After writing, how to get rid of cockroaches?, how to get rid of bed bugs?, and how to get rid of fruit flies?, we are now writing the best ways to get rid of fleas fast and naturally. Fleas are the small jumping insects that feed on the blood of birds and mammals. These small insects might seem small in size, but the effects of their presence are very hazardous. They bite and might sometime pass on diseases like myxomotosis and plague. It generally gets transferred to the human world through dogs and cats. They live on pets and lay eggs on them. It is obvious that you love your dog but not that’s why, we bring to you some of the best remedies to get rid of fleas fast and naturally.
Where Fleas Comes From?
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Fleas are the wingless, creepy insects which appear small but can give you sleepless nights. Fleas like to thrive on warm vertebrates. Thus, your pets like dogs, cats, rabbits and even you can be their hosts. One reason for their presence in your home is the fact that the eggs of fleas can get dropped inside your house anywhere. These eggs, then transform into larvae and later into fleas. The most irritating part is that flea eggs can remain undeveloped for more than a year.
That’s why sometimes, when you have even cleaned your home and you feel that your home is free from fleas, they appear from nowhere. Therefore, you need to keep a regular watch and clean your home regularly once you have eliminated fleas. Below we have listed some of the effective home remedies to get rid of fleas fast and naturally. These remedies will not only help eliminate the fleas, but also prevent them from recurring.
Best Ways to Get Rid of Fleas Fast and Naturally:
1.) Use The Common Salt Remedy
Salt is a common ingredient which is easily available. The salt remedy can help you get rid of fleas fast, especially from your carpets. Salt works as a dehydrating agent for fleas which dry out their bodies. Here’s what you need to do.
- Take some salt and see whether it is finely ground or not. If not, grind it to make a fine salt powder.
- Take a bottle and fill it with this salt, leaving a little room on the top. Now shake and sprinkle the salt from it.
- Sprinkle the salt over your carpets in all rooms. Make sure you sprinkle it everywhere evenly.
- Allow it to work for 12-48 hours. After 2 days, vacuum the place thoroughly.
2.) Make The Flea Trap
A dishwashing flea trap is one of the easiest remedies to catch and eliminate annoying fleas. If you give your pet a bath with a dishwashing liquid, you’ll be able to kill the fleas from its body as well. A flea trap can help you clean up the entire house effectively.
- In the night, keep a bowl or a plate in your every room, especially in the middle of the room. Keep it on the floor. Fill these bowls with warm water. Add dishwashing liquid to this water.
- Put a tea candle in the center of each plate. If using a bowl, you might not be able to place a candle inside it. Place the candle near the bowl.
- Light the candles. The fleas will get attracted towards the light. As they jump towards the light, they will get trapped in the viscosity of the liquid. Thus, fleas will get trapped and die.
- Do this for several days if your home is badly infected with fleas.
3.) Make Your Own Herbal Flea Spray
This homemade flea spray includes ingredients like lemon juice and witch hazel. These ingredients are completely safe for your pets and kids. You can also get rid of fleas from your cats and dogs also. Here’s the method to make this herbal flea spray.
- First, you need to clean the entire place with the help of the vacuum and then only use the flea spray. Take vinegar, water, lemon juice and witch hazel. Mix them all well.
- Fill this mix into the sprayer. Spray everything where you see signs of fleas, such as your furniture, carpets, pet bedding, window sills, floors. Spray at every nook and corner of your home.
- Do this every day for at least a week depending upon the condition of flea infestation in your house. Keep spraying in at a regular period of time.
4.) Use Pennyroyal Herb
There are different varieties of the pennyroyal herb available. European and American pennyroyal have been successfully used to prevent fleas. However, pennyroyal is harmful for human and animal health. So, when you don’t want to kill fleas and just want to deter them, you can use pennyroyal. But remember to use it with precautions.
- Grow some pennyroyal plant around your home, especially where your pets and kids are unable to reach.
