whats the best tried and tested way to get rid of household fleas.?

Question

OK, so i moved into a 3 bed house 2 years ago and inherited an infestation of fleas. i have fought hard to rid my house of these blood sucking parasites,

i tried alsorts of stuff, ie, flea bombs, sprays powders.even brought a flea trap but it has cought nothing.
i have read alsorts of stuff on how to get rid of them. some i have tried others have yet to try, i'm currently trying the table salt method, i read about borax but cant seem to get any in englands supermarkets. I now have a 3 month old child so dont want to bombard my home with chemicals again if i can help it, i have done that before and still have the pests, HELP!!

Answer 1

Hire a professional pest control person. Good luck!

Answer 2

Once all the natural efforts fail and your ready to use chemicals again you can try what I did to get rid of mine. I vacuumed everything and I used a spray that I got at Home Depot called Enforcer Flea Spay. It was very reasonable. I also used Frontline on the Feline Americans,( I used Adams fles spray on them also about 2 weeks later, probably wasn't necessary but was just not taking any chances) and washed all the bedding in the house.Be sure you vacuum all upholstered furniture and spray them. Then repeat in (I think it's three weeks, it will tell you on the spray) to catch any stray eggs that you may have missed before they hatch. This is key here... eliminating any eggs that you may have missed before they hatch. I also recommend that you vacuum a lot more than you usually would and empty the dust cup thoroughly.This worked for me. Haven't seen one since and it's been years. Good luck & God bless!!

I want to add that I did the laundry room first and let it dry well before I did the rest of the house, so that I could put the cats in there while the house was being treated. I opened the windows for them so they wouldn't breathe the spray. Unlike the person who said she put a wet towel at her daughters door, I highly recommend you treat the house when you and your family can leave the premises for at least an hour or more. The longer, the better.

Answer 3

I have this problem every March if I don't treat my yard in February ( I have forgotten the February treatment 4 out of 6 years in this house lol). Ultracide is the best stuff that I have ever used. One time and that is all I see, until maybe next year. Don't have any pets of our own, just a lot of farrow cats in the neighborhood. They love it under our house. EBay has some great prices on it but I always need it in a hurry so I go to a local store. Here is the link to find it on Ebay:
http://search.ebay.com/ultracide_W0QQfclZ4QQfnuZ1QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1

Edit---------------------------------------------------------

Now that I have read your other responses I have to say a few things.

1. Yes, vacuum first and throw away the bag outside or if you have a canister empty it outside.
2. Mop all of your non carpet floors before you spray as you will want to avoid cleaning them for a week after so that the chemicals will kill any stragglers.
3. Do wash all of your bedding and anything else that has been out of drawers or closets in hot water.
4. If you have something that has been exposed and can not be washed either put it in the freezer for 48 hours or in a sealed plastic bag for 30 days.

Do not spray this chemical in your house and stay or have children staying in there rooms. That is craziness. Air travels. Good luck to you.

Answer 4

You keep getting fleas probably because you are not killing the flea eggs -- just the adults. These eggs are laid in the edge line of your carpet and will hatch out later, and the cycle of "reinvestation" will begin again.
Go after the eggs. There are store bought flea and egg spray cans made just for this -- to "interrupt" the life cycle of the flea.
Dogs and cats carry fleas inside --- they will have to be "flea treated" on a regular basis --- this is a must --- most especially if you let them inside .
Once again ---- go after and kill the flea eggs hiding in the carpet , sofa , chair, and other places. Kill the eggs !! --- then you stop the cycle.
Use your vacuum often -- then take it outside to clean ---- and burn the bag.
Spray the vacuum good --- then install a new bag --- then bring it back inside.
Act now --- do it yourself , or call in a pro --- before everybody who comes in your home gets bit --- including your child.
I would treat weekly for 4 to 6 weeks until the "egg cycle" is finally broken fully --even if you think the fleas are gone. This is where you should not "let up"--- be ruthless and stay after "them"(eggs), or they will come back, and all your efforts will be for nothing.

