Fleas

How to get rid of fleas in the house

A step by step plan for fleas in carpet, beds and sofas: the order that works, which sprays and powders are worth buying, and natural options honestly assessed.

The short answer

Treat the pet through your vet and the house on the same day: vacuum every floor and soft surface thoroughly, hot wash all bedding, treat floors and furniture with a spray that contains an insect growth regulator, then keep vacuuming daily for two to three weeks so the cocoons hatch onto the treated surface. Expect bites to taper off over three to four weeks. Skipping a step is the usual reason fleas come back, and if you have tried twice, a professional flea treatment is the next move.

First, make sure it is fleas

Three quick checks settle it. Bites at ankle height, a pet scratching or grooming more than usual, and fine black specks in its bedding that leave a red smear on damp white paper, because flea droppings are mostly dried blood. Walking slowly through carpeted rooms in white socks pulled high up the leg will often show adult fleas against the fabric.

If you want measurements to compare against, we have written up the signs of fleas, with sizes, from flea dirt to larvae. And if the bites only happen in bed and there is no animal in the house, check the bed for bed bugs before buying anything for fleas, because the plan below will not touch them.

The order that gets rid of fleas

Work through six steps, the first four on the same day, because each one covers a gap the others leave. Treat the pet, vacuum everything, hot wash the bedding, treat the floors and furniture with a product that contains a growth regulator, keep vacuuming daily for two to three weeks, and treat outdoor resting spots only if the animal uses them. Here is what each step is for.

1. The pets, the same day, through your vet. We do not advise on animal products, and neither should a carpet spray. Ask your vet what suits each animal and treat every cat and dog in the household together, or an untreated one keeps laying eggs into the floor. SPCA New Zealand on flea treatment for pets covers the animal side.

2. Clear the floors and vacuum everything, with a beater-bar head if you have one: the carpet, under the furniture, the skirting edges, sofa bases and cushions, mattress seams, and the car if the dog rides in it. A thorough vacuum with a beater-type machine removes roughly 15 to 30 percent of larvae and 30 to 60 percent of eggs from carpet, and the vibration wakes the pupae. Tip the bag or canister into a bag you can tie off and take it straight out to the bin.

3. Hot wash the bedding, yours as well if the pet sleeps on it, and every piece of pet bedding, then dry it on a hot setting. Cheap pet bedding that is heavily infested is easier to replace than to rescue.

4. Treat with a surface spray that contains a growth regulator, aimed where the animal rests and where eggs fall: under and behind furniture, along the skirting, around the base of the sofa and on the pet's favourite spots. The insecticide deals with adults, while the growth regulator stops eggs and larvae developing, though it does not kill adult fleas.

5. Vacuum daily for two to three weeks, then every couple of days after that. This is the step that beats the cocoon, because vibration and pressure bring the waiting fleas out onto a treated floor where the residual can reach them.

6. Treat outdoor resting spots only if the animal uses them. Fleas outdoors prefer shade, so the places that matter are under the deck, beside the foundations and wherever the dog lies in the garden, not the open lawn.

What kills fleas in the house fast?

A contact spray kills the adult fleas it actually hits, and a hot wash clears fleas, eggs and larvae out of bedding, but nothing ends an infestation in a day. The pupae are protected inside their cocoons and keep hatching over the following weeks, whatever you spray. A house becomes completely flea-free by finishing the life cycle, not by finding a stronger product.

So the fastest real result is all six steps started on the same day. Done that way, the adults on open surfaces go first, the bites ease over the second and third weeks, and the last of the late hatchers are gone within about a month.

Flea sprays, powders and bombs: what is worth buying

Buy by product type and active ingredient, not by brand. A household flea spray that lists both an insecticide and a growth regulator, such as pyriproxyfen or S-methoprene, is the most useful single purchase, because you can put it exactly where the fleas are. A borate carpet powder, based on disodium octaborate and worked down into the pile, is a slower, longer-lasting option for carpeted rooms.

Borate powders have low skin toxicity for people and pets, but they can be dusty, so keep them off furniture and food preparation surfaces. A flea bomb is the least targeted of the three, and we have explained why a flea bomb on its own rarely does it. Whatever you buy, follow the label and keep children and animals away from treated areas until they are dry.

