The Problem with Flea Infestation

The problem with fleas in the average house is not just the infestation on the carpets, but also the infestation on pets, upholstery and even wooden furniture. Cleaning of the carpets alone will only solve the problem for few days. Fleas, especially in their egg or pupa stage can easily survive even professional cleaning.

Failing to clean even few flea eggs here and there will result in a temporary solution, since even professional carpet cleaning mostly kills adult fleas. Fleas in earlier stages of development can survive even professional carpet cleaning, and these will be multiplying exponentially again in no time. And the pets, furniture and carpets will be fully infested again in less than 20 days!

So the reality is that fleas can easily survive even the best one-time professional cleaning services!

There is No One Step Cleaning Solution!

In order for fleas not to survive, cleaning has to extend to more items in the house, that are vulnerable to flea infesting, including of course pets. Pets can be protected using appropriate spray cleaning products, specifically made to remove fleas without causing side effects on the pets or children and adults who come in contact with those pets.

Then your flea cleaning effort should be extended on anything else, such as wooden furniture, upholstery or any other kind of fabric where fleas could easily be hiding in egg form. And for each of those items different cleaning methods are available, often methods that do not include harmful chemicals. And these can be much more affordable than professional cleaning service, only requiring some of your time.

So that you can repeat the cleaning process several times over, in intervals of 10-15 days. And whenever you can spare those few minutes. It’s totally pointless to pay for professional carper cleaning services or dedicate time to do it yourself, and clean those carpets well. Only to have them getting re-infested from few hidden eggs, or adult fleas jumping out of your pets’ hair

Cleaning the Carpets

Assuming you have taken care of all other possible flea hiding places, including your yard or mown. And after avoiding walking your dog into possible outdoor flea spots. You can then focus on cleaning your floor rags and carpets.

It’s possible to clean these using various methods, including spraying them with potent chemicals such as borid acid (works on upholstery too). But if you prefer a non-harmful chemical approach, the simplest method is using salt. By putting finely ground salt on floor rags and carpets, and leaving it on for few days at a time. Salt helps dehydrate and kill most of the fleas, except fleas in pupa stage. The salt can be easily removed later through vacuum cleaning.

The Root of the Problem

Fleas can survive any carpet cleaning method, because carpet cleaning mostly kills adult fleas. But there are 4 stages of flea growing, and the adult stage is only one of them. The toughest stage is their pupa stage, where fleas are well protected in their natural armor. Pupa fleas can survive steam carpet cleaning, potent chemicals, and even fumigation!

To tackle the problem at its core, takes longer term, systematic preventing measures and wider cleaning of the house. Remember that a house can appear deceptively free of fleas after professional cleaning, and yet in 10-15 days, well hidden flea pupae will have grown into adult fleas, and you will be losing the battle again. Unless you make it difficult for adult fleas to survive

Fleas breed and grow around the year, and it is quite usual for cleaned carpets to become fully infested again in less than 20 days. Fleas do survive all kinds of carpet cleaning! It’s only possible to deal with the problem by taking a systematic cleaning and preventive approach. Specifically tailored to your house.

Conclusion

It’s not possible to keep your carpets flea-free just by doing exactly what other home owner are doing. Every house is different, some home owners have pets, some don’t. Some homes have yards and mown, some don’t. Outdoor spots require other kinds of chemicals, to kill fleas. And those are much easier to clean than indoor upholstery and floor rags and carpets.

Don’t be fooled by carpets that are flea-free after thorough one time cleaning! Pupa fleas can survive even fumigation cleaning, and as soon as the air is normal again. The breeding cycle will continue.

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