Homemade Flea Trap

Answers:

Flea Control

This will eliminate all of your fleas in the home. You need eight or nine small white bowls, very small. Put water in them and put them all over throughout your house. They need to be at least small enough for the fleas to jump into. Over time they will all go to the bowls and drown. My mom told me this and I didn't believe her, but it worked.

By familyov6 (06/09/2005)

By ThriftyFun

Homemade Flea Trap

Another great flea trap my husband made. He took a premium plus cracker box, cut two squares on one side and inserted a sheet of yellow sticky fly trap(sticky on both sides) . He then took a string of Christmas lights removed all but two green bulbs from the end, which he inserted into two holes in the cracker box. This created a green night light. Fleas are attracted to green. The trap has been in our daughters room for a week and we counted 76 dead fleas on the sticked tape. (06/17/2005)

By Tanya

Fleas

Fleas will jump into a bowl of soapy water placed on the floor and drown. I have no idea why they do this, but it works. A friend demonstrated this to me, using Dawn dish soap in a small bowl.

By Rev. Alex (06/24/2005)

By ThriftyFun

Homemade Flea Trap

It really works, I put some water with Dawn in a small saucer, put a small candle in the middle and this morning I counted 27 fleas. It works. (08/14/2005)

By R. Holley.

Homemade Flea Trap

I used the Raid flea trap, which is a an upright green light that is connected to a base that has sticky paper on the bottom.. The idea is the fleas are attracted to the light, try to get it, hit it and then fall into the stick paper. I have left it on for days now and no luck. There are still fleas in my room, I keep picking them off my legs! I am going to try the vacuum trick plus the water bowl with a drop of dish soap. (08/17/2005)

By Ryan

Homemade Flea Trap

I did the light trap with water and it is working! Thank you very much (11/25/2005)

By Agueda Village

Homemade Flea Trap

I live in Florida. I have no pets. I had a huge flea infestation on the side yard of my home. I tried all kinds of flea & bug killers, with no luck. Then I tried the pan with dish soap & night light tip. After a week, I counted well over 1000 fleas. I added some Demon WP in with the soapy water, to keep ants & giant roaches from eating the dead fleas...wow, it works! Thanks for the tips! (01/07/2006)

By Jim R.

Homemade Flea Trap

I have had an exterminator at my house the last 3 Fridays in a row, and still fleas! I will try the green light and dawn dish soap. I was amazed by reading all these helpful tips. I hope they work for me. (10/03/2006)

By Jennifer

Homemade Flea Trap

What is the purpose of the dish soap?
Editor's Note: It is supposed to coat the surface of the water to make it so the fleas cannot jump back out. (10/11/2006)

By Suzanne

Homemade Flea Trap

Haven't tried it, but me and my girlfriend are going to be trying it tonight. (03/18/2007)

By Cthomas

Homemade Flea Trap

It works. I put water in a pie tin, and a squirt of dish soap. Sat it under tables or beds or anywhere. Fleas are stupid. They jump in and drown. Many little flea bodies will be in the bottom of the tin by morning. (03/19/2007)

By Ariela

Homemade Flea Trap

A similar method works for fruit flies, also. During canning season especially; and that is to put some water and dish soap, along with some citrus juice, in shallow bowls and cover with saran wrap. Then poke tiny holes in the saran wrap. The fruit flies will crawl in and become trapped. (03/19/2007)

By Laura

Homemade Flea Trap

I got one of those Raid green-light sticky-strip traps at a yard sale last year, and it worked wonderfully during that flea season. This year, however, it doesn't seem to be catching nearly as many fleas . I'm afraid the fleas in my house have evolved into intelligent beings and have learned to avoid the trap!

I never thought of using a light or candle with the dish-of-water trick! I always just used hot water and was out of luck when it cooled off! Thanks for posting a useful variation on this method!

(08/21/2007)

By Callie

Homemade Flea Trap

Don't use the candle. Unattended it could be hazardous.
Also mouse/glue traps under a night light works just as well. The fleas stick to the traps. (09/19/2007)

Homemade Flea Trap

Just wanted to throw in my 2 cents worth on dish soap:

Soap is a surfactant. It reduces water's surface tension and improves its ability to wet surfaces, leaving fewer air bubbles on rough surfaces.

Insects have no lungs, just holes in their sides. Air diffuses through these holes, into a network of microscopic tubes called "tracheae."

Without soap, water doesn't penetrate the tracheae and the bugs have enough stored air to "breathe" to keep them going while they swim around and climb back out.

