Although the most suitable host for adult fleas and flea larvae is any furry pet such as cats and dogs, a flea infestation can take place inside carpets of your home easily if you have a pet that loves roaming outdoors and that too, without any supervision.
Fleas develop and switch from one suitable host to another depending on the environment they reside in. Therefore, you have to control fleas from the beginning if you wish to keep your family, pets, and house safe from any damage.
Flea bites can cause discomfort to both humans and pets. To help you deal with the flea infestation in your home, we have brought some pest control solutions that can potentially help you get rid of fleas in your house.
How Long Can Fleas Live In Carpet?
You need to take action right away if you think fleas have started infesting your household, carpets, and pets. Fleas without a suitable host live no longer than a few days, but under the ideal temperatures and other living conditions, adult fleas can live over 2 to 3 months.
Apart from that, when you aren't speaking generally, a flea can also live up to over a year if the condition doesn't receive adequate care and attention. But, in this post, we will discuss how you can control fleas that lay eggs and larvae inside your carpets.
How Long Can Fleas Live In Carpet without Pets?
How long fleas live inside your carpets, pets, or other parts of the home heavily depends on the living conditions. Firstly, we must discuss how fleas develop and move from one host to another inside the house.
Fleas are parasitic insects that can infest your home faster than you can think. Did you know that adult female fleas can lay more nearly 50 eggs in a single day? Once a female flea feeds on blood, it translates the blood directly into energy which is the only requisite for instinctive egg production.
It doesn't matter when female fleas get their first blood meal; they will lay eggs only in batches of 20. For your information, an adult female flea can produce over 50 eggs per day if their blood meal is sufficient.
Since fleas, especially female fleas, require blood meals to begin the egg deposition process, fleas can't survive more than a few days without pets. The general opinion is that an entire cocoon of fleas cannot stay for more than two weeks if it doesn't come into contact with a pet's body.
How Do You Get Rid of Fleas In Your Carpet?
It is never easy to get rid of a flea infestation. In fact, every flea treatment will require a certain amount of time before the full effect is noticeable. Nevertheless, if you go for any chemical products or chemical treatments to make your house flea-free, you may see instant results. Pets are the number one cause of flea infestations in the house.
Sometimes, when pets go outside and roam around bushes, sheds, or areas where no cleaning has occurred, fleas can easily transport from their cocoons to the pets' fur. That's why you have to eliminate all fleas inside your house and fast.
There are many forms of natural treatment options that can help you get rid of the flea situation inside your house. If you didn't know, vacuuming is the first step for many people who want to remove fleas from their house effectively.
Moreover, if you want to completely and instantly remove fleas from the house, certain chemicals are present for that in the market. But, not every flea control option has to be harsh, and therefore, you may look for natural alternatives to remove any females from your house.
Work with Flea Traps
In simple words, flea traps are no different than a sticky mouse trap that you place on a cardboard cutout. However, there are slight variations since fleas are incredibly tiny. You can use the parameters of fleas' optimal living conditions to build a trap. For instance, using light and heat is one of the best ways to make flea traps.
- You can use a board and apply any sticky paste form, which should preferably be something that adult fleas can't feed on.
- You may also use soapy dishwater and place it on a cardboard piece.
- After that, you will need a small light bulb that generates light and heat consequently.
- In the end, you will have a trap that appears suitable for fleas but once the fleas jump onto the sticky board because of the light and heat, they will get trapped in it.
You may think that flea traps are pretty effective, and they are. However, they aren't as effective as other options for removing fleas. No matter the size of a sticky board you use, it is pretty tough to eliminate any active fleas infestation in a single instance.
Use Baking Soda for Flea Eggs and Larvae
Baking soda has been instrumental in solving many household problems such as grout stains, tough marks, and various infestations. While baking soda is very effective in removing fleas, vacuuming your carpets to remove any adult fleas from the fibers should be the first step of the process.
Once you have vacuumed the carpets, you can use baking soda to fight off the flea infestation as follows:
- Lay the baking soda on your carpets and, if required, alongside the furniture as well.
- Then, use a brush to rub the soda into the carpet fibers and onto the tiny fleas living inside.
- Make sure that you use a stiff brush to clean the carpet effectively but don't damage its quality.
- Lastly, vacuum your carpets again to remove any removable content, including dead or dying fleas.
- Don't open the bag in the house or even outside and simply dump it without exposing your house to it.
Buy Diatomaceous Earth for Flea Larvae
Next on our list is another natural pest infestation treatment option that includes the use of diatomaceous earth. When you take a sample of fossilized algae, you will see microscopic remains, which are diatoms. It is a fine and non-toxic powder that will not harm you or any kids living inside the house.
