# How do I get rid of fleas in my house? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 27, 2002, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-fleas-in-my-house/111075 "2002-05-27T18:45:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Deacons\_Trucked](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d78d45/32.png) [@Deacons\_Trucked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deacons_Trucked)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-fleas-in-my-house/111075/1 "2002-05-27T18:45:49Z")
I have wood floors and the fleas seem live in the cracks, foggers work semi-okay but the fleas come back soon, and we have 2 pets. The dog especially has a lot of fleas but we dont have money to get flea treatments from the vet. Do floor powders work - the ones you spread and then vacuum up? Is there no hope until we get a good pet flea treatment from the vet? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-fleas-in-my-house/111075/2 "2002-05-27T19:08:20Z")
Go to the pet store for the one application/30 treatment stuff. Works great. Use it in conjunction with the foggers. Also, mop the floors with oil soap before fogging. Ordinary soap kills many insects, so apply the stuff liberally. Let dry before fogging. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-fleas-in-my-house/111075/3 "2002-05-27T19:12:35Z")
Are you sure you can’t afford treatment from the vet? I spent so much money on flea bombs, powders, etc. for several years and they never seemed to go away completely. I got my dog on Frontline (I think that was what it was called anyway) for less than the cost of a single flea bomb treatment. Within weeks the fleas were all gone. I haven’t had the dog for about a year but I never see fleas anymore and I still have six cats and a ferret. One of my coworkers swears by burning sulfur treatments. It sounds rather gross though, and it seems fairly dangerous too. ---
**Author:** ![jacksen9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jacksen9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacksen9)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-fleas-in-my-house/111075/4 "2002-05-27T19:56:45Z")
Frontline is the best and if you compare it with other stuff that is less effective it is the best deal. Once you get a handle on your flea problem you can use the Frontline once every 6 of 7 weeks. It is really pretty low cost if you consider how long it lasts. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-fleas-in-my-house/111075/5 "2002-05-27T20:44:56Z")
Flea bombs. If not Frontline, use Advantage. ---
**Author:** ![Forbin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@Forbin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Forbin)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-fleas-in-my-house/111075/6 "2002-05-27T23:26:24Z")
I never believed the claims of an anti flea product (who’s name I’ve forgotten ☹ ) that came in a liquid form applied to the back of the dogs neck. I resisted buying it, believing it was too expensive, and would never work. Boy was I wrong. It works great! I think you can try and try to get rid of the fleas, but if the dog brings them back, your attempts will be in vain. Get some of the _anti-flea liquid ™_ and get the fleas off the dog. Then just keep a clean house, and they’ll vanish. It worked for me. I should mention that the problem got so bad for me that the little pests were jumping on me!! ☹ Not anymore. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2002, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-fleas-in-my-house/111075/7 "2002-05-27T23:34:25Z")
That’s Frontline/Advantage and it’s the best thing to stop fleas. The $30 isn’t too much compared to the hassles if you do have the little buggers. ---
**Author:** ![dp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecd19e/32.png) [@dp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dp)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2002, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-fleas-in-my-house/111075/8 "2002-05-28T00:26:14Z")
i have worked in pest control in the past. this is what a pest control co. would do. (it is a lot of work, but if fleas are bad enough, a time will come when you will do anything to get rid of them). first, rid the pets of fleas by flea soap bath and use OTC flea repellant sprays on them. throw away or throughly clean pets bedding. spray with insecticide outside house anywhere dogs lie, doghouse, etc. inside your house vacuum any rugs, or cloth furniture that the dogs have been on, throw away the vacuum bag. spray the house and furniture with insecticide. the problem that you will have is , you need an insecticide that has a GROWTH REGULATOR in it, these chemicals are only sold to liscenced applicators. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2002, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-fleas-in-my-house/111075/9 "2002-05-28T00:39:44Z")
I just put a dish of soapy water out with a light above it. At night fleas are attracted to that light & jump into the water & the soap keeps them from floating. cool huh? Make sure that light won’t fall over. ---
**Author:** ![stockton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@stockton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stockton)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2002, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-fleas-in-my-house/111075/10 "2002-05-28T04:12:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Deacons Trucked \* > \*\*The dog especially has a lot of fleas but we dont have money to get flea treatments from the vet. \*\* Advantage works great for our cat, $10/application, June, July and August. I hope you don’t have children. Those immunization shots are expensive, too. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2002, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-fleas-in-my-house/111075/11 "2002-05-28T04:23:25Z")
Wood floors? I had the same problem when I moved into my current place. I and a friend mopped the floor with a strong solution of water and “sudsy ammonia.” Killed the fleas and I haven’t seen any since (8 years) Make _ **certain** _ you have every window open and a good cross breeze. I don’t think it’ll poison you, but it will surely knock you for a loop. Do it in the morning, it should be fine by evening. So far as the pets, I don’t have any, so listen to the others. ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2002, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-fleas-in-my-house/111075/12 "2002-05-28T05:24:04Z")
And on the “homemade” remedy front, you can try regular laundry Borax. I’m not sure how well it works for hard floors but sprinkling the powder over carpet, letting it sit and then vaccuuming it up works rather well. Keeps you flea free! ---
**Author:** ![RufusLeaking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c5a1d2/32.png) [@RufusLeaking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RufusLeaking)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2002, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-rid-of-fleas-in-my-house/111075/13 "2002-05-29T23:12:55Z")
See [http://www.fleabuster.com/](http://www.fleabuster.com/) We’ve been very pleased with this product. We applied it to all carpets in our house more than three years ago and now have zero flea problem. This product is not toxic to humans or animals and lasts until you shampoo your carpet. Fleas drop eggs into carpets and larvae develop there and then hop back onto your pets. This powder kills the larvae by drying them out. Since this cycle runs about two weeks you don’t see an effect until after two or three weeks. We have an indoor-only cat so if your pets frequently go in and out of your house this might not be as effective for you but I would definitely try it. Before using this powder we tried everything we could find and could not get rid of the fleas. Good luck!