How can I get rid of fleas on my animals and in my house without spending a lot of money?
By Danielle Hall from Navarre, FL
Go to Walmart & buy several boxes of 20 mule team Borax (It's sold in the laundry aisle). Put the borax into a Parmesan shaker ($1 store) & shake it all over ALL of your rugs & carpeting. Vacuum the carpet & upholstery first before you start. Also, put a flea collar on your vacuum to kill them, or the fleas will jump out! After shaking the borax all over the carpet and all the floors and upholstered furniture (be sure to get under furniture), take a broom & sweep the borax deep inside the carpet and into any cracks or crevices in the floor.
Wash your pets with flea shampoo and put Advantage flea meds on your pets, and tell everyone not to pet them for several days. Also, put the pets outside for a day while the fleas jump off after you've medicated them. Wash all bedding and curtains, then put it in a hot dryer for at least 10 minutes after it's dry. If you live somewhere where there's not too much humidity, you can add half table salt to the borax. If you live somewhere where there is a lot of humidity (like Florida) then the salt can draw moisture to the carpeting and make it feel wet & moist.
The salt helps the borax work better and faster, but it can also damage the rug. The crystals can microscopically "cut" the rug fibers. The Borax costs about $5 per box. You can get flea collars (for your vacuum) at most $1 stores & the Advantage flea meds can be bought much cheaper online, but they come from Australia (where they are made) so it takes about 1 month for them to arrive.
If this doesn't work for you and you decide to use chemicals, buy the spray from your vet that also kills flea eggs too. Be sure to put your toothbrush in the fridge and put all dishes in a sealed oven or dishwasher, or take them outside along with any open boxes of food (like cereal or oatmeal) because the chemicals will get inside the boxes of food as well as on your dishes, utensils, and on toothbrushes. You can store these outside on a porch or in your car.
Spray works better than foggers. Take your kids somewhere else for a day after spraying then open the doors & windows to air the place out for a while before you let any kids in the home. After spraying the carpet with chemicals don't let kids play or sit on carpeting. The spray flea chemicals that also kill eggs cost from $10 to $20 per bottle, and you'll need at least 2 bottles. Call and ask at a vet's office what they sell. Don't buy anything that doesn't kill eggs & stay away from foggers unless you want to fog every 2 weeks. Foggers don't kill eggs and easily get into food & toothbrushes.
* My youngest son & I are both very allergic to fleas, so I've done this many times. You can also make a natural bug lotion that will keep fleas off your kids. It's pretty smelly. Buy a 16 oz bottle of unscented body lotion then pour in about 1 or 2 Tablespoons of Citronella oil, shake well, then apply to skin (especially to legs where fleas can easily jump). Don't apply after swimming or bathing for at least 1 hour or it will cause skin to feel like it's burning. Apply only to dry skin & don't use on kids under 5.
Also, if you can find pure soy oil, I've heard that it will keep fleas off. Fleas hate soy oil. Sometimes it's sold where shortening is sold. You might try a $1 store flea collar for your pets after bathing them. You could also sprinkle baking soda on their fur, then brushing it out once or twice a day if they don't have dry skin. The herbal flea collars don't work that well and they drive animals crazy because the herbs smell so strong (like eucalyptus & clove oil).
(04/17/2009)
By Cyinda
Salt under covers on furniture and under sheets on beds, right next to mattresses, borax on carpet, flea collar in bag of vacuum, or spray trash with flea spray and keep it away from kids and food if you use a vacuum like I do that has no bags in it. Order frontline spray instead of the spot treatments online for use once a month on dogs or cats. This ordering the frontline has saved me tons of money. Also keep grass cut down and spray yard spray for fleas around any high grass.
This is what helps me the most when fleas are really bad. The salt really seems to help the carpet and the furniture, but I will probably switch to borax this year. Skin so soft from Avon is supposed to be disgusting to bugs, lol.
I am not sure if my other posts went through or not. If it did, my apologies...:) (04/17/2009)
By Robyn Fed
I had this problem a while ago, to the point where my long hair cat had a bald behind. I went to the
vet and they suggested advantage, which worked okay. However with several cats the cost would have been about $150 a month. On this site someone suggested a capful of eucalyptus essential oil in 2 liters of water (about 8 cups) to spray on the cat, and wow what a difference. There were dead fleas in her fur within 5 mins. I vacuumed and sprayed this oil /water mix around baseboards, heat registers, and on beds and furniture with great results.
By Anne
Food grade Diatamecous earth, we sprinkle it on carpets, beds, and on all cloth furniture. Simply leave it on the cloth furniture and then vacuum after a few days, sure it looks like a snowstorm in the home but this is safe and I promise it works. Make sure to put it in cracks and crevices and even on the animals too. We also sprinkle this in our animal food, it offers parasite control both inside and out, if your animals lick this powder then it's safe, spread it on your pet's body and bedding. It is safe to use and easily cleaned up with the vacuum cleaner. The problem with the flea collars is that it is a constant medicine going in to your animals bloodstream.
Found at Lowe's and very cheap and goes a long way. It is thrifty and safe. If you have young children then watch for their airways and yours too.
Here's a great link for you to read up on. This is the only method for fleas that we do use.
http://wolfcreekranch1.tripod.com/defaq.html
Also this stuff is great for other bugs too, may seem cruel to some folks and for this I am sorry and I do apologize but we have to care for our animals first and then worry about the other bugs. Great for cockroaches if you ever get the problem, it works folks! (04/17/2009)
By Maryjo
I don't know how well it works, but a vet friend of mine said to rub them down in lemon juice and I know if you sprinkle salt on your carpet and leave it over night then vacuum it up, it helps by drying up the fleas blood when they are in the carpet. (04/21/2009)
By debbie
I sell Avon and Skin-So-Soft really does work. I have a dog for going on 4 yrs, and with a flea collar, her shampoo, and skin so soft we have never had a problem. Knock on wood, lol. (04/22/2009)
By penny
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