How to remove fleas in an apartment: a selection of the simplest effective options for removing indoor fleas with your own hands

Flea treatment is performed if signs of parasites appear indoors: itching, red dots on the legs. Fleas can jump high, so it is recommended to treat the object at a level of 1-1.5 m from the floor. Insects hide in crevices; they are not constantly on the pet’s body. To destroy pests, complex treatment is required: both the premises and the animals.

It is necessary to treat your apartment for fleas if you have a pet.

How fleas get into an apartment

To get rid of parasites forever, it is necessary to eliminate not only the consequences, but also the cause.

Methods for fleas to enter living spaces:

• on fur: a pet becomes infected on the street, more often from other animals, but fleas can also get onto the body of a dog or cat from the ground;
• on the soles of shoes from the street, parasite eggs are transferred in this way;
• together with birds, for example, if the nest is close to a window or balcony;
• from neighboring apartments in the process of disinfestation;
• from basements, in non-residential premises there is a high level of humidity, such a habitat is suitable for parasites.

Ways to control fleas

Since when fleas enter an apartment, they immediately occupy all areas and quickly find the most comfortable, but secluded or hard-to-reach places, it can be quite difficult to get them out. You can get rid of insects that have settled in furniture upholstery, thick pile of carpets or under baseboards using special preparations offered by the industry and homemade products . To choose the most suitable disinfestation method for a particular situation, it is worth learning more about them.

Treating your apartment for fleas

Products for treating apartments against fleas.
The disinfestation procedure should be done quickly, trying to simultaneously clean the animals of parasites and carry out a general cleaning of the premises. This will destroy some of the insects.

If there are no pets in the house, but there are signs of fleas, it is necessary to carry out deratization: at the same time, the basement is cleared of small rodents, which can also be carriers of fleas.

This measure allows you to eliminate the main reason for the penetration of parasites into the apartment.

Preparing the premises

The rooms are inspected: you need to look for insect eggs. If infested heavily, they may be scattered in visible places. The offspring of fleas look like sand. You need to remove all eggs found with a broom and dustpan. However, most of them will remain hidden in hard-to-reach places, where parasites live. Considering that most drugs do not affect eggs, the object is re-sanitized after 10-14 days.

You need to inspect the premises; the larvae are found in dark, damp places: behind the sink, under flower pots, under boxes with vegetables or a trash can.

Adults can settle in different places:

• behind the baseboard;
• between the carpet pile;
• In the bed;
• inside soft toys;
• in crevices;
• under the sink;
• behind furniture and inside cabinets;
• on the sleeping places of pets.

Other recommendations for preparing the room for treatment:

1. Furniture is moved away from the walls, because vertical surfaces also need to be sprayed with insecticide.
2. You need to remove the aquarium from the premises, if there is one, and remove the animals.
3. There should be no hygiene items, food, or personal items in the room. They will be sprayed with a toxic substance.
4. Animal bedding and soft toys should be thrown away in case of severe contamination or washed at high temperature in an automatic machine (+90°C).
5. General cleaning is carried out: if possible, you need to clean all hard-to-reach places.
6. Bed linen is also exposed to boiling water. Blankets and pillows can be taken outside and left in direct sunlight.
7. Furniture is cleared of things.

It is not recommended to use a vacuum cleaner in the fight against blood-sucking insects. Eggs and larvae will not die from this, but may remain in the cracks of the mechanism, and from there they will again enter the room.

Stages of disinfestation

To get rid of fleas in your apartment once and for all, you need to properly carry out disinfestation.
If you plan to carry out pest control of the apartment yourself, you need to follow the instructions:

1. Prepare gloves and a respirator. It is necessary to carry out the treatment in closed clothes and wear a hat.
2. Windows and doors are pre-closed. This measure allows you to increase the concentration of insecticides in the air, due to which the death of parasites occurs faster.
3. The poisonous substance is applied using different methods: with a brush or spray. The latter is the most effective, because first the insecticide enters the air and then ends up on the treated surface. The poison should be applied to the floor, walls up to a level of 1-1.5 m, the back walls of furniture, baseboards, internal surfaces of interior items, hidden areas, for example, the space under and on top of the window sill, and the area under the sink.
4. After a few hours (days), the room is ventilated. Surfaces need to be cleaned gradually: first those that are used more often, and after 3-4 weeks you can do a general cleaning to remove insecticide residues from the walls and furniture.