Natural flea treatment for the home, honestly assessed

The most effective natural flea treatments are mechanical, and they are already in the plan: vacuuming, hot washing and steam cleaning. Beyond those, the evidence thins out quickly. Diatomaceous earth can help, but only in dry places such as a pet's kennel or bedding, because it works by drying insects out and stops working when damp. Salt and baking soda have no good evidence behind them.

Brewer's yeast, vitamin B1, herbal collars and ultrasonic devices have all been tested and do not keep fleas away. Sprays based on essential oils can kill some adult fleas, but the effect is short-lasting, and they should never be used on or around cats: cats lack an enzyme they need to break down some of the compounds in these oils, and tea tree oil is the most commonly reported cause of essential oil poisoning in pets. As for smells fleas hate, no scent we know of works as a control method.

Fleas in the bed and on the sofa

Fleas end up where the animal sleeps. Eggs drop into the bedding and into the seams and base of the sofa, and the larvae develop there out of the light. Hot wash everything washable, vacuum the mattress seams, the sofa base and under the cushions, treat the bed frame and the floor around it, and keep the pet off the bed and the sofa until the cycle has finished, which is usually about a month.

Why fleas keep coming back

Four causes account for nearly every flea problem that returns, roughly in this order: an animal that was not treated, or not treated at the same time as the house; vacuuming that stopped before the cocoons had all hatched; an animal living under the house; and treating only some of the rooms the pet uses.

One thing that is not a failure is the burst of fleas seven to fourteen days after treatment. Those are adults that were already formed inside their cocoons on the day, emerging onto the treated floor and dying there. Keep vacuuming through it rather than reaching for another product.

When to call a professional

There is an honest point at which doing it yourself stops making sense. If the whole house is carpeted and you are past the first fortnight with no improvement, if a cat or another animal is living in the subfloor, if you are a landlord or tenant at a rental changeover and need a dated written record, or if you have worked through the six steps twice, a professional treatment will usually cost less than a third round of products and another month of bites.

Our prices are published, so you can weigh it up before you call: here is what a flea treatment costs in Auckland, from one or two rooms to a house plus subfloor.

Questions

Questions about getting rid of fleas

How long does it take to get rid of fleas in a house?

About three to four weeks from the day you do every step, and most of that is waiting for the fleas already inside cocoons to hatch onto treated floors and die. The bites usually ease noticeably in the second and third weeks. If you are still being bitten after four weeks, one of the steps has been missed, most often the pet.

Can I get rid of fleas in 24 hours?

You can kill most of the adult fleas in a day, but not the ones still inside their cocoons, which no spray reliably reaches. So a clearance in 24 hours is not realistic. What you can do in a day is start everything: vet, vacuum, hot wash and treatment, then keep vacuuming daily while the late hatchers emerge and die.

Do I need to treat every room?

Treat every room the animal uses, plus the hallways it walks through, because eggs fall wherever the pet goes and rests. Rooms the pet never enters can usually be vacuumed rather than treated. If you are not sure where it goes during the day, treat more rather than less.

Will steam cleaning the carpet get rid of fleas?

Useful, though not a cure by itself. University of Florida guidance suggests cleaning rugs with a vacuum or a steam cleaner, but how far the heat gets into thick carpet varies and the cocoons sit at the base of the pile. Use it as one step, alongside daily vacuuming and a treatment with a growth regulator, rather than instead of them.

Is it safe to use flea spray with children and pets in the house?

Used as the label directs, yes. Keep children and animals away from treated areas until they are dry, cover any fish tank and switch its pump off, and store the can out of reach. If a child swallows some or gets it in their eyes, ring the National Poisons Centre, free at any hour, on 0800 764 766.

We have fleas but no pets. Does the same plan work?

Yes, without the vet. Look under the house for signs of an animal using the subfloor, such as a cat or rats, and find out whether the previous occupants had a pet, because their fleas can wait in cocoons for months. Then vacuum, wash, treat and keep vacuuming exactly as above.

Sources

If you need someone

If you would sooner hand it over

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