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What Are the Best Tips for Home Flea Control?

C.B. Fox
C.B. Fox

Proper home flea control is essential to keep pets and family members from getting bitten by fleas that have taken up residence in a home. There are many products available that can aid in the removal of fleas from the home. In order to be successful in home flea control, it is important to attack fleas at all stages of their life cycle and in all areas where they may be hiding. Fleas that are on pets, in carpets, and in linens need to be killed and subsequent infestations need to be dealt with preemptively so that the fleas do not return and take hold again.

The first thing that needs to be done in home flea control is to rid pets of fleas. Cleaning the house will do nothing to stop the infestation if a pet continues to bring fleas into the house. Flea collars, topical flea treatments, and daily combing with a flea comb can all be used to rid a pet of fleas. It is imperative, however, to continue treatment on a pet, even if fleas seem to go away, as any pet that is allowed out of doors can easily bring fleas back into the house.

A flea.
A flea.

Bedding and linens should be washed frequently. Furniture covers may also need to be cleaned because flea eggs can drop off wherever an animal or person who is carrying fleas stops to rest. Washing all of these things at least a few times a week will go a long way towards home flea control, especially when just beginning to get an infestation under control.

Vacuuming carpets daily can also help in home flea control. In order to kill eggs, larvae, and adult fleas that wind up inside the vacuum cleaner, a flea collar can be placed inside. If there are many fleas in a carpet, home flea control may also include bombing for the insects. These bug spray bombs can be purchased at hardware stores and are effective at killing fleas in all of their life stages.

Even if fleas seem to disappear, home flea control also includes keeping up with the various methods for killing them. Fleas can remain in eggs or pupal sacks for extended periods of time, emerging to reinfest a home months after they have been removed. Continuing to wash linen, vacuum carpets, and keep pets on flea-killing medications can go a long way toward establishing home flea control.

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    • A flea.
      By: Carolina K Smith MD
      A flea.