Fleas can drive people and pets absolutely crazy, and an infestation can spring up overnight with little or no warning. Thousands of them can develop in a very short amount of time, and they can be so disruptive that it’s nearly impossible to spend more than a minute or two in an infested room before being driven out. Let’s take a look at some possible solutions that you can use to get a flea infestation under control as quickly as possible.
Borax or Salt
Borax is different than boric acid, even though it is the primary ingredient in this popular pest control substance. Boric acid is toxic to pets, and it’s important not to apply it to areas where they may come into contact with the powder. However, Borax is perfectly safe and just as effective. Sprinkle a generous amount of Borax on carpets, furniture and floors. Sweep the powder into cracks and crevices. Let sit overnight and vacuum or wash away the residue in the morning. This can kill fleas on contact or soon thereafter, and you may be amazed at how many dead insects you discover the next day.
You can wait an extra day or two or reapply the powder as necessary. While this isn’t a sure fire guarantee for getting rid of all fleas, it can make a huge difference in getting control over the situation.
Salt is also a powerful flea killer, but it doesn’t generally work as fast as Borax. You also need to make sure that you grind up the salt into a fine powder in order to achieve maximum coverage and penetration. Salt is particularly effective at drying out the fleas and essentially causing them to dehydrate and die.
Dish Soap
One of the best ways to get rid of fleas that are on pets is to give them a bath with dish soap. Chemicals in popular liquid soaps are poisonous to fleas and will cause them to die off as you are shampooing. You can also toss in a little bit of vinegar into the water in order to reduce their ability to cling to pet, and human, hair as they are dying. This will make it easier to rinse them off and watch them go down the drain.
High Heat
Some people also recommend that you wash linens, clothing and pet bedding and then dry them under high heat. This is thought to kill fleas and putting them in the drier will also help to remove them from the material as they get attracted to the lint screen.
Keep Things Clean
It’s important to make sure that you wash pet bedding and other areas where pets sleep a couple of times per week. This will help to keep flea eggs from hatching and growing in the material. Most fleas will be found in areas where pets congregate, so keeping those areas clean will go a long way to keep infestations from occurring.
This is contrary to the popular belief that fleas live on pets. They feed off of pets but tend to stay in soft and warm areas when they are not eating. Make sure that your focus is on treating and keeping these areas clean as opposed to only dealing with what’s on the pet.
While chemical flea treatments and collars are great at repelling and killing fleas, they can be harmful in large doses. Use them only in emergencies, and make sure that you thoroughly clean up afterwards. The same applies to flea baths and shampoos for animals as well. Make sure that you give them a good rinse to get rid of any residue.
Try the Borax and detergent trick today and see if this makes a difference. Just remember that you may need to apply a few rounds of treatment before the colonies of fleas are killed off. It’s also important to do followup checks on a regular basis in order to prevent infestations from recurring.
There are many other home remedies that people use to control fleas, but these are the most tried-and-true. Do you know about any other homemade remedies that can help?