How does it affect female fleas or any adult fleas in the carpets or other house parts? Diatomaceous earth, i.e., diatoms, cause dehydration by eliminating humidity from where you deploy it.
- Buy food-grade diatomaceous earth.
- Apply only thin layers of diatomaceous earth over those areas where you think the adult fleas, or more importantly, female fleas, are deploying eggs and larvae.
- Wait for no more than two days before vacuuming the area quickly.
Natural Plants to Repel Adult Fleas
Several plants exist that naturally repel adult fleas and flea larvae. Certain plants contain specific compounds, chemicals, and oils that fleas can't survive with. This means that fleas will avoid the areas where these plants exist. Here are some of the plants that can help counter fleas from spreading eggs larvae:
- Lavender
- Spearmint
- Chrysanthemums
- Penny Royal
Create a Citrus Spray
You may also know that citrus sprays help with several pests. You can go for a lemon and citrus spray for slowing down a flea infestation. For instance, if you think that flea eggs hatch in your carpets or furniture rapidly, you create a lemon spray.
- Find a suitable spray bottle with a nozzle to quickly disperse a large quantity over a small area.
- Slice thin pieces of lemon and add them to a small amount of water.
- Boil the water containing lemon slices for a relatively short time.
- Once the solution boils, let the flame down. Let the solution sit overnight.
- The next day, fill the spray bottle with the citrus solution you created the night before and spray it on infected furniture and carpets (be attentive to the quality of the fibers) to fight off fleas.
- You can spray over pet bedding, chairs, and sofas but make sure that you are not soaking the infected area but rather dampening it.
Salt and Baking Soda Solution
If you notice any form of fleas in your carpets' fiber, you can go for a salt and baking soda solution similar to the one above. Salt and baking soda work wonder to remove fleas because both chemicals contain properties that aren't suitable for adult fleas.
For example, salt and baking soda are dehydrating agents. This is damaging to the fleas because proper humidity is part of optimal living conditions for them.
Therefore, once you vacuum the area of the infestation, you can deploy salt and baking soda powder solution over the carpets. Once the infected area is no longer humid, dehydration will create the carpet space a living hell for fleas. Hence, they will try to transit from one corner to another and, therefore, die inside the carpets.
Once again, you will have to vacuum the carpets to remove all dead fleas. You may also have to clean the carpets instantly after vacuuming them and throwing away the dust bag outside the house to effectively remove all the dead fleas.
Steam Cleaning
If you can use a steam cleaner on your carpets, make sure that you don't ignore the chance to do so. Steam cleaners vacuum and provide heat over the applied area. Why are they effective in killing fleas? The steam from the cleaner is hot, and it causes the temperature to rise rapidly. Fleas can't survive temperatures above 38 Celcius. Thus, exposure to blazing steam can kill off any remaining fleas and their flea eggs.
Flea-Free Dog Shampoo
This is a no-brainer since pets are the main cause of flea infestations in the house. You can bathe your pet, such as a cat or dog, using flea-free shampoo. Make sure that you reach all places and clean your pet thoroughly. Such shampoos are very effective. Note that you may have to visit your veterinarian beforehand to confirm if the selected shampoo is right for your pet or not.
Clean Pet Bedding
This is important if you want to restore peace for your furry friend. Clean all the bedding sheets and other material thoroughly using the right cleaning products to remove traces of fleas from your pet and pet's humble abode.
How Long Does It Take for Fleas to Die In Carpet?
Since we already established that adult fleas live no longer than a few days or probably two weeks without a suitable host such as pet animals, how quickly fleas die inside your carpets will depend on the treatment methods.
For instance, an adult flea requires proper living conditions to thrive, but fleas will start to reduce when you remove any excess humidity, increase temperatures, and keep pets clean.
While this isn't absolute, it is quite possible. You know that fleas live in furry and fiber-carrying surfaces. Hence, it is possible to use a combination of the above solutions to get rid of fleas as fast as possible.
Wrap-Up
You can try to wrap flea collars around your pets, whether you own cats or dogs. You can also use dense foliage and thick brushes to prevent flea eggs from hatching inside your home off of your pets' fur. You may inquire with your pet's vet to take up preventative measures.
Furthermore, if you have dense carpets around your house, you can use solid cleaners and even steam-cleaners if your carpet quality allows it to suck up any fleas into the vacuum bag and dump it instantly.
But, the best course of action, if you have any form of fleas in your house, is to procure professional pest control services because DIY flea treatment options are rarely one-hundred percent effective. Besides, as an inexperienced fleas cleaner, you may harm yourself by directly exposing yourself to adult fleas and flea eggs.