3 Easy Steps To Get Rid Of Fleas Quickly

Want to learn three easy steps to get rid of fleas as quickly as possible?

Do you have a flea infestation problem? This may be the case if your dog or cat has been scratching a lot lately. Anyone who has ever owned a pet knows that getting fleas is unavoidable. It happens to the best pet owners. That being said, don’t freak out and panic.

So if you’re ready to treat your pet and home for fleas, continue to read on. We’re going to share the best tips and techniques to get rid of fleas as quickly as possible so you can return back to a normal flea-free life.

3 Steps To Getting Rid Of Fleas

Step 1 – Treat Your Pet For Fleas

Person giving their pet a bath to remove fleas

The first thing you should do to get rid of fleas is to treat your pet.

By now your pet is probably so irritated and annoyed by fleas that they are scratching, licking, and biting at their body all the time. Fleas can be very painful for your pet, so it’s best to start with them first. They will at least feel some relief after you have killed and removed all the fleas from their bodies.

So how do you go about treating your beloved pet for fleas?

There are a few approaches you can take. So let me just list a few here and we can explain each method in more detail for you later on this page.

  • Give Your Pet A Flea Shampoo Bath
  • Comb Your  Pet For Fleas
  • Consider An All-Natural Flea Collar
  • Apply Flea Power to Your Pet

Give Your Pet A Flea Shampoo Bath

Giving your pet a bath and flea shampoo is a great way to remove fleas from their body and fur. You could use a commercial flea shampoo product or you could create a natural flea shampoo yourself.

If you decide to go with a store-bought shampoo, look for one with the active ingredient pyrethrin. Pyrethrin is an extract derived from chrysanthemum flowers –that repel fleas. We prefer a natural solution.

It is easy to make a homemade shampoo to kill fleas. Here are the ingredients you will need.

  • Water
  • Liquid Dish Soap
  • Vinegar

To bathe and shampoo your pet, wet their fur and then lather them up. Leave the lather in for a few minutes to allow the shampoo to work. Rinse your pet thoroughly and repeat if you feel it is necessary. Don’t forget to dry them off with their favorite towel –they love this step of the process.

After a bath and shampoo, let your pet dry then go over their fur with a flea comb. This helps get rid of dead fleas and any fleas you missed during the bath and shampoo.

Comb Your Pet For Fleas

Fleas combs are a great way to remove dead and alive adult fleas from your pet’s fur.

Do you already have a flea comb? If not, you’ll have to buy one. Just remember flea combs are different for dogs and cats. What works for a dog will not work for a cat and vise-versa.

We can give you some advice as to the best places to comb. You want to comb where fleas are most often found around the face, neck, groin, leg folds, and base of the tail. You’ll want to pay special attention to these problematic areas.

You should comb through your pet’s hair slowly. Stopping after each stroke to inspect the comb for live fleas. Put any fleas you find in a container of soapy water. You can do this by dipping the comb in the water to remove the fleas. This will kill the fleas.

You can remove up to 50% of adult males on your pet by combing for fleas. You should comb your pet repeatedly a few times per day until you do not come up with any fleas.

Consider An All-Natural Flea Collar

We think the idea of a flea collar is genius. However, we don’t like commercial flea collars at all. They contain toxic chemicals that can hurt our furry friends.

We prefer to make our own flea control collars with essential oils as the main ingredient to repel fleas. If you want to make a much safer flea collar at home as we do here is what you will need.

This list of ingredients/recipes comes from our friends. All you have to do is carefully add the essential oils using a dropper. Mix well.  Then soak your bandana in the mixture for 10 minutes. Remove the bandana and allow it to dry completely for 1 to 2 hours.

Now fold the bandana nicely and tie it around the neck of your pet.  Repeat this process every 2 to 4 weeks to keep fleas and ticks away.

Be careful when using essential oils around cats, because many are toxic to cats. These oils can cause health troubles when inhaled, digested, or touched by your cat.

Step 2 – Treat Your Home For Fleas

Now that you have taken care of the fleas on your pet its time to focus on your home. There are only a few things you need to do to remove fleas from your home.

  1. Wash all of your bedding to kill fleas
  2. Vacuum all of your floors to remove fleas and eggs

Machine Wash Everything?

Person washing bedding to remove fleas.

It’s important to remove fleas from all of your belongs and your pets too. This can be done with a quick wash and drying.

