Fleas (Fleas in the house)

Washing really does miracles with drowning the persistent fleas, since once they find themselves cozy in your sheets and clothing pieces, there's no helping the biting nightmare.

The first thing you should do after noticing the first signs of the flea presence in your house and biting marks on your skin,  is to gather and roll in a bundle, in case you don't plan or can't wash them immediately, all the potentially infested things as sheets, blankets, clothes, even plush toys, cushions and rugs lying on the floor. You should push them into the washing machine and press 60 degrees temperature (if possible), but you should make sure that the washing will go through at least one hot cycle. A useful tip would be to let your washed things dry for at least 30 minutes (in a dryer if possible). Fleas will most certainly fail to survive two hot cycles.

However, beware that sometimes, washing just the sheets and clothes won't eliminate the fleas in their entirety. Some of the fleas might have nested and lied eggs in your matress, so you might have to deal with it as well in order to complete the process of elimination.

The immediate action you should take is to vacuum-clean the sheets, matress and the pillows. Even the rugs should be vacuumed at least once per day. By doing this, you will eliminate the fleas nesting in your bed or couch, along with their eggs, which will successfully interrupt their life cycle. After every vacuuming, you should dispose of the vacuum bags so it won't come to further infestation since the flea eggs can easily hatch inside of the vacuum bag and continue with the infestation.

There is the potential exterminating recipe and it requires that you insert a quarter piece of a flea collar into a vacuum cleaning bag, whereas the rest  of the pieces you should deep freeze for later use. This method helps kill the fleas when vacuumed, since the simple vacuuming can't do them much harm. Vacuuming vibrations produce a placebo effect for hatchlings to emerge prematurely. This is important since when in this stage, they are pretty much invincible. But once they hatch, they become vulnerable and you can easily eliminate them using this method.

Warning: If the fumes trigger breathing problems in your condition, like allergic or asthmatic reaction, then avoid this step!

Aside from Frontline which can come in a shape of a collar or liquidy substance that rub into your pet's skin and hair, flea sprays come in many shapes and sizes and are pretty much effective preventatives when it comes to flea infestation.

The thing you should look for in your flea sprays are "metophrene", "fenoxycarb", and "pyriproxyfen" insecticides for total extermination. But when dealing with these substances, pay attention to the toxicity information as stated on the "Entirely Pet's Blog":

Please note that toxicity information is included for your benefit, though products that utilize these ingredients do so in small amounts that are incapable of harming pets or humans when used appropriately. The vast majority (+95%) of users do not experience side effects associated with these ingredients and many that do experience them due to improper usage such as ingestion of a topical product or an inappropriately large dosage.

In case you have a cat, you can find in the same source:

Because cats should not ingest permethrin due to their inability to metabolize this synthetic parathroid, it is important not to use it in a household where cats may come in contact with it. This being said, permethrin is minimally harmful to humans and dogs unless an excessively large amount is applied or ingested.

Make sure to spray the tiniest corners of your house - from rugs and carpets, to hardly reachable corners and floor cracks. Larvae usually hide in the dark places, so pay special attention to these parts.After spraying the house, leave it together with your pet for a couple of hours. The process should be repeated every 2 weeks if the effectiveness is to be achieved!

Salt is an excellent natural remedy, which works great against flea infestation as well. Sprinkle as much table salt on your carpety surfaces as you deem necessary, and vacuum clean them after 3 days have passed. Repeat this method every 3 weeks.

Salt is completely harmless and you can rest assured that your pet won't come to any harm.

Fleas are very keen to dark and hidden places in your house. That is why the highest chance of finding them is there you would never usually think of looking for. Floors with cracks or door and couch corners.It is just the perfect living environment for fleas. But now when you know where to look for, what should you do to reach them? And the answer is - apple cider vinegar.

Using a clean cloth soaked in a mixture of water and apple cider vinegar to wipe over the cracks or around the corners and edges, will make the fleas come out of their hiding place. By exposing themselves to you, simply use spray, for example, to finish them off. 

Aside from the apple cider vinegar, you can use a regular cleaning agent you have got at hand. Just soak the cloth with it as much as possible, or directly pour or spray it into their potential hiding spot. With a bit of luck, you might suffocate them on the spot. But combining strenghts with some other flea control solution, will rise the possibility of the certain elimination.

If you haven't cleansed your house thoroughly from the infestation, better cover your clean things in nylon or plastic bags until the pests are exterminated completely. You don't want them back, do you?

One form of prevention and protection from the fleas is covering or wrapping your furniture and objects in the house in nylon or plastic. The steps for eliminating or successfully preventing the fleas to cause the infestation throughout your household are vacuuming and washing, spraying and pushing the fleas into the corner from which they cannot escape alive. But in case you followed any or all of these steps, in order to stop the infestation from spreading and fleas getting back onto the things you just worked hard to deinfest, you should follow this preventative step - wrap everything up, from clothes to furniture. You should leave the cover on until you are at least 99% sure the fleas are successfully exterminated.