Although finding ticks or fleas on your pet is quite unpleasant, it’s worse when you wake up in the morning only to realize that you are sharing your bed with fleas. If you find yourself in such an unfortunate situation, there are measures you can take to remedy the situation. Truth be told, it will take some effort to eliminate all the fleas, however, you can do it even without involving a professional pest control service.
There is a catch here. Ensure you start immediately if you notice these pests in your bed. Otherwise, it will become difficult to get rid of them because fleas multiply at an astounding rate. Once they begin laying eggs, you will itch a lot more. No one wants that. Therefore, here are a few tips on how to get rid of fleas in your bed.
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Treat your pets for fleas
To start with, ensure that your vet checks your pet so that an effective flea treatment can be provided. In addition, there are a number of dog flea medications available that you can apply to your pet. However, take note that there are flea management products that are harmful to cats. You can read more about this in our article Top 5 dog flea and tick treatments. Most of the flea treatment is provided orally or as a topical that you give to your pet over a period of one month. Ensure you follow your vet’s recommendation if you want to achieve the best results. Also, wash your pet’s bedding thoroughly with a lot of hot water. Why? Well, fleas tend to stick around your pet’s sleeping area so that they can continue sucking blood.
Steps for getting rid of fleas in your bedding
The first step towards getting rid of fleas in your bedding is being able to spot them. Then, follow the steps we have provided below and you are well on your way to a flea-free bed.
Wash your beddings
As soon as you spot fleas in your bed, gather up all your bedding and wash them using a hot cycle. Once that is done, run them through your hot dryer.
Fleas won’t survive the hot environment in your washing machine and your dryer. However, if flea infestation has gone beyond your bedding, washing will not kill all the fleas in your home.
Vacuuming
If washing does not do the trick, try vacuuming your sheets, pillows, and mattress. Also, vacuum your rugs daily. That way, you will not only eliminate the fleas in your bed but also their eggs. This is an effective way of breaking their reproductive cycle.
After each vacuuming cycle, get rid of your vacuum bag in order to control infestation effectively. Otherwise, eggs in the bag will hatch into fleas and the cycle will continue.
Vacuuming is effective because it encourages fleas to come out of hiding, which exposes them to pesticides or insecticides. We did a review on the best pet vacuums that you can read up on.
Use flea powder
While vacuuming your sheets, pillows, or mattress, use flea powder as well. It will increase the chances of you getting rid of all the fleas in crevices. Nevertheless, ensure that the powder you buy does not have any toxins as it may cause you unnecessary health problems.
Flea bombs
This is used as a last resort. Flea bombs are highly effective when you have an infestation that has gotten out of hand. This remedy has a toxic chemical, and for that reason, it needs a few hours to work properly. When you use flea bombs, ensure you vacate the affected area so that you are not exposed to chemicals in the flea bomb.
Prevent a new infestation
After you have gone through all the steps above, the next thing is preventing a new infestation. Sometimes fleas return even though you did your best to ensure your bed is a flea-free zone. The best thing to do in this case is to ensure a clean home and yard. Treat your home, and yard regularly with insecticides, and keep your cat and dog on a flea prevention program.
Wrap Up
There is nothing as uncomfortable as sleeping in a bed with fleas. Nighttime is meant for rejuvenation, not fending off a bunch of blood-sucking pests. However, when an infestation occurs, you have no choice but to fight it out. For that reason, we have listed a few things you can do to ensure you sleep soundly at night. With these tips, all those fleas skulking around in your bed will disappear in no time.