With soap in the mix, the water wicks into their tracheae and wet the internal surfaces, drowning the buggers.

Okay, I lied; the air doesn't just diffuse in. Check this out:

www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s769094.htm

But, still: water+soap = better wetting -> dead bugs. (09/25/2007)

By Surfactant

Homemade Flea Trap

15 watt bug zapper on the floor hiding in a corner away from everyone has always worked great for me since 1984! The wattage calls fleas from all over the house it worked great for me, be careful keep it away from everyone and thing! (11/18/2007)

Homemade Flea Trap

Here's what I do for fleas. Sprinkle reg table salt in carpet. Wait 24 hours then vacuum. Do this till you see no more fleas. Salt cuts up the fleas and their eggs. (05/06/2008)

By

Homemade Flea Trap

I just now read this on 7/4/08. I just now also place 3 foam plates 2 with a plastic candle with fluid inside to keep the flame running 10hrs. And dawn dish soap with water surrounding it, On my patio porch. We'll see what happens. (07/04/2008)

By latinguy

Homemade Flea Trap

It works! I tried it and within minutes the fleas started jumping in the water and drowning! Thanks so much! (09/01/2008)

Homemade Flea Trap

My problem was that the fleas were no located in a single area, they were spread throughout the house. Because of this the soapy water & light trick only worked sometimes.
I almost went crazy I swear, with all the biting and itching not to mention the reluctance to have company over for fear of embarrassment.

This is what I did, and at first my wife thought I was nuts!
I took two pieces of cardboard and bent them length wise around my shins, marked them and cut them long enough to make it all the way around my shins and meet at the back.
Then I laid them out and punched three holes in each end about an inch from the edges. (these holes will later be used to thread like a shoe to tie the two ends together)

I found a recipe for home made sticky glue adhesive and coated two pieces of cardboard on one side each (you can buy premixed adhesive from the internet as well but I was in a hurry)

After coating the cardboard I wrapped them around my shins and laced them up with shoe string to make my sticky flea catching shin guards!

You think a soap dish & light works, then try this! I just walked around the places I knew had fleas and they jumped right into the glue as I walked past!

Later I grabbed an old pair of slippers and hot glued some sticky cardboard to them as well since I noticed that a lot of the fleas were still landing on my socks instead of my shins. My flea problem was gone in under a week!

You will look a little funny, and your wife might call you crazy but once she sees all the fleas stuck to your legs she will eat her words!

Cheers (09/16/2008)

By Goon

Homemade Flea Trap

I used a light with a goose neck and aimed it over the pie pan. The fleas were so bad I would just refill the trap with more soapy water and quickly leave the room. I caught so many fleas it was unbelievable. I later went in and fished them all off with a premise spray from the vet! (09/17/2008)

By sb

Homemade Flea Trap

What about the dog? Don't you care about curing the dog that infested your house in the first place? (09/21/2008)

By dogs are the problem

Homemade Flea Trap

I have read the main purpose of putting salt on the carpeting is to dry up the eggs. Salt destroys the eggs so I've read. If we don't kill the thousands of eggs the fleas are laying daily, we can keep trapping them all summer. We should trap and kill the eggs with salt at the same time. The eggs are what keep them coming back.

My guess is lots of salt during the day. Let it sit for an hour or so, vacuum before night fall, and water dish soap nightlight/tealight trap at night. (07/20/2009)

By Cindy Sorgenfrei

Homemade Flea Trap

Fleas can't swim? Hallelujah, after five years battling with these monstrous pests I had begun to think them invincible.

Actually, I have tried the light and bowl of soapy water treatment...nothing, zilch. Maybe I have a more intelligent flea. Oh well, onwards and upwards. (08/06/2009)

By jen

Homemade Flea Trap

I used all the pet store crap zn the lil buggers were resistant, being a little bit mental. I declared war, all you need is sellotape, cardboard, candles and shaving foam which all came to £20 for me so much cheaper than other alternatives, I attached the sellotape backwards to the cardboard so I could make tape traps, I then lit candles and put them in the center of the traps (each one should cost around £2 to make and be 1m.sq, because the traps are double sided (being that the tape is inside out) they catch crawlers and jumpers. Then use shaving foam on your legs and the fleas will be trapped inside ready for drowning, sticking etc then all you need is to hoover, the tape should be good for 2+ weeks so they will outlast any fleas you have ;) (11/28/2009)

By LouiUK