If you missed my post on How to Naturally Get Rid of Fleas Part 1, click here.
I’ve been on a battle this past week to get rid of fleas in my home. Flea eggs can hatch as quickly as every 2 days and as late as every 2 weeks, depending on humidity and temperature. This makes them multiply very quickly, so aggression on your part is a must to get rid of these annoying jumperoos!
In my first post last week, I used a lamp and water to catch several of them, and I continued to do this every night, and it worked for a lot of them. Having my house sprayed for fleas using chemicals is not an option for me.
Read this list I found about some of the possible side effects of using chemical sprays:
“Among the complaints in the moderate and major medical incidents were dizziness, difficulty breathing, difficulty swallowing, muscle weakness, tremors, abdominal pain, disorientation, stumbling, coma, seizure, liver failure, lethargy, numbness, blurred vision, chills, blood in the urine, memory loss, migraines, inability to walk and heart attack.” Uhhhh….I think I’ll go with something more natural! =O
Click here to read the full story of how a lady suffered for months from chemicals sprayed in her house for fleas. I wonder how many people suffer from the side effects of these chemicals and don’t realize it?
The second part of my getting rid of fleas is using salt. Salt acts as a dehydration agent that dries out the fleas. I bought the cheapest salt I could find. It takes about a pound of salt per room with carpet, depending on the size of the room. You want the salt to be almost a powdery consistency, so I ground up the salt in my coffee grinder, or make sure you buy a very highly refined salt. Sprinkly it evenly over carpet and sweep it down into the carpet with a broom. Vacuum after about a week and throw away the bag. You may need to repeat this if you have a really bad case.
Here’s a video about using salt for fleas made by a pest-control business owner:
thank you! since i am now the owner of 2 dogs this info was very helpful!
I’m so glad, Tami! Nice to meet you! 🙂
Have you heard of food grade diatomaceous earth? It kills fleas.
Chris, I am familiar with DE! We use it on our animals for fleas, and put it in their food. I need to write about that “white dirt”. 🙂 Thanks for the reminder!
Getting ready to do this tomorrow! I’ve seen 3 fleas in 2 days! We do not have any pets but about 3 weeks ago we got a brand new kitten and he came in a few times (then got ran over!). I’m assuming they came in on him and I’m just now noticing them? Weird. Anyways, thanks for these tips and I’ll let you know how it goes!
Ok there is no way I can leave this on my carpet for a week. Do you th ink if I did it in 24 hour cycles ever couple of days it woould work? We have Burber carpet and much of the salt sits on top of the carpet. I also have two rowdy boys who want to roll and play in I t! I’ve already salted the whole house, left it for 24 hours and plan on doing it again tomorrow. I’m also planing on vacuuming several times in between salting.
I’m not sure if it would work or not, Crystal, if you vacuum it up every 24 hours. I guess if you kept repeating it for a week to 10 days it might work just fine – it’ll be more expensive with the salt, though. 🙂 You just want to be sure you stop the hatching cycle. You would also need to throw your vacuum bag after each vacuum or clean out a bag-less vacuum, if that’s what you have because the fleas can jump out. Did you sweep the salt into the carpet the best you could?
I also read that feeding your dog raw food will keep the fleas away. Just as with us people, if we eat sugar, it attracts insects through our skin and dogs eating a raw diet is not appealing to fleas.
Very interesting and true, Sandra!
Vets Best makes a natural flea and tick home spray. The ingredients are peppermint oil and clove oil. It is non-toxic and works wonderfully. We used this to treat our home when our dog got fleas. We are still spraying just to make sure we get all of them. It is hard, but staying on top of it is a must. BTW, the salt works wonderfully too!
Thank you for sharing, Holly!!! 🙂
I have also tried eucalyptus oil directly on my pet’s neck. This works pretty well as a preventative measure.
Thank you for sharing, Susan!
Does the salt affect your animal? We have a cat that fleas love her and she shakes them off and they jump on us. We have used Mycodex 3 times in our room and I refuse to use it again due to the smell, probably a carcinogen!
I don’t have an inside animal, but fleas managed to make it into my house from the outside animals. I don’t know if the salt would irritate your animal’s skin – it certainly wouldn’t be harmful. 🙂
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I honestly don’t know, Jessica. If you don’t think the salt would harm the flooring you do have, the salt should still kill the fleas.
How can we use salt when no carpets?
The salt should still work, Jessica!
What do you do if you don’t have carpet, and I have a 22 month and an 8 month old baby, so I don’t think putting salt on the hardwood floor for a week is an option. :-/ We are all suffering flea bites at this point and I am desperate.
I honestly don’t know of anything else to do naturally that works. I researched a LOT on this subject, and this is the only safe treatment I found that was effective. Let me know if you find anything else!
Maybe putting the salt on the furniture (under cushions) and mopping daily. If you have a mat by the doors put salt on them and treat the yard with some DE. Good luck to you and Jill I love your site 🙂
Thanks so much, Peggy! 🙂
I used salt before it works wonders
Salt is great for fleas it works wonders
Salt does work wonders to get rid of fleas but it is also very harmful to pets. It can cause vomiting, diarrhea, inappetance, lethargy, walking drunk, abnormal accumulation of fluids in the body, excessive thirst or urination, potential injury to the kidneys, tremors, seizures, coma or even death. Feeding your dog garlic is also harmful to both cats and dogs. Garlic causes drooling, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, abdominal pain, elevated heart rate, weakness and collapse. Try mixing yeast with your pets food. For dogs feed them a piece of raw liver. Create your own flea dip by using 2 cups rosemary and 2 pints water, bring to a boil then remove the rosemary leaves. Add 1 gallon of warm water and soak your pet and allow them to air dry do not towel dry. Or make your own flea spray by slicing up a lemon and boiling it in a pint of water, let it sit over night and then spray where needed but be careful of staining, you can also use this on your pet by dampening the fur with the solution. You can also mix a spray bottle half white vinegar and half lemon juice. Avoid using oils like tea tree oil, eucalyptus and citronella. These oils are harmful and can irritate your pet. These are some safe ways to eliminate fleas without causing harm to your pet. Always look into the dangers of an ingredient when using home remedies, not many people are aware of how dangerous some products can be. Hope this helps and bless you for caring so much about your pets and their safety.
Is it safe to spray my dog with deluted rosemary water and let her dry naturally. I’m going to use salt and spray my furniture as well.
Rosemary is considered safe for pets. I would just watch for sensitivity like you would when introducing anything new.
I gave my pets flea bath use a pair pulled out as maby AD I could find with tweezers killing each one, one at a time used advantage on them and rub baby powder with corn starch on them it suffocate them this has helped kill most of them without harming my pets
I didn’t realize that dog and cat flea treatment was different. I have a dog, but my sister’s cat has fleas and she was asking me what to do. I’m glad I read this before giving her our flea treatment stuff!
Great . Thanks for sharing. really helpful and informative article
Thanks, Lora!
Jill recently posted…Home Remedies For Sunburns
Thank you for sharing these tips with us! Glad I stopped by to check your post out.