If you’re a pet owner, you’ll know that even though your best, furry friend is the most adorable and important part of your home – they also come with risks.
You have to keep a watchful eye over their health, make sure they’re fed right and exercised correctly – but also that they are clean and free from fleas!
Unfortunately, try as you may – fleas generally come as part of the territory of owning a pet (especially with a cat or dog) and will likely find their way into your home at some point
When your furry friends are roaming the house, there may come a time when your house’s carpet becomes infested with fleas, and you’ll need to get rid of them for safety and health reasons at a minimum.
This guide will take you through exactly how to get rid of fleas in carpet quickly, as well as some other handy bits of information to keep the rest of your home flea free.
Fleas: A Health Hazard
One of the most essential reasons that you’ll need to get rid of fleas in your home is because they can be dangerous to your pets and your family’s health.
Fleas are often the “middleman” when it comes to transferring things like worm eggs, and this can make your cat or dog extremely sick.
Pests like fleas and carpet beetles can also be home to many other unwanted diseases and sicknesses. Flea-borne diseases can be life-threatening to your animals.
This is why it’s so crucial to try to avoid fleas and visit the vets or grooming service on a regular basis. Not only that, unlike carpet beetles – fleas can bite and this can make life really uncomfortable for your furry friends.
Moreover, although this is rare – fleas have been known to bite humans, and although we may not feel a great deal of pain, we will notice these bites and can frequently lead to an open wound, prone to infection or an irritating itching feeling. This is obviously made worse when there are many fleas around.
This can also be extremely dangerous when there are children in the house. So, if your home has become a home for fleas, here’s what you need to do to get rid of them.
How To Kill Fleas In Carpet, Beds and Furniture – Safely and Easily
1.) Get A Good Trusty Vacuum
Most carpets become a ground for many things that are unwanted in the home.
That’s why we try to vacuum as regularly as possible with a powerful vacuum that can get deep into the fibres. If you have a thinner carpet, most vacuums can easily collect fleas – whereas a thick or deep carpet will need a vacuum with stronger suction.
Vacuum the rooms and furniture with your pets outside and once you’re sure you have covered all the areas, take a garbage bag outdoors to empty your vacuum. Pour the collected dust, dirt and hair etc. into the bag and place them into your garbage immediately.
Be sure to wash your hands before going near your carpets again – it may also be a good idea to take a shower and ensure you’re using something for your hair, just in case!
2.) Set Soap Traps
Fleas can jump enormous distances. In fact, if humans had the same jumping ability as fleas, we could jump 160 feet vertically and nearly 300 feet horizontally.
Due to their (frankly incredible) jumping ability, a bowl of water inclusive of dish soap is a great trap for fleas. If they jump into the bowl, they won’t be able to exit due to the solution’s viscosity. Because they are typically nocturnal, you should set these traps at night with your pets out of the room so they don’t knock it over, or try to drink from it.
Place your bowl on the carpet where you suspect fleas are and check it every day for trapped fleas. Dispose of them outdoors away from your home and places where your pets frequent. Ideally, you will have an area to “bury” these.
3.) Kill Fleas With Salt
Salt is a well-known home remedy for killing fleas. Sprinkle finely ground table salt over your carpet and let sit in the room up to 48 hours for best results before vacuuming it up.
The premise goes that it can seriously dehydrate adult fleas, and they will try to escape the areas where salt is placed in. It is also thought to kill any eggs that may have been laid in the carpet.
If you use the previous soap & water bowl tactic, they may even head towards the trap for water. Double whammy.
Be mindful of your pets though if you’re placing down salt. Keep them (and everyone else) out of the room until after you’ve vacuumed the area thoroughly.
4.) Use Baking Soda or Borax
Baking soda or Borax can be a great flea killer – especially on thicker deep carpets, or fleas in shag rugs.
Fleas have been known to hate the stuff and will come out from the deeper areas of your carpet.
This can be ideal because it may allow you to suck them up with your vacuum when they were previously hidden. Combine it with the salt method above for maximum effectiveness.
5.) Use A Homemade Flea Spray
Fleas are tough – but they do have weaknesses.
Luckily, their weaknesses can be exploited with non-toxic ingredients around the house. You can create your own flea spray with vinegar, water, lemon juice and witch hazel (using a ratio of 16:8:2:1).
Place the solution into a spray bottle and spray the solution around the house including the carpets, beds, surfaces and furniture.
After doing this, leave the solution to settle overnight and thoroughly wipe down and vacuum everything the following day.
6.) Professional Flea Spray
Depending on where you live, you can buy industrial-grade flea spray which will certainly kill off any unwanted fleas.
We recommend only using these as a last resort, or if you have a seriously bad infestation as they typically contain harsh chemicals.
Always check the ingredients first to make sure it won’t damage your carpets, beds, furniture … or health!
If this is the option you’re currently considering, Jason from Solution Stores shows you exactly to use this method in the video at the bottom of this article.
7.) Call Pest Control
Alright – now we are really getting serious.
If you’ve really got fleas bad, sometimes it’s better to call in the professionals. They will be able to thoroughly eradicate your home of these pests but their service may not be cheap.
Be sure to check their costs first and whether you can get a free consultation. Sometimes this may be your only option though!
8.) Prevention
The 8th step here is really the first step in all cleaning guides – prevention is better than cure!
It’s much less work to prevent fleas from coming into your home, rather than cleaning up afterwards.
Try to get your pets seen by your vet or grooming service regularly for cleaning and flea removal. This also helps prevent the much unwanted pet-related stains on your carpet – but not the red wine stains, that’s on you 😉
You can also consider purchasing flea-repelling plants like lavender, spearmint or chrysanthemums. If you have some of these in your garden or in your home, fleas may be discouraged which will reduce the risk of your pets becoming flea transport to your carpet and home.
Shampooing your carpet regularly will help reduce the likelihood of flea infestations as well – and this is something you likely need to do as a pet owner anyway.
FAQ:
What kills fleas in carpet naturally?
What are some of the best natural remedies for killing fleas in carpet?
Is it necessary to hire a professional exterminator to get rid of fleas in my carpet?
The Bottom Line
Fleas in your carpet can be a nightmare, but the right steps can easily get rid of them or prevent them in the first place.
Some choices are more costly than others though, so bear that in mind when deciding what to do.
We recommend starting with the cheap & natural home remedies we’ve given at the start of the article (as they most often work great) and if you are still having problems, moving to the more costly harsher chemical methods if you aren’t having any success, or have an infestation of plague proportions.