Fleas In Rugs - Fleas In Carpets
Fleas lay most of their eggs on carpets and rugs inside a house or apartment. Female adult
fleas can lay up to 50 eggs per day. There is no need to emphasize the
need to remove the fleas as they can transmit diseases that range from
allergies to plague.
The first step in getting rid of fleas from rugs and carpets, is to use a
vacuum cleaner that has a powerful suction.
Clean the carpets and rugs with the vacuum cleaner daily. Use
disposable dust bags for your vacuum cleaners. Once the dust is
collected, seal it and remove it from your home. The fleas go inside the dust
bag and the disposable dust bag goes inside the thrash can out side.
It's not easy to remove the larvae from rugs and carpets by vacuum cleaning. The
vacuum cleaner easily picks up eggs and adult fleas, but the larvae cling to the
carpet and don't come out easily. The next option is shampooing the carpet, because it
can remove the larvae. If they are still persistent then use
diatomaceous earth (DE) all over the carpet and rugs. Wear protective
goggles and mask before spraying the dust. Blow the dust in to the
cracks and crevices. DE is not very harmful for humans, when used properly,
but kills fleas.
Machine wash your rugs in hot, soapy water to remove fleas. Pet bedding also needs
to be washed or replaced with new ones.
Borate based carpet cleaners also have less toxicity for humans. These
carpet cleaners can control fleas up to one year. Sprinkle the powder
on the entire carpet or rug, leaving any area untreated would nullify
the treatment. You may also mix the powder in a rug-shampooing machine
with or without detergent and clean the rug. The chemical binds to the
rug or carpet and cannot be cleaned up with a vacuum cleaner. This kills
eggs, larvae and adult fleas while preventing fleas from laying eggs.
Be careful to choose only carpet cleaning borate-based insecticide. Wood
cleaning borate powders can be harmful for children.
If it's a borate-based powder that you have used, then do not vacuum
for 5-7 days. Within this time, the pupae would emerge and die when they
are exposed to the insecticide. Then vacuuming would collect the dead
or incapacitated fleas. The process of dusting insecticide should be
repeated after a few weeks by which time any eggs left during the first
time dusting may be now lurking as pupae.
Borate based insecticide dusting is good usually for an entire
year. Do not steam clean after applying insecticide. When applying borate
based flea stopper insecticide make sure to spray it all over the rugs, and areas under
beds and couches.
Mithoprene and Pyriproxyfen are one of most effective insect growth
regulators used for flea removal. Do not stop vacuuming after insecticide
treatment. Continue vacuuming after a few days or even just a few hours
of applying insecticide, depending on the type of the insecticide you
have used.
For best results read the label on the container for instructions.
Always consult a pesticide consultant since pesticides you use can be
harmful to kids and adults if not used properly. In addition, a problem like
fleas should not be something you do yourself without asking a
professional especially in the case of severe infestation.
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