How To Remove Fleas From Wood Flooring?

If you’re a pet owner, finding fleas on your pet or inside your home may seem a disaster. Even though many effective flea treatments for domestic animals are now available, home pets can from time to time bring fleas into your home. As far as wooden floors are concerned, fleas won’t survive on their surface for a long time, as they have nothing to attach themselves to. But, they will probably be hiding in small nooks and crannies in the floor. They can survive there and breed in the dust and debris which is hidden. So, if your pet brought flees into the home, they will more than likely have attached themselves at first for instance to a carpet, a rug or your soft furnishings.

Don’t worry, removing fleas from a hardwood floor isn’t as difficult as you may think. But, remember that in order to get rid of them you will need to treat not only your floor. So, let’s get into details. At first, your house needs thorough vacuuming. In this way, you will not only remove the fleas – frequent vacuuming helps you remove the flea eggs before they develop into fleas. When vacuuming, focus on soft furnishings and pay careful attention to get right into the corners of the room. Also, move your furniture, which will allow you to get to the floor underneath it. And one more important thing: having finished the vacuuming, ALWAYS throw away your vacuum bag – seal it, tie it in a bin bag and put it in the trash outside of the house.

Then, you will need a damp mop. If you only can, use a disposable mop, because otherwise you risk spreading the problem to other areas around the house. Carefully clean your floor, trying to reach everywhere. Also, do make sure that you wash down all the soft furnishings with a damp cloth, which will help you remove any flea eggs and larvae which have been hiding there. The cloth will also need to be throws away once you’ve cleaned the surfaces of the furniture. Then, take off all soft furnishings which can be removed, for instance if you have removable covers on chairs or sofas, take them off and wash them at the hottest temperature possible in the washing machine. By doing so, you’ll remove any fleas, eggs or larvae which attached to them.

And obviously, you will also need to treat your pet and wash all the remaining items, such as rugs, curtains, cushions or pet bedding which can be washed. Frequent washing and treating the pet is the best method to ensure that you’ve got rid of the fleas. However, remember that this can be a long process, which can take up to 8 weeks, due to the lifecycle of the eggs and the fleas. So, be watchful, patient and hard-working, and you will resolve this problem once and for all.

When it comes to treating the pet, you’ve got many various methods at your disposal and your decision will depend mostly on your attitude towards chemicals and treatments. If you’re facing the problem for the first time, take your pet to a vet, who will advise you on the best method to be used in the case of your cat or dog.

And after you’ll have finally dealt with the problem, try to avoid it in the future – remember that ‘prevention is better than cure’, and always check for any signs of fleas on your pet.