- Take a handful of fresh pennyroyal leaves and crush them in a mortar and pestle till the leaves discharge oil and aroma.
- Keep this paste of pennyroyal leaves in a cheesecloth and tie it. Hang this cheesecloth in the area which is badly infested with fleas.
5.) Homemade Flea Spray
Instead of buying a hazardous flea spray from the market, you can make your own herbal flea spray with natural ingredients such as lemons, rosemary and some essential oil. Here’s how to do it.
- Take a big bowl and put some lemon slices in it. Chop some rosemary leaves. Add this chopped rosemary leaves to the lemon slices in the bowl. Add some boiling water to the bowl.
- Now, pour some geranium oil. Cover it and leave overnight. Next morning, strain and fill the water in the sprayer. Your homemade flea spray is ready to kill fleas.
- Spray the solution on wherever you think flea congregates. You can sprinkle it on your pet’s bedding also. It is a safe herbal solution.
6.) Vacuum The Area
To get rid of fleas, vacuum can be used as a very effective weapon. Clean the places under the bed, rugs, corners of the house, pet beds, under furniture and place where your pets sit the most. Clean those places. Vacuum your entire house in order to get rid of the fleas. It will vacuum the eggs, larvae and pupae. If eggs are controlled, larvae are controlled themselves. Larvae are small insects like creature which later get converted into an adult flea. When the larvae develop, they develop pupae on which they grow up. Vacuum helps get rid of all these things.
7.) Clean Your Pets With Citrus
As discussed above, fleas travel to human life through dogs and cats. Keeping them clean and hygienic is a very important thing to do in order to get rid of these fleas. Clean your pets with citrus. Rub the citrus on the fur of your dog and it will be cleaned. Rub the fur of your dog with lemon or orange. Both lemon and orange contain citrus.
8.) Give Your Pet a Good Bath
In order to get rid of fleas, that are coming to you through your pet, give them a proper bath. Give them a bath using a citrus-based shampoo or dishwashing liquid. You can consult the vet before using any shampoo or other product to clean up your dog properly. You can also get your dog a shave from the groomer before giving them a bath. When they are cleaned up, comb their hair.
9.) Wash Your Pet’s Bedding
Wash up the bedding of your pet properly. This helps getting rid of fleas. Fleas live on dogs and cats and lay eggs on them. As the pets sleep on their bedding, these fleas lay eggs on the bedding as well. Washing up doesn’t kill fleas but it will wash away the eggs and larvae laid by the flea. The drying process of the bedding will help kill the eggs.
10.) Clean Your Yard Properly
To get rid of fleas, cleaning your yard is equally important as vacuuming your house. Your dogs and cats roam around the yard and drop fleas on the ground. Clean your yard properly if you want to get rid of fleas. Before cleaning the yard, you need to remove all the organic matter and debris like grass clippings and fallen leaves. Now clean all the areas of the yard, including your pets’s house.
11.) Plant Pennyroyal
Plant pennyroyal around your house and get rid of fleas naturally. It discourages fleas and make the them ineffective. This natural remedy might seem slow but it is very beneficial. Do not plant the tree if your dog is prone to eat the leaves or if there are children around the house. Also, the plant was used for abortion by the native Americans. So, it is always advised to try the other methods first.
12.) Bowl of Dish Detergent
This is a slow but a potent factor that will help you kill the unwanted pets on your pets, help you get rid of fleas. Get a shallow bowl filled with the mixture of water and dish detergent. It works like a spell and attracts the fleas towards itself. Keep that bowl in the corner of the house. The bowl should necessarily be shallow, so that the fleas can very easily jump into that bowl. Within a few days, you will see the bowl filled with the dead flea.
13.) Use Apple Cider Vinegar
Make your dog drink apple cider vinegar to get rid of fleas. Add one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to every four cups of water. 2-3 bowls of water and vinegar mixture will do the job. Make sure that your dog drinks that. Vinegar reaches the hair and it becomes very good to get rid of the fleas. You will start seeing the difference after it drinks three bowls. It is best when it reaches the system.
