Can baking soda kill fleas? Yes. However, there are some important facts you should know.
If you’re a pet lover and keep pets around, it’s possible to have flea issues at some point. These pests feed on blood and pets are some of their favorite targets. They hop onto their (pets) bodies and find their way into your home or surroundings.
Now, when a flea problem is noticed, it’s necessary to take urgent action to get rid of them.
However, choosing effective flea extermination strategies becomes the main focus. Thankfully there are multiple ways to deal with a flea problem.
Our focus is more on a DIY strategy using one of the most common multipurpose household items; baking soda.
So, does baking soda kill fleas? The answer is simple; It does, and we’ll show you how.
Killing Fleas with Baking Soda
Although baking soda is one of the most effective household items used in killing fleas, it cannot be effective alone.
In other words, an additional item (in this case; salt) must be added or mixed to make it work.
It’s already assumed that you’ve successfully identified flea presence on your pets as well as your surroundings. Now, the next step will be to find immediate remedies for such problems.
A formula consisting of baking soda and salt has to be made. This takes us to our next point.
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The Formula
Mixing your formula of salt and baking soda requires no particular measurement.
In other words, these two (baking soda and salt) can be mixed as you see necessary. Having mixed these two properly, your next step will be to apply it on your pets as well as sprinkle around and infested areas.
How to Apply this Formula
It isn’t enough to mix both salt and baking soda for flea extermination. Knowing how to apply goes a long way in containing your flea problem. First, your baking soda formula should be enough to go round.
In other words, there should be sufficient baking soda formula to cover all areas with flea presence.
Fleas hope or move frequently around areas where there’s a possible host. As such, your coverage area should be wide enough to contain this problem. It’s very important to use a new baking soda. Avoid using exposed baking soda that has been left exposed for extended periods.
You may discover that using exposed baking soda won’t give you the desired result. Therefore, you must ensure that only new baking soda is used for this job.
Spread or sprinkle your mixture of baking soda and salt around flea-infested areas. Certain areas of your home such as your carpets, beds, couches, entryways, and your yard must be targeted. When applying baking soda on carpets or rugs, you must ensure it goes down to the floor.
That way, fleas will hardly survive or escape.
Should your baking soda be cleaned up immediately it’s applied? Not! Knowing the time duration needed for this formula to kill fleas is also important.
We recommend leaving this compound overnight before cleaning up the next day.
Is Baking Soda Safe on Pets?
The issue of safety is crucial when it comes to flea control using baking soda.
Luckily, baking soda is safe for use as a home-made remedy for flea control. It can be used on pets as well as around the home with no safety risks for both pets and kids.
However because salt is used as one of the ingredients for making this formula, it’s necessary to ensure that there are no wounds or open cuts on pets. That is because salt causes stings and irritations when it finds its way into wounds or open cuts.
How It Works
Understanding the workings or effects of your baking soda formula on fleas helps a lot. When applied, baking soda mixed with salt acts as a desiccant which kills fleas by drying them up. This includes their eggs as well as larvae.
As such, the spread of these pests is not only checked but also, their reproduction is interrupted. The faster you apply your baking soda formula the better.
Cleaning Up
Having successfully applied your baking soda and left it to stay overnight, it’s time to clean up.
One of the best ways to do this is by using a vacuum cleaner. Vacuum all areas of your home especially those where your baking soda formula was applied.
Vacuuming not only sucks up dead fleas and larvae, but it also picks up those you missed. How you handle the disposal of your vacuum cleaner canister is also important. Not handling this properly will lead to a re-infestation.
The best way is to remove the canister and take it for proper disposal. Emptying the canister’s contents in street bins will ensure such fleas (those still alive) have little chance of returning.
Cleaning up shouldn’t be a one-time thing. Continue vacuuming the treated areas for a couple of days. This helps suck up fleas, eggs, and larva which weren’t picked up earlier. Areas of your home such as the outdoors and entryways won’t require as much cleaning as the indoors.
Cleaning will depend on the type of surface you have outdoors. Most of these surfaces are soil and grass. So, there should be no need for much cleanup.
Be on the Lookout for your Pets
With pets around, you’re more likely to experience flea issues than persons without pets. Therefore, you should be on the lookout. One of the easiest and earliest signs of flea presence is itchy skin. This is seen in pet behavior.
When they scratch their skin more frequently than usual, you should consider paying a visit to your nearest vet. Some of the most common medications include oral treatments.
Preventive Treatment
Having successfully contained the flea problem using baking soda, it’s best to adopt a preventive strategy. This is most effective as it forestalls the likelihood of a comeback.
Preventive strategies are fairly straightforward and include frequent vacuuming.
Pet bedding including your carpets or rugs must be vacuumed frequently. Also, wash your bedding frequently too.
Conclusion
Fleas, like bed bugs, feed on blood. These pests are likely to be brought into the home by pets. Your carpets and couches are the most likely areas to find them.
Will baking soda kill fleas?
The answer to this question is yes. The use of baking soda is an effective way to kill fleas on hardwood floors and other common surfaces.
What more? It will also kill their eggs and larvae. Mixed with table salt, baking soda provides the perfect recipe to rid your home of this pest.
Your baking soda needs to be tested before anything else. Are you surprised? Don’t be. This is a necessary step to ensure it is still active.
One way to find out is by adding a few drops of vinegar to it. This should instantly create a bubble that lasts a few minutes. This shows it’s still active. However, if the bubbles don’t form at all or form slowly, active baking soda will need to be purchased.
Baking soda kills fleas by dehydration. It degrades their body, leading to moisture loss. You’ll need some salt too. This can either be mixed with baking soda or applied separately. When both are mixed, it should be sprinkled on carpet areas as well as furniture.
On the other hand, these can be sprinkled separately.
It should be applied evenly and left overnight. If you have pets, they should be kept away from such areas.
This is to help avoid skin irritations which may result from contact with the mixture. This should be followed by thorough vacuuming to suck up dead fleas, larvae, and eggs. The same process should be repeated for at least 3 days.
On a final note, baking soda does kill fleas. This has been the focus of our discussion to this point. We’ve also seen that formula will need to be made consisting of both salt and baking soda. This formula can be safely used with no danger posed to your kids and pets.