Answer 5

When we moved into our house the previous owners had "untreated" pets so in acouple weeks of the house being vacant we had quite a flea infestation... I went to the wholesale store and bought 12 lbs. of baking soda for about $4 and a big box of iodized salt for about $3.. I mixed the two and liberally sprinkled the carpet with the combination and let it sit overnight. The baking soda smothers the fleas/larve and the salt punctures the eggs.. As an added bonus the salt will pick up loose dirt and brighten the carpet. The baking soda will also neutralize any odors.. LIke cigarette smoke etc... I also tossed a flea collar inside my vacuum and vacuumed everyday and I haven't had a problem since. We did also use "foggers/bombs" in the area's that weren't carpeted... (basement/crawlspace). Just be sure to follow the instructions.. The RAID ones worked really well and have a money back guarantee. To check for fleas use some shallow bowls with a bit of water/dishsoap and shine a desk lamp on it.. The fleas will jump in the liquid and DIE This worked for me.. Good luck..

Answer 6

Boric Acid. It is much stronger than borax and comes in a powder form that you merely sprinkle over your carpets, then use a broom to brush it around and into your carpet. You can vacuum the excess afterwards, but we usually let it sit for awhile. If you work enough of it deep into your carpet, the residue will do the job.

It will not harm your pets, but it's recommended to have the pets out of the room when it's applied. Just read the cautions on the container before using.

It kills the adult fleas AND the eggs. It is available at most pet stores in the flea control section, and we usually get ours at a store called Pet People.

And don't forget to have your pets bathed in a good anti-flea shampoo and use some stuff like 'frontline' on them. You can also take them to a pet-clinic to have this done.

You must also treat your yard if you have one. It does no good to kill the fleas in the house if your dog or cat can just go outside and pick up a new load. A granular form of diazanon or malathion will work, but your pets must be out of the yard before using these chemicals. I don't recommend the liquid sprays of these chemicals because dogs and cats chew on blades of grass and they will ingest the residue left on the grass. Granules will go to the bottom of the grass and then get released when the yard is watered or it rains, and not be left on the parts of the grass the pet chews on.

Or, you can spend the money to have a pest-control company come in and spray poisons all over your house.

Answer 7

Call a pest control business. It was the only way to get rid of them. tell them the concerns about the child. You will probably want to spend the night somewhere else while it airs out. It's not neccesary but i did that. Enjoyed the local Holiday Inn. lol
If you have pets (poor things) you will need to take them to the vet for flea bathes while the work is being done at the house. You will no longer have the problem then.
IF you are renting call the landlord and tell the what you need.
the fleas are a health hazard for your child,

Answer 8

Borax is the best way to rid your home of fleas. If you can not locate it in the stores with the laundry detergent, you can purchase it on-line. (http://www.soapsgonebuy.com/?Click=2)
Just sprinkle it on your carpets, furniture and floors, let it sit for a few hours or over night, then vacuum it up. Make sure that you change your vacuum cleaner bag after wards to keep eggs from hatching inside. The process can be repeated in about a week to ten days if you feel there may be eggs hanging around. The most important thing to keep in mind,
there are no harmful chemicals involved, it is just laundry soap, but it works wonders. You can also treat your yard with it, just sprinkle it on, and let it stay. Good luck!

