls, furniture, upholstery, carpets, mattresses, curtains etc. Continue spraying this solution around the house every day for at least a couple of weeks to get rid of the fleas completely.

7. Scatter Flea Collars Around The House

Rather, scatter several pieces of a flea collar in those areas of the house which are infested with fleas. A flea collar would effectively repel fleas away from pets. So why not use the collar to protect your house as well?

Scatter Flea Collars Around The House

Cut a flea collar into separate pieces (3 would do fine) and place the individual pieces under cushions, mattresses or carpets etc. You can also drop a few pieces of the flea collar inside your vacuum bag to kill fleas that might have been sucked up alive by the vacuum. You may have to use these pieces until your house is completely rid of the fleas.

20K Shares