Disinsection of the premises if there is a child in the house

If you need to protect family members from exposure to harmful substances, use different methods:

1. Freezing. When the air temperature drops below -20°C, the parasites die. This measure can be taken in winter. At the same time, windows are opened for a long period. However, in a residential area there is a risk of damage to communications, because in the cold the pipes will freeze and burst after defrosting.
2. Exposure to high temperatures: +50°C and above. It is recommended to use a steam generator. Hot steam allows you to destroy parasites instantly. Under these conditions, fleas will die within minutes. This method is safe for children. However, there may be restrictions on the use of a steam generator, since not all materials withstand high temperatures equally well.
3. Professional pest control. Its advantage is high speed of work execution and efficiency. Exterminators use drugs that can even kill flea eggs. However, re-processing is not always necessary. This will reduce the risk of poisoning a child, since he will have less contact with toxic substances.

More options on how to get rid of fleas in an apartment.
When the work is completed and the room is cleaned, it is recommended to further protect it from fleas. To achieve this, general cleaning is carried out weekly, and it is important to pay attention even to remote areas.

Animals are wearing special collars before going outside.

It is necessary to improve the quality of care for pillows and blankets: they are regularly ventilated in the fresh air. Potential flea entry points are treated with crayons containing insecticides. This is a window, a ventilation hole, pipe joints in ceilings, etc.

Price list for apartments

The basis of flea remedies

The level of effectiveness of the drug depends on the type of substances that are included in the composition.

Possible options:

• pyrethroids;
• organophosphorus compounds.

These options are most often used in everyday life. The first group includes permethrin, deltamethrin, cypermethrin, tetramethrin, etc. Organophosphorus compounds are: malathion, diazinon, chlorpyrifos. Insecticides have a negative effect on the nervous system of parasites. As a result, insects lose the ability to reproduce, move, and eat food. They quickly die from lack of food and the influence of toxic substances.

The best traditional methods

Effective remedies:

1. Boric acid. Only pure powder is used. Baits based on it will not attract fleas. The substance is scattered around the apartment in places where parasites are likely to live. Upon contact with the product, insects gradually die.
2. A decoction based on Dalmatian chamomile. Prepare a concentrated composition and leave to infuse after boiling. When it has cooled completely, treat all surfaces: baseboards, floors, walls, furniture, etc.
3. Tar soap is used to clean animal fur.
4. Table salt, preferably fine-grained. Small particles are more effective because they damage the chitinous integument of fleas that crawl on the treated surface more strongly. Salt is scattered around the apartment in places where parasites are likely to live.
5. Sagebrush. You can use a freshly picked plant - lay it out around the apartment. A decoction based on wormwood also works effectively. Prepare a concentrated solution, then treat all surfaces with it.
6. Pine sawdust. Fleas cannot tolerate the smell of coniferous trees. Sawdust can be used as litter for an animal; they are scattered under the sofa and in hidden corners of the apartment.

Choice of drug

It is necessary to consider products in different forms of release, and you can choose the most suitable option. It is not always permissible to use drugs with volatile components. For example, if there are children in the house, they often give preference to concentrated solutions, using the method of treating surfaces with a brush.

Aerosols

The advantage of this option is its complex effect: parasites are influenced by external and internal negative factors. When sprayed, the insecticide in the form of a fine suspended mixture enters the body through the respiratory tract.

A significant proportion of the toxic substance settles on the outer integument of insects. In addition, poison particles fall on the chitinous shell when moving along treated surfaces. As a result, the fleas will die faster.