Answer 9

You ll go with 5 issues: a million. Dehumidifier: Fleas flourish in warmth humid environments. 2. mix of Diatomaceous earth (nutrition grade) and salt: sprinkle this on your carpets even as wearing a dirt mask. Kills fleas without poisoning you or your pets. dirt/Vacuum it up each and every 3 days and then positioned more suitable down. nutrition grade DE can many times be chanced on at your community feed keep yet is also chanced on on line. Non-nutrition grade DE has nasty poisons. 3. Flea comb: comb your cat on a daily basis. be effective to have a cup of soapy water close to by to drown the fleas. Topical drugs would of ought to no longer paintings, and would even kill your cat, yet a flea comb is continually useful. 4. washer: Wash issues your cat lays on regularly besides as damp towels and some thing else that feels like a cushty position for flea eggs. 5. endurance: in order to get rid of all of them, it s going to take weeks. The flea existence cycle can take months to finish, yet in case you take advantage of each and every of the techniques above, you'll do away which includes your fleas.

Answer 10

You are throwing good money after bad - get the pest control people in, it's about £80 for a three bedroom house. Keep vacuuming in the meantime and try and keep the house cool. You cannot buy the efficient products at supermarkets - they are dangerous and effective chemicals which a professional has to have a licence to use.

And to prevent being ripped off, phone your local council and they will recommend a pest control specialist. Good luck - they will go soon, don't worry.

Answer 11

Had the same problem a few weeks ago. The key is CLEANING! I am totally not saying you dont clean, but I mean a DEEP clean!

I picked up ANYTHING that was fabric off the floor and washed it in HOT water, stripped the beds, washed them in hot water, couch cushion covers.... anything that I could fit in the washing machine got washed in hot water...

Vaccum, EVERY day! After you are done, you need to dump the canister and take the trash outside IMMEDIATLY! If its a bag vaccum, I read that you can put the vaccum bag in a trash sack and put it in the freezer and the cold kills the fleas and then reuse it the next day. Make sure you do this the second you turn off the vaccum! Also vaccuming of course sucks up any adult fleas, and also encourages flea eggs to hatch so you can vaccum them up too! Vaccum couches, beds, everything!

I have a 2 yr old daughter so I didnt want to use chemicals if at all possible. I have heard that vinegar and rubbing alcohol will kill fleas. Of COURSE the smell is horrible and very strong, but its not posion! I tried this in my house, it didnt work. SO the only other place I had to go was to chemicals. I got raid carpet and upholstery spray I did one room at a time... started in the back of the house in our bedroom, opened the windows, turned on the fan and shut the door after I was done... after I put my daughter to bed and had already cleaned and vaccumed everything, I put a wet towel at the bottom of her door (so it didnt leak in) and sprayed the living room... I never treated her room with the posion though... after you do this, you need to vaccum AGAIN after it has dried.

I dont know about in England, but here we have this stuff called Sevin Dust. My dad always used it and it was the best thing I have seen to kill fleas but it IS high toxic so dont let your baby around it... we treated the yard with it. It will do no good to treat your house if you dont treat your yard first btw.

After my first initial spraying the carpet with chemicals, I have vaccumed twice a day! About once a week I will put vinegar or alcohol in a spray bottle and spray the floor in the whole house again. Also dawn dish soap will kill them, not just any dish soap from what I understand, but DAWN! I didnt want to spray my couches with chemicals so I put water in a spray bottle and then put a good amount of dawn into it (that way you dont get alot of soap bubbles) and sprayed the couches down. I must warn you though, when Dawn dries it smells musty. So make sure you have febreeze or something handy for after it dries.

As far as non carpeted area, fleas will still be there too, make sure you sweep good and mop. I put vinegar into my mop water just as an extra precaution, and vinegar is supposed to kill them so... mop the floor VERY good.

You have to keep up with all of this stuff to kill them completely! I was about to put Borax on the carpet, I had heard of doing this before, but I found out it is HIGHLY toxic to children. Less than .1 gram can be lethal to a child so I wasnt about to take that risk. Good luck, and hope this HUGE answer helped :)

Whoops, I forgot, I put a pan of water with dawn in it underneath a light at night. It helped a bit, but it didnt help the most, but this is how i figured out when they were gone when there were none in the water. And I just read everyone else comments about the borax and boric acid, again I have to say it can be LETHAL to child!