Homemade Remedies to Eradicate Fleas from Your Home

I love my dogs and cats, and I take steps to help keep them free from fleas. Still, sometimes these blood-sucking parasites get into your home and have your pets, as well as your family, digging and scratching. I try to stay away from chemical flea repellents. Flea collars can cause rashes around furry necks. Bug bombs are time-consuming and dangerous. And flea powders are messy, and, I believe risky. The next time you have this type of pest problem, try these
homemade remedies to eradicate fleas from your home!

1. Stash Earl Grey Tea to the Rescue
Fleas dislike this type of Earl Grey Tea. I assume it’s the Bergamot-citrus aroma, not the black tea itself. Open and spread some Stash Earl Grey Tea bags around on your carpets, especially in highly-infested areas. Let the tea leaves sit a day or so, then vacuum them up thoroughly. Repeat, if necessary.

Note: You don’t want to work the tea into your carpet because it can stain.

2. An Unusual, But Effective Use for Table Salt
Another homemade remedy to eradicate fleas from your home is to use plain old table salt. The same seasoning that livens up a blah food dish can help get rid of pests. Just sprinkle salt around on the carpets in your house. Use a soft brush or a broom to work the salt into the material. (Pushing the salt down deep into the carpet fibers allows it to kill the flea larva.) Then, allow it to sit for a day or so and vacuum it up.

A variation to this method is to use borax in addition to the table salt. That means, you sprinkle the salt, then follow with a light application of borax. Wait a day or two until you vacuum the mixture up.

Note: One negative aspect of these homemade remedies is that they take awhile to work. And, you have to be careful with children and pets in the house. You don’t want them eating or touching the tea, borax, et cetera. The borax, in particular, is a chemical that must be used with caution.

Note About Sweeping the Homemade Remedies Up: Make sure, if you have a vacuum cleaner that uses a paper bag, that you remove and immediately discard the bag outside of your house. If you own a bagless vacuum, empty the dirt cup often, and then immediately, once you’re finished.