Common products in this group:

1. Raid.
2. Dichlorvos.
3. Karbofos.
4. Clean house.
5. Raptor.

You can use ready-made preparations in aerosol form. However, the poisonous substance is easy to prepare yourself. To do this, purchase a concentrated liquid. It is prepared (diluted if necessary) and poured into a container with a spray bottle.

This provides an effect similar to the effect of an aerosol. However, the suspension at the outlet of the spray bottle turns out to be larger and settles faster on the surface. The disadvantage of the aerosol is its low effectiveness when the intensity of infection has increased.

Concentrates for dilution

Such preparations contain potent insecticides. Some of them even destroy flea eggs (for example, Tetrix). The disadvantage of this group of products is the high level of danger to humans. However, the parasites die in a matter of minutes.

Flea remedy - Forssyth.

However, re-processing is not always necessary. It is not carried out if a drug was used that destroys offspring and adults. In addition, concentrates must be properly diluted; the level of effectiveness also depends on this.

Examples of drugs in this group:

• Executioner;
• Get;
• Forsyth;
• Delta Zone.

Using dusts

This method is less effective, since the likelihood of the parasite coming into contact with the toxic substance is low. It is necessary to treat a large area, which is difficult, because the premises are residential and some of the powder will spread throughout the apartment. In addition, dusts cannot be used to treat vertical surfaces. The advantages include easy use, low cost, and lack of pronounced odor. Examples of powders: Karbofos, Clean House.

How to disinfect with aerosols

One of the most popular methods of treating an apartment is the use of aerosols. Their popularity is due to the wide selection on the market, low cost and good efficiency. They are special sprayed compositions that contain substances that can destroy the parasite.

The main disadvantage of this treatment is the need to leave the room being treated. This is due to the harmful effects on both the human and animal body.

In general, aerosol treatment is also carried out in stages:

• Carrying out preparatory procedures (wet cleaning, removal of debris accumulations). This is necessary in order to prevent the appearance of new flea larvae, as well as the development of already mature insects.
• Removing all carpets, moving furniture away from the wall. At the same time, carpets must be kept in severe frost so that parasites cannot continue their development and reproduction.
• Leaving the premises by other residents.
• Carrying out processing.

It is worth understanding that you need to follow safety precautions and use protective respiratory masks. Also, you need to select only high-quality products. Choose brands:

• FLEE.
• COMBAT.
• CLEAN HOUSE.
• RAID.
• RAPTOR.
• NEO.

Folk remedies for treatment

Folk remedies for fleas.
To shorten the period of disinsection, while increasing the effectiveness of the methods used, you can consider the option of using folk remedies.

Available recipes:

1. Bitterness contained in herbs: tansy, wormwood. A concentrated infusion is prepared; it is recommended to keep it in a dark room for 12 hours, then the herb will release more nutrients to the liquid. The resulting product is used to treat all surfaces where fleas may live.
2. Pine sawdust repels parasites, but does not destroy them, so this method is used simultaneously with others.
3. Caucasian chamomile. The plant contains a natural insecticide - a group of pyrethrins. It is enough to spread it around the room, the smell will repel parasites. This method is used to prevent infection of an object.
4. Dry mixture of soda and salt. It is scattered around the room instead of dust. After 12 hours, the mixture can be swept out, then the procedure is repeated.
5. Garlic and brewer's yeast. Prepare the garlic cloves and chop them. Then the components are mixed and the room is treated. The disadvantage of the product is the presence of a smell in the room, which then takes a long time to dissipate.
6. Ammonia and vinegar. The components are mixed and all surfaces are treated. This will create a strong odor in the room.

Actions after disinfestation

After the pests disappear, care must be taken to ensure that they do not reappear. Selective sanitation against fleas with aerosols is proposed as a preventive measure. Skirting boards and doorways are sprayed.

Pest control

It is also recommended to clean the premises every week, during which you should vacuum the carpets and wash the floors with a solution of vinegar or ammonia. If there is an increased risk of infection, essential oils of tansy, wormwood, and chamomile are dripped in the corners of the rooms. Parasites do not like strong odors. Pets are treated with special products, bedding is regularly washed, and the house is cleaned.

