Getting rid of fleas in your home

Whether or not you have animals in your house fleas can always find their way into your carpet. How? They live in the soil outside, in your back yard or the neighbor’s yard where your kids play. They can come in as eggs in the mud on your shoes or as little baby fleas on the cuffs of your pants. I am convinced fleas are the roaches of the itty-bitty world!

If you already have fleas in your house, they don’t just bother animals, they do bite humans. They itch when they bite and sores get scratched and infected just like any other bug bite. So first things first, get them out of your house. If you can vacate your home for a day and take all living creatures with you, and have time to bag up every possible item of food, there is always the flea bomb cans. These do work, but you must make sure you wash every possible surface and dish, pot and pan in the house upon your return. Infestation not that bad, yet? Here is a little trick my grandma taught me. Take a box of mothballs and put it in your vacuum cleaner bag. Run the vacuum on the lowest possible setting for your floor and yes, this works on linoleum and other flat services too. Run it over the surface at least 3 times and also run it on furniture that have cushion type services using your attachments, run it on your curtains as well. The mothballs will not only kill the larvae and adult fleas but it will destroy any eggs.

When you are done with the vacuuming dispose of the bag outside in a dumpster or trash can and leave the lid on that can. The mothballs will discourage other varmints and bugs from invading your trash receptacle as well. When you put on a new bag on your vacuum cleaner, add a few mothballs to the bag to help keep the force field up for future attacks.

Linens and such should be washed at least once a week to avoid the little buggers to get in to the blankets and sheets and over all, cleanliness is crucial. If you have pets make sure they get their frontline or advantage regularly. Make sure family members take shoes off at an area close to the door or in the garage to avoid bring in dirt from an outside source into your home. And sweep up quickly any mud or dirt brought in. To keep the fleas out of your own lawn, buy a lawn spray. You can buy the best at pet stores both online and locally. They hook up to your garden hose and you spray like you would when watering. The bug killer will not hurt your plants or grass or animals but it will kill the fleas in all stages in your soil.