10 Effective Ways to Get Rid of Fleas
During an infestation, vacuum your home daily. If you haven’t seen any fleas in your home, you should still vacuum thoroughly at least once a week.
When the vacuum bag is full, seal its contents in a plastic trash bag, then throw it out in a covered outdoor garbage bin.Wash throw rugs, bed linens, and your pet’s bedding in hot water. Machine wash and dry sheets, blankets, pillowcases, pet beds, and small rugs weekly during an infestation. Use the hottest water and dryer temperatures that each fabric can handle
Steam clean your carpets and upholstered furniture. If you don’t own a steam cleaner, you can rent one from a home improvement store or hire a professional. Be sure to test your cleaning solution on discrete areas of your carpets and furniture.[5]Steam cleaning kills adult fleas and larvae, but some eggs will survive. It can take as long as 3 to 4 months for eggs to hatch, so continue to vacuum daily. Consider steaming your home every 1 to 2 months until you’ve brought the infestation to an end.Try using dehumidifiers to control moisture levels. Flea eggs need humidity levels of at least 50% in order to develop and hatch. You could use a humidity monitor and dehumidifiers to make your home less hospitable for fleas. Keep in mind you’ll still need to vacuum, wash bedding, and take other steps to control an infestation.[6]The number of dehumidifiers you’ll need depends on your home’s size and layout. A medium-sized dehumidifier removes 40 US pints (19 L) of water from the air in 24 hours. This size is recommended for areas up to 1,500 square feet (140 m2).Use flea traps to monitor your progress. Flea traps are composed of strips of sticky paper or bowls of water that sit under a light bulb. Heat from the light attracts fleas, which get stuck on the paper or in the water. As you take steps to manage the infestation, you should start to catch gradually fewer fleas in your traps.[7]If 1 to 2 months pass and the number of fleas in your trap remains the same, it’s time to call a professional.
Flea traps are a good way to keep tabs on the infestation’s severity, but they only catch adult fleas. They won’t eliminate an infestation on their own.
Treat your home, pet, and yard at the same time. The only way to manage a flea problem is to combat it on multiple fronts. If you clean your home without treating your pet, your home will just get reinfested.[8]Be patient; it may take 3 or 4 months to get a flea infestation under control.