What to do if everyone starts itching

Fleas are small insects (2-6 mm in length); it is difficult to see them when infesting a room due to their high speed of movement.

The main symptom is itching in the lower extremities; fleas cannot jump higher. The bites itch, causing scratching to appear. If you are prone to allergies, red spots and bumps appear. In most cases, bites leave dots.

To make sure that parasites are present in the house, you need to detect activity at a level of 1 m above the floor, in the habitats of pets, near carpets. Here you can see fast moving dark dots. They are better visible against a light background. Fleas do not live on animals; they jump on them to get a portion of blood. In case of severe infection, different individuals are constantly on the pet. For this reason, it may appear that fleas are living on his body.

Insects prefer special conditions: dark, damp places, hidden, remote areas of premises. Fleas multiply, leaving eggs everywhere - up to 10 pieces. per day from each individual. The offspring are not fixed on anything, as in the case of lice (on the hair), this facilitates their spread.

After 7-10 days, larvae emerge from the shell. Gradually they turn into insects called nymphs. After 10-30 days they pupate, after which adults emerge that are capable of biting a living creature. For comparison, at the initial stage of development, the larvae feed on waste.

When adult fleas grow, bite marks immediately appear on people’s bodies, and at the same time, itching.

If such signs occur, you need to create an algorithm for further actions:

• destroy fleas on an animal;
• at the same time they clean the room, it is enough to clean the walls and floor, clean the carpets;
• carry out disinfestation of the facility;
• after 14 days, it is necessary to re-treat the infected premises with insecticides, because at the end of this period, larvae emerge from the eggs.

Price list for legal entities: treatment of territories and premises from insects

Products for treating pets

Available options:

• drops;
• pills;
• shampoos;
• collars.

The first option is considered the most effective even with severe infection. In this case, the toxic substance remains on the skin and fur of the animal, which will destroy insects and prevent other parasites from entering the body of the cat or dog in the future. The tablets act from the inside - they create unsuitable conditions for fleas to live in, affect the composition of the blood, which prevents insects from continuing to bite the pet.

Shampoos are a preventative measure. Such drugs repel, they do not destroy pests. This is important to consider when in contact with other animals on the street. Collars are also a preventative measure. They exist in different types. For small animals, options containing natural ingredients are used. Adult pets are given collars impregnated with insecticides.

Facilities:

• Leopard;
• Advantix;
• Kiltix;
• Frontline et al.

To cure an animal, it is better to use drops or tablets. At the same time, shampoos or collars (only one of these options) are used for prevention.

How to prepare the room

Before taking action to fix the problem, you need to do some preparatory work. They are performed in several stages, including:

• Carrying out cleaning using wet and dry materials.
• Packing food products in cling film or foil.
• Closing fish aquariums and terrariums. This is due to the fact that such animals do not tolerate insect control agents well.
• Purchasing special anti-flea collars for dogs and cats. In this case, you need to choose only high-quality and safe models so as not to cause irritation to the skin.
• Ventilation of all rooms.
• Carrying out disinfection treatment in each room.

In this case, under no circumstances should wet cleaning be carried out after treatment. This is due to moisture, which contributes to the appearance of parasites and their reproduction.

How long does it take for fleas to die after treatment?

Flea drops for dogs and cats.
It all depends on the stage of development of the parasite, the type of insecticide and its concentration. In addition, compliance with processing rules also plays a role.

If they are violated, insecticides lose their properties. If the treatment was carried out according to the instructions, the peak death of parasites occurs on days 5-7.

It takes time for the insecticide to penetrate the chitinous covers and affect the entire body: organs and systems. The room is completely cleaned within 1 month.

Our flea control method

1. Inspection - we determine the type of insect, the source of its appearance and the level of infection.

2. Selection of method – we select the optimal method of destruction by spraying drugs or applying gels.

3. Treatment with imported drugs produced by BAYER and BASF allows in 98% of cases to obtain the desired result.

4. Recommendations – we inform each client about ways to timely prevent the appearance of fleas and other insects.