Fleas have infested my niece's home (and they don't have any pets). They suspect the fleas came over from next door. Any ideas on safe ways to rid the home of fleas? Thanks

A few years ago we suspected fleas came over to our yard and into our house from us being outside in yard. Neighbor had just gotten new dog. I got online and read that to get rid of fleas safely just sprinkle "20 Mule Team Borax " all around the house on carpet or floors. Let it set for about 5 days and then vacuum up or sweep up and toss vacuum bag. Might have to vacuum a second or third time. Worked for me. Can be bought at Walmart, at least here in Dallas area.

Borax or boric acid is the universal insect killer for use indoors. It really works.

When I moved to San Antonio my first apartment was literally crawling with roaches. My first night before I unpacked I dusted every horizontal surface in the kitchen and bath with boric acid. I dusted the floors, tops of cabinets, every drawer, behind the fridge and stove, tops of the fridge and stove - everywhere. I also put out the old Roach Motels. Then I proceeded to eat every meal out for the first month. At the end of the month there was not a single roach left. I unpacked, moved in, and lived there for 5 years and never saw another roach. I made arrangements with the manager to not spray my apartment every month because my parrots were sensitive to the spray. So for 5 years my apartment was not sprayed, every apartment adjacent was sprayed, and I still never had another roach. That stuff rally works. It cost me $3 for a pound of boric acid and $10 for the roach motels. The motels caught 100 roaches in the first week (I had to count them...it was very satisfying to see them in there).

Thanks to everyone for their helpful replies. My niece used borax and the fleas are gone! I imagine they will not have a roach problem either.

...or spiders, ants, or termites, at least not out where she dusted it.

We just moved into a new place and are having a problem with fleas. The previous owners had dogs. We are certainly bummed but were so thrilled to read the posts about borax. We will be purchasing some tomorrow and will hopefully be sharing our success with all

Glad to see this thread. Have ripped up the carpet to replace with another floor covering (not carpet) and have been fighting fleas even on the bare concrete floors. I have tried spraying with orange oil (d-limonene) and water (strong dilution 1 oz to 31 oz) to seemingly no avail. Also mopped floors with an ammonia (1/2 cup)/apc (1/4 cup) /water (1 gal) solution.

Shouldn't the orange oil (sprayed on the floor surface as well as the cracks where the walls and floor meets) be doing in the fleas? Been at this for a couple of weeks now and don't seem to be gaining any ground.

Edit to add: Also tried the Soil Mender's Crawling Insect Killer (DE).

DUDE! Those are serious fleas. Is anyone living in the area where the fleas are? Where could they be hiding from those things you've tried? Have you tried boric acid or 20 Mule Team?

You are correct. They are serious! In speaking with several other pet owners, over the last several years control has become more difficult.

Today will be the fifth day with the 20 Mule Team across the majority area of the floor and in corners and edges of other areas. Will be sweeping it up tonight and possibly putting down fresh. We have removed our She-boxer from this room and we have not used the room since putting down the borax. Hoping that this approach works. Still curious as to the ineffectiveness of the orange oil and DE.

Update: The Mrs. just did a walk through into the problem room. Not a good report. They immediately "swarmed" her feet and arms when she reached down to brush them from her lower legs. About 2 weeks ago I had added additional borax product in the trouble areas.

The majority of the carpet has been removed from this room. A small of carpet remains under a very heavy entertainment stand, but there has been no pet or human presence in this room for 4 weeks now. This room is also adjacent to an entry foyer which has the corners heavily dusted with borax. Over the course of this period we have had one waterbug (roach) dead in the entry and one waterbug dead behind the entertainment center. This approach does not appear to be effective on the fleas. Looks like we may have to seek other alternatives.

Okay I've never heard of borax not working. Can you give us more details about the borax product you used? What was the brand and what are the ingredients? Maybe post a picture of the bottle??

The reason they swarmed is they have not had a blood meal in awhile. Is it possible to capture some of the fleas and have them examined by your county health department? I'm almost suspicious that they are not fleas but something else. But still, borax should kill any insects. I'm puzzled.

I use the only borax product I've really ever known, 20 Mule Team. Used in the laundry for decades now.

As I mentioned it was effective on two cockroaches. Though it's actual effect on fleas remains questionable. Even allowing for a two week cycle of flea growth if this were a true "fix" we should have been flea free by now. The bare concrete floor is literally white with borax in the bad areas right now. That doesn't even count the orange oil sprays and DE dusting. Luckily we have been able to leave that room empty of pets and people for this extended period, but the Mrs. is just about at the end of her patience with the situation. And we can't continue like this much longer.

Another update. Fleas are still present. Again this is on a bare concrete floor with a heavy dusting of 20 Mule Team borax.

We've had some fierce infestations in the past, with the standard chemical AND natural methods failing while I was being eaten alive. Eventually, I found a combination of these two products worked better than anything else.


Light traps (Raid and Enforcer are the brands I know; you can find both online, Enforcer at Ace hardware stores)
To this day, I keep light traps on just in case. They will also catch other unwanted bugs in the house.

Beneficial nematodes in the yard -- everywhere. Bare sand or soil, grass, flowerbeds, under trees, etc. Be sure they get enough moisture the first few weeks. The directions usually say to reapply twice a year or something, but for us, once was enough.

Neither of these will do a fast job, but over time, together, they will get the fleas under control and keep them under control, if not totally gone.

Hope this helps.