Collect all of your pet’s belongings including blankets, plush toys, pillows, and cushions.  Toss these items in the washing machine and wash them on the hottest setting possible.  Transfer your clean items to the dryer and dry on the hot setting.

For larger items, you could take your items to your local coin laundry center. There should be larger commercial dryers and washers for your larger items.

In addition to washing and drying all of your pet’s cloth and fabric belongings, you must do the same for your things as well. Follow the same process we discussed earlier starting with your bed sheets, blankets, pillowcases, etc.

Throw away any items that are badly damaged or are too dirty to thoroughly clean.

Power Vacuum

A person power vacuuming to remove fleas from house

Adult fleas love to get in your rugs and carpets. They hide out there and lay eggs, later the eggs hatch into baby fleas and the new fleas cause even more problems for you the pet owner. That’s why you need to vacuum and do it often.

You need to vacuum everything and everywhere if you have fleas in your home. Furniture, carpets, rugs, tiled floors, wood floors, vacuum them all.  Use your attachments to get in behind and under all furniture and to reach small corners and spaces.

Give your home a good vacuuming every day or so, until you can no longer see any evidence or trace of fleas. Walk around with white socks to see how well this technique is working. At first, you will see fleas all over your socks, but after a few vacuuming sessions, you should see fewer and fewer fleas until you see none.

Step 3 – Treat Your Yard For Fleas

By now you have treated your pet for fleas. They should no longer be irritated and back to their old selves again. You have vacuumed, washed, and dried everything in your house so fleas have nowhere to hide. Now your home is free of fleas.

Now it’s time to get in the yard and give those fleas one final knockout punch. This will ensure you have no more fleas.

So how do you go about removing fleas from the yard?

We recommend you treat your yard with diatomaceous earth, an all-natural flea killer that is safe for people and pets. You should also place cedar chips in the yard this helps to keep fleas away. Here’s what you need to know about using diatomaceous earth and placing cedar chips.

Spread Diatomaceous Earth

Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is 100% organic and safe for people and pets when used properly. However, DE is an excellent product if you want to kill fleas and other household and garden pests like ants and cockroaches. You can buy diatomaceous earth online or at your local farming store.

So how exactly does Diatomaceous Earth work?

Any flea that comes in contact with DE will become severely dehydrated and die. For them, it’s like being overdosed with salt and drying out.

Just sprinkle diatomaceous earth in your yard where fleas are most likely to be. Look for dark or shaded areas of the yard that contain moisture. Sprinkle the DE here using an old flour sifter or you could wear gloves and sprinkle the powder by hand.

We recommend you wear a face mask when working with DE.

Place Cedar Chips In The Yard

Fleas do not like the smell of cedar chips and will avoid your yard if you place it there. Look for new ways to incorporate cedar chips into your existing landscape design. The chips could be placed in a number of places around your yard including…

  • In flower beds
  • Around shrubs and trees
  • Along with any path or walkway

Do a visual inspection and walk around your home to decide where to place the cedar chips. Buy the chips online or from your local garden center.

Related Questions

How do I keep fleas from biting me? You can repel and keep the fleas off your body with a lemon spray. Fleas do not like the smell of lemon and will avoid it. Just spray this lemon scent throughout the house and a little on your pet and clothing. This should prevent fleas from biting you.
Does salt and baking soda kill fleas? If you have fleas in the carpet you can get rid of them with salt and baking soda.  All you have to do is sprinkle salt and baking soda generously over your carpet. Take a broom sweep and grind the mixture into your carpet and leave it overnight. Vacuum first thing in the morning. These products work to dehydrate the fleas resulting in death.

Do flea bombs really work? Yes, flea bombs and flea floggers can work. But in my opinion, to use them correctly there is too much work involved and the chemicals used in these products are very harmful to the environment.

Final Thoughts

That’s it.

Now you are armed with the knowledge to get rid of fleas yourself without the need to call in professional help. You should vacuum daily and comb your pets until there is no trace of fleas anywhere to be found.

If you follow our flea control advice exactly, you can get rid of fleas quickly in just a few days. Please let us know how things turn out.

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Lynn Edwards

I founded DIY Pest Control Guide with the intention of sharing practical, user-friendly pest control strategies. If you need assistance, reach out to me at lynn@diypestcontrolguide.com - I'm here to help you reclaim your peace of mind.


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