Can Carpet Cleaning Prevent or Remove a Flea Infestation?
Yes, professional carpet cleaning can help remove a flea infestation. While fleas aren’t as much of an issue here in Portland as they are in places in warmer areas, the humidity here can help a flea infestation thrive in your home. Sometimes these fleas are almost more stubborn than people! It can be really difficult to remove a flea infestation without professional help.
Can Fleas Survive Professional Carpet Steam Cleaning?
If you find adult-sized fleas in your home or commercial building, it’s a good idea to hire a professional carpet cleaner like us here at Northwest Commercial Carpet and Floor Cleaning. The combination of heat and cleaning solution is usually sufficient to kill adult fleas and many of their larvae. However, keep in mind that since flea eggs are so small, it’s much more difficult to rid the home of all young larvae and eggs. If even one egg hatches in your carpet, that larvae can mature into an adult who can lay as many as 50 eggs a day! It’s vital to take care of a flea infestation as thoroughly and as quickly as you can beccause flea eggs can lay dormant up to a year before hatching during prime conditions.
How To Remove Fleas From Your Home or Building
A flea infestation is not a walk in the park. Ridding the home of fleas is a process with many steps. If any of the steps are skipped or only partially completed, it’s likely that fleas will be a recurring issue in the home. Follow these steps to rid your home of fleas for good!
1. Vacuum the Carpet and Other Flooring
The first step to ridding your home of fleas is to vacuum everything. Vacuum all of the floors, curtains, and upholstery in the home. Keep in mind that fleas love small crevices such as between couch cushions. If you have a vacuum with a bag, that’s the best option to ensure the fleas are removed completely. Make sure to vacuum all pet bedding and mattresses in the home as well.
2. Hire a Professional Carpet Cleaner
Professional carpet cleaning may also help reduce forest mite infestations.
After thoroughly vacuuming the home, it’s time to call a professional carpet cleaner. As mentioned earlier, the heat and the steam are sufficient to kill and remove adult fleas and some larvae from the carpet. If you have a lot of furniture and curtains, consider adding on an upholstery cleaning service to your carpet cleaning.
3. Wash All Human and Pet Bedding
Wash all of the bedding in the home with hot water. Dry everything at the highest temperature it can withstand. This process will help kill any leftover adult fleas and larvae from the carpet cleaning. If the flea infestation is severe, consider getting rid of the bedding and starting over.
4. Chemical Treatment
The last step to removing a flea infestation in your home is to perform a chemical treatment. For this step, you’ll need to ensure all humans and animals are out of the house. Hire a professional pest control technician to spray an aerosol insecticide or “bomb” the house to kill all remaining eggs and larvae.
5. Repeat
If you find that you still have a flea infestation after all of these steps, it’s time to consider getting rid of all of the bedding in the house and repeating the above steps. Unfortunately, some flea infestations can be very persistent. If you find that you have repeat flea infestations, you may need to address the issue in your yard.
How To Remove Fleas From the Yard
If you want to ensure that all the fleas are banished from your home or property, you need to make sure you take care of the yard with as much care as the inside of the house.
1. Mow and Rake
Regular yard maintenance goes a long way to protect your home from many pests, not just fleas. Make sure to mow the grass regularly and to rake up all leaves and other debris at regular intervals. Fleas thrive in long grass, so be sure to cut the grass to a short length if you have flea problems.
2. Spread Cedar Chips Along The House’s Exterior
Make sure to lay cedar chips underneath shrubs and along the sides of the home. Additionally, if there are any places in the yard where your pets like to lay, put cedar chips there.
3. Spread Nematodes
Another way to manage the flea population in the yard is to visit a garden center and ask them about nematodes. Nematodes are known to help manage flea populations by feeding on larvae and eggs.
About Northwest Commercial Carpet and Floor Cleaning
Our team at Northwest Commercial Carpet and Floor Cleaning provides the highest quality carpet, upholstery, and floor cleaning services in Vancouver, Portland, Beaverton, Hillsboro, and the surrounding areas. Our team works hard to keep your building looking clean and professional. With quick dry times, practical methods, and excellent customer service, we’re confident that you will be more than satisfied with our work. Call us today for a free quote and learn more about the services we provide!