14.) Make Use of Dehumidifier
Dehumidifier is also one of the most amazing ways to get rid of fleas naturally. It works as a charm when it comes at getting rid of fleas. What you have to do is keep the humidity of the room under 50%. It kills the fleas present in the room after to days of the process. It will also eliminate larvae. Also vacuum the room. It will deal with the larvae.
15.) Use Flea Collar
Flea collar is one of the best ways to get rid of fleas naturally. What you have to do is pour a few drops of eucalyptus oil or tea tree oil to the collar of your dog. Fleas can not stand these oil and thus will keep themselves away from your pet. You can also use a handkerchief for the purpose.
16.) Medication for Your Dogs
If you want to get rid of fleas then the first thing you should do is provide medication to your dog. It is a very effective and instant way of getting rid of the fleas. ‘Comfortis’ are the beef-flavored chewing-gums available for the pets. They have the instant effect. It kills 100 per cent of the fleas within four hours and prevent them from coming back for one year. It might have some side effects like vomiting.
17.) Treat With DEET
If you have killed the fleas in your house or going through the process of getting rid of fleas and you have the flea bite on your skin here is a way by which you can prevent yourself from the fleas. Treating yourself with DEET prevents you from the flea bite. Apply the spray on the cuffs of your pants, socks and ankles and make sure that the spray you are using contain DEET.
18.) Borocate Acid and Botanical Dust
Borocate acid and botanical dust have long lasting effect when it comes to getting rid of fleas. Fleas feed on blood. But, when it comes to their larva, the case is little different. They can survive for long without blood. Make the mixture of Borocate acid and botanical dust and spread it around your house. Wear a mask while doing this. Dust your carpet, furniture and the bedding of your pet. And, after completing the process, you should remain away from the house for at least for the next 24 hours.
19.) Spray Some Insecticides
Spraying insecticide is the easiest way to get rid of fleas. Spray the insecticides on your bed and carpet and on the places where your dog or cat sits the most. Spray it on the place where your cat or dog sleeps. Make sure that the insecticide you are using contain IGR (Insect Growth Regulator). IGR is the most important thing to be used in order to get rid of insects. IGR controls the growth rate of the fleas. It works on larvae and eggs laid by fleas and counters their growth.
20.) Use The Boric Acid
Boric acid works similar to salt when it is about eliminating fleas. It works as a dehydrating agent. It causes severe dehydration in fleas and ultimately kills them.
- Take an empty bottle with a plastic cap. Puncture the lid with a pointed needle. Make several tiny holes in it. Fill the bottle with boric acid and close the lid.
- Vacuum the area where you want to sprinkle boric acid. Sprinkle the boric acid on the concerned area. Cover all the area and try not to leave any affected place.
- Leave it on for a couple of days hours. Finally, vacuum all the areas treated with boric acid. Keep a check on the place regularly.
Fleas Infestation and Effect on Humans:
Fleas generally live on dogs and cats and lay eggs on them. From them, they get transferred to you and your house. These fleas bite and feed on human blood. Their bite can create itching and the bitten part becomes swollen. Fleas not usually like to feed on humans. Animals are their first choice. But, they start feeding on humans if there are more fleas than the sufficient number of animals.
Flea bites are more or like the other insect bite. It itches and redness pops up. Fleas usually target feet and legs of humans. Flea bites are usually not that harmful, but the case becomes worse among old, kids and infants. They are needed to be killed because they spread diseases from one person to another. They also hide in your carpet and beds, and are active on the places that is often visited by your pet.
Flea bites, unless they spread diseases, are not risky and do not require any treatment. Anesthetic cream and lotions can be used to comfort the itching and redness. Ice helps with the swelling. And, to avoid the infection, wash the bite with antiseptic soap.