How do i eliminate fleas in my house?
I can tell you what has worked for me in the past…Lots of vacuuming and dispose of the dust right away outside of the house. I recommend Enforcer flea spray. You can get it at Home Depot. You will need to spray again later when it will be time for any eggs that may have been missed to hatch. It tells you how long on the bottle.I do one room first and let it dry well and put my pets in there with the windows open while I treat the rest of the house. Be sure you can spray and leave the house for an hour or preferably more after so that it can dry. I like to open the windows to help it dry out and lessen the fumes. Be sure your pets and all their bedding are treated as well. I recommend topical flea treatments for pets such as Advantage or Frontline. I don’t recommend the ones that you get at the store without a prescription. I have used this method and it worked very well for me. http://www.upco.
Steam cleaning the carpets will probably NOT help…. However, VACUUMING your entire house EVERYDAY for a month will dramatically reduce your flea population… It doesn’t matter what kind of vacuum you have bag or bagless, canister or upright… Just by vacuuming you will reduce the adult flea population by about 90%…. Ohio State University just published a study about fleas and vacuuming to get rid of them….. That’s pretty good for just vacuuming… I would combine the process with sprinkling a mixture of baking soda and iodized salt both available at the wholesale club store for UNDER $10…. Mix them together and sprinkle liberally on your carpets…. Leave on overnight… Or longer.. It’s non toxic to humans and pets.. The baking soda will smother live fleas and larve while the salt dissolves the eggs… PLUS It will deodorize and freshen the carpets AND the salt will pull dirt/debris out of the rug….
You’ve already taken the first step by treating the source of the fleas, your pets. You need to treat your carpet areas with an adulticide (kills adult fleas) and an insect growth regulator (IGR). In most states you can order professional grade pest control products online. Order and use either Ultracide or Precor . Both have adulticide and IGR pre-mixed. Always read and strictly follow the product label. Start by vacuuming thoroughly and discard the bag which will contain flea eggs and larvae. Remove the bag from the premises completely or the eggs will hatch back into your house. Then just treat (spray) the area according to the label. You may need to re-treat in about ten days because the flea pupa were not affected by the adulticide. However, ultimately the IGR will adversely affect the growth of the juvenile fleas rendering them sterile and therefore stopping the reproductive cycle.
