Getting rid of fleas?

[Lynn08]

[So, I'm putting this here instead of in "Pets" because my cat does not have a flea problem - he is an indoor-only cat and we feed him brewer's yeast/garlic treats that keep the fleas off him. Now having said that...]

We have fleas. I don't know where/how, but we have them. It's not an outright infestation, but I found 3 yesterday (two on stuff pulled out of dd's diaper bag and one on me) and one (on dd) today; I want to take care of them before it gets worse. Does anyone know of a natural method (ie child/pet safe that does not required evacuating the home for extended periods of time) of getting rid of them?

TIA

[LISSA~K]

We had a pretty bad infestation last year and used borax. We sprinkled it on the carpets and left it for a few hours (a few days in my older dd's room, the source of the infestation since the cats sleep in there) and then vacuumed it and cleaned the carpets with a rented rug doctor using a vinegar/hot water mixture. And vacuumed all the time for the next few weeks.

Really if you are only finding a few, I would say your best bet would be to just wash all the bedding and vacuum like crazy for a while. And put borax in your vacuum bag because the suckers will climb back out and the eggs will hatch in there.

[es1967]

The same thing happened to us. Fleas are just horrible around here. I found a few fleas and basically washed everything for a few weeks. Also, vaccumed every single day-sometimes twice a day and washed the floors alot w water, vinegar,lemongrass and peppermint EO's. It drove me crazy but all of a sudden they were gone. We have a little dog and he was sleeping on the area rug in my DS's room. After that I got rid of all area rugs. Luckily, we have all tile so it was alot easier. I did alot of research and there is some natural stuff you can use on your carpets and furniture called Diatomaceous earth. Good luck.

[Lynn08]

Originally Posted by es1967

<snip> I did alot of research and there is some natural stuff you can use on your carpets and furniture called Diatomaceous earth. Good luck.

Ohh, I didn't realize it was good for fleas! I keep meaning to get some for the ants that still manage to find their way in (I swear our house was built on top of the World's Largest Ant Colony), so I guess this means I have to remember now!

Unfortunately, the entire house (except bathroom and kitchen) is carpeted, so it's going to be a PIA. Oh well. I'm wondering if making a "carpet deodorizer" type thing with the borax and eo's would help?

[number572]

If you use DE get the food grade, non-food grade (sold in pool supply stores, etc) can be toxic. I use it in the garage and around the deck & it works well.

Vacuuming daily & washing the floors (we have all wood & tile) daily for 1 month, adding eo's to the floor cleaning water, washing all pet bedding & rugs several times - this ritual got rid of my flea problem last year.

[crispysmom]

One word of caution about the DE. It gets everywhere and is very difficult to vacuum up.