The chemist's advice to kill fleas and eliminate them from your apartment. How to stop being bitten, how to treat your apartment, how to treat pets, what are the appropriate products?
Summary
- How do I get rid of fleas that bite me?
- Fleas or bedbugs?
- How to treat
How do I get rid of fleas that bite me?
There are over 2500 species of fleas, but the species that invades our apartments is 90% the flea commonly called " the cat flea ", Ctenocephalides felis. In fact, it would be better to call it a " domestic flea ", it appreciates the blood of humans as much as that of mammals in general. In the event of an infestation, you should not systematically blame the cat, if it turns out it is its owner who contaminated it. Fleas are also called "floor fleas" because they lay thousands of eggs between the floorboards. Its eggs can remain inert for several months, or even for one to two years. During the next hot spell, the eggs will give birth to hundreds of fleas, which themselves will give birth to thousands of fleas.
Fleas or bedbugs?
Have you confirmed that these are fleas , and not bed bugs , which would be much worse, as bed bugs are much harder to kill. Fleas jump , bed bugs move like cockroaches, walking, crawling, and scuttling away as soon as you spot them.
How to treat
The treatment must be massive and complete, so as to leave no chance for fleas to take refuge during the treatment.
To avoid the spread of insects , always start by treating the periphery of the room, the baseboards, the contours of windows and doors, then tighten your action towards the center of the room.
Spray
Everything must be sprayed with BSI STOP Insects: walls, floors, furniture, bedding, tops, bottoms, clothes, shoes, luggage, your car.
The principle is to impregnate surfaces and materials in such a way as to transform everything around you into a death trap for any cold-blooded animal, such as fleas. This product has an action duration of eight weeks . You can do this treatment with the windows open, and as this product is irritating to the nasal passages, I recommend that you wear a mask. For large surfaces, this product is available in a 2.5 liter can . See the product
Wash at 60°
Anything that can be washed at 60° or more should be washed, and tumble dried if you have one. A good steam ironing will perfectly complement this treatment.
Clothes and objects that cannot be washed at 60° can be sprayed with BSI STOP Insect and worn after drying, without the need to wash them.
Thermal treatment
The Zapp Bug heating tent . This is the most radical method to kill all fleas and their eggs without any chemicals . You can treat all textiles, even the most delicate ones that cannot be washed at 60°, woolens, silk, cashmere . But also toys, books, documents, shoes, luggage, objects of all kinds. It is very fast, you place the textiles and objects to be treated in the tent, you heat for 4 hours, 100% of the insects and their eggs are destroyed, it is guaranteed.
Freezing
The same objects and clothes that do not support hot washes can be frozen. Place them in plastic bags, then in the freezer at -18° for 72 hours . In this way, the fleas and their eggs will be destroyed.
Aspiration
The vacuum cleaner will be a very good ally in this fight. Be manic, and go into every nook and cranny. Get rid of the bag immediately after vacuuming, otherwise, this bag will turn into a meeting club for fleas of all sexes. You will therefore place this bag in a well-closed plastic bag to throw it away. A little spray of BSI STOP Insects in the vacuum cleaner will be welcome.
The expert's trick
To prevent the vacuum cleaner from becoming infested with fleas and their eggs, insert a nylon or Lycra stocking into the end of the vacuum cleaner hose and clamp it with the suction nozzle. This way, the fleas and their eggs will be trapped in the stocking, like in a trap , and the vacuum cleaner will not become infested. Once the vacuuming is finished, place the stocking in a tightly closed plastic bag before throwing it away.
The demonstration in this one-minute video
Steam treatment
If you have a steam cleaner , it will be a very good complement to the chemical treatment. The limit of the steam treatment is that we only kill the fleas and eggs that we burn with the jet of steam. This does not destroy the fleas in the heart of the mattress, pillows, sofa cushions, children's stuffed animals.
Diatomaceous earth
To make life impossible for fleas , and for a long time, I recommend diatomaceous earth . You have to wait until the BSI STOP Insect has dried well, so as not to moisten the diatomaceous powder. Here too, to avoid inhaling diatomaceous dust, I recommend that you wear a mask during handling. This diatomaceous earth comes in the form of a white or gray powder, the gray being more effective against insects . This powder is composed of fragments of fossilized algae, there is no chemical component , its action is purely mechanical: if an insect walks in diatomaceous earth, this dust enters his respiratory system, and causes his death by dehydration , and desiccation. The principle is to spread this diatomaceous earth on the ground, along the baseboards, between the floorboards, between the mattress and the box spring. As long as the diatomaceous earth is in powder form, it will be effective, even in a hundred years. If this diatomaceous earth were to compact due to humidity, it would lose its effectiveness. The day you decide to remove this diatomaceous earth, I recommend that you sweep it as much as possible, and only use the vacuum cleaner for finishing touches. This powder being very abrasive, in too large a quantity, it could damage the vacuum cleaner.
The covers
Bed bug and dust mite covers are also very effective against fleas. There are covers for mattresses, box springs, and pillows.
Bedbug tablets
The natural complement to the covers is the anti-bedbug and anti-mite tablet . It kills and repels fleas and bedbugs. One tablet for a 90 cm bed, two tablets for wider beds.
To complete the treatment
To complete this first treatment, and to periodically repeat booster treatments, there is a very practical and very quick to use product . It is the K.pro Choc automatic diffusion aerosol in 200 ml. This is an aerosol that is used with closed windows, it is placed in the middle of the room, triggered, and it empties completely in the space of three minutes. You can re-enter the room after three hours, and after having aired it well.
Treating your pets
If you have a pet, you can treat it against fleas with white diatomaceous earth . This treatment is used for poultry (against red lice), for cattle and horses, and for hairy animals in general. Diatomaceous earth is applied to the entire body of the animal, rubbing and brushing, while avoiding the mucous membranes and eyes. All insects and parasites on the animal's coat or plumage will be killed , without having used any chemicals . If the animal licks itself, so much the better, this will treat its digestive tract and intestine against parasites.
