How to Treat Furniture for Fleas
Introduction:
Furniture fleas are actually more closely related to “booklice” in the order Psocoptera. Furniture fleas are generally not parasitic in nature. Still, they may become a problem in infested buildings because they tend to leave an infested piece of furniture and enter nearby. Adult booklice are very small – only 1/32 inch long.
They are wingless with chewing mouthparts. Their color varies from white to gray or light brown. Many have dark bands across the abdomen. Eggs are laid singly or in groups, glued under old webs or on fibers sticking out from cracks between boards inside infested furniture. In this article, I will discuss how to treat furniture for fleas. So let us get to the main discussion.
What Are The Symptoms of Furniture Fleas?
There are a few ways to find out if you have furniture fleas. For one, there may be a distinct black spotting on the floor or a distinctive smell that could be coming from your pieces of wood furniture.
If you also notice that your pets scratch themselves more often than usual or bite at their fur, they may also be suffering from an infestation. Also, consider checking your bed sheets and other such fabrics for small red spots since these could also indicate the presence of bloodsuckers.
One option would be to check under the cushions of your sofa and chairs if you see any dark spots or stains – this would mean that there is already an infestation going on.
Another symptom can actually be the fact that you may already have bites yourself while sleeping. This is because furniture fleas generally go for human blood and can infest your bed!
The Dangers of Furniture Fleas:
Flea bites are not dangerous by themselves but can cause allergic reactions such as redness, swelling, and intense itching. Also, some people might end up having a secondary infection on their skin if they scratch too much or if their immune system is already compromised in any way. If this happens to you, see a physician immediately and get treated right away before it becomes worse than it should be.
Stepwise Guide on How to Treat Furniture for Fleas:
Step 1.
Before using any insecticides or furniture sprays, vacuum all the room surfaces (including carpets and under them). Use a vacuum cleaner with an appropriate nozzle to reach tight spots like mattresses, beds, etc. If possible, use a plastic bag while vacuuming to collect flea-infested objects.
Step 2.
Cover beddings before spaying on the bed base or mattress to avoid direct contact with chemical sprays which may cause harm to health.
Step 3.
Spray moistened Kresse Insecticide Spray on household furniture like beds, sofas, chairs, benches, etc., at their joints and cracks where fleas lay eggs as these pests are excellent hiders to their small size. Use an aerosol can for proper distribution of spray. After every two weeks, repeat the same procedure to kill the newly hatched fleas during their growing stage and break their life cycle.
Step 4.
To remove fleas from carpet and other fabrics, use Kresse Insecticide Powder. Spread the powder evenly on carpets, furniture, and other places where you feel infestation is high. Leave it overnight so that powder gets absorbed by them well and starts killing them within 24 hours as these insects breathe through their skin pores (Spiracles).
This way, they will die without coming into contact with any chemicals at all! You can also sprinkle dry Diatomaceous Earth (DE) over your carpets as this too acts as an efficient insect killer. However, ensure DE powder is dehydrated before removing it from carpets to avoid inhaling its wonderful particles.
Step 5.
Wash infested clothes and linen at high temperatures (at least 60°C) and dry them in the sun to kill all life stages of fleas present within them if you do not wish to use any chemicals for this purpose. Dusting clothes with Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is equally effective in killing adult fleas. Also, inhaling the small particles may harm lungs if improperly handled or used in excess quantity.
Step 6.
To protect your pets from getting infested, treat their beddings and other areas where they rest frequently using Kresse Insect Powder. Remember to remove any flea population living on your pet before treating the areas where they rest, as only a single flea left untreated can cause an outbreak in your house, infesting everyone and everything.
Step 7.
Discard all objects that cannot be washed or dry cleaned as they may have got infected with batches of eggs that cannot be killed using chemicals alone.
Step 8.
Do not use insecticides on pets as it harms their health. Before applying any chemical treatment to pets, proper veterinary advice must always be taken.
Step 9.
After every month, deep clean your carpets with a 100% machine washable detergent like Kresse Carpet Cleaner. Its special formula will help you remove all stains and dirt from your carpets while killing adult fleas present within carpets with its anti-flea chemicals.
Step 10.
To avoid any future re-infestation in your house or pets, maintain high hygiene practices, including regularly cleaning floors and beddings with hot water to kill batches of eggs laid in different places by fleas.
Precautions While Treating Furniture for Fleas:
1. Don’t use flea spray on books, cardboard, or other porous surfaces; it will ruin them. If you bought your used couch at a thrift store, be sure to take it outside before spraying and let it dry in the sun for several days (or whatever is the normal time for your area). If you don’t do that, the couch could emit an unpleasant odor from residual chemicals when you get it home. No one wants a smelly couch.
2. Repeat this process quarterly to kill any newly hatched larvae until they are old enough to hibernate through winter and die without a blood meal over the cold months. Fleas probably won’t reappear until spring of next year unless you have a pet with a heavy flea infestation or other pets that will bring more into the house.
3. To prevent future infestations, use a good vacuum cleaner twice a week to suck up any newly hatched adults before they have a chance to lay eggs and reinfest your house. 4. Wash all pet bedding in hot water weekly to kill off any larvae or eggs.
If you don’t have a washing machine at home, take items out of plastic bags and throw them in the bathtub to get wet, then immediately throw them in the dryer on medium-high heat for 20 minutes. For items that can’t go through the dryer – such as stuffed animals – put them out in direct sunlight for several hours instead. The heat from direct sunlight will kill flea larvae and eggs even in winter.
Conclusion:
I hope this article has helped to learn how to treat furniture for fleas. Ensure all the precautionary measures while performing the process. Thank you and have a nice day!
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