How to kill fleas in your home and yard

Over the past few months we have noticed a large increase in flea control question from our toll free number 1-888-523-7378 and free advice email at info@epestsolutions.com. We believe that you can never have enough information to arm yourself when you are dealing with pest control and doing it yourself. Below is easy to understand flea control advice and some basic steps to becoming flea free.

We hope this helps answer and questions you may have about controlling fleas in your home, yard and on your pet.

For more information or to read more about each product listed below check out our website at

www.epestsolutions.com

Indoor Flea Control Solutions:

Treating the Pet

With flea control an important step is to control the breeding area, which is our pets. It only gets off as an adult flea if it is forced off by your brushing or the dog's chewing.There are many materials now available to use on the pet, and the best ones (Petcor) will affect not only the adult fleas, but also the eggs that they lay. Petcor contain a growth regulator that kills the eggs that come in contact with the chemical. This same chemical can be applied to your carpets and furniture and it keeps the flea larvae ever from becoming biting adults. There is, of course, also regular bathing of the pets, possibly with a flea shampoo that can definitely kill fleas that are present."Ultrasonic" flea collars,that claim to set up "flea free" zones around your pets do not work in any way, shape or form and there are a number of studies that support that belief.

Treating the Home for Fleas
Step two, if your home has reached the point where the flea eggs, larvae, and pupae are widespread in the carpet, you need to treat all those areas with a properly labeled product (Ultracide, Precor 2000, Pro Control Total Release Fogger). We have materials that are excellent, odorless, and of extremely low hazard when used correctly. Since flea eggs and larvae can be just about anywhere in the home that the pets go, your goal will be to apply the spray to all those susceptible areas. If there are certain places that the dog or cat likes to hide or rest, be certain that there are fleas there and a chemical treatment is a must. Do not however spray your clothing, bedding, toys and any personal belongings. Pick up everything on the floor, including under beds and inside closets this will make your treatment as effective as possible. Try to tie up any cloth like curtains and bed skirts that are hanging on the floor.

Vacuum thoroughly in all areas, and dispose of the bag or contents in exterior garbage as to not leave any eggs or live fleas in the house to reintroduce themselves.

Remove all pet dishes from floors.
Cover fish tanks and turn off the air supply during the application.
Try to spray every inch of carpet and furniture and hardwood floors that is possible - even under beds and under sofas and chairs. Spray the pet bedding and specific areas pets travel the most. Allow the chemical (Ultracide, Precor 2000) to dry before walking on it, and try to walk backwards when applying, so you don’t walk through the spray.

After the Treatment
Allow the area to completely dry. You want to wait till the spray is dry, so that it does not contact your skin, and once it is dry it adheres very, very tightly to the carpet fibers. You can check this by placing a tissue paper on the carpet and stepping on it lightly with your shoe. If it shows a wet spot then you need to leave again for another hour or two. Opening windows and turning up heaters prior to the application, if possible, will speed up drying time.The second important step is to vacuum again, every day if at all possible. This is not going to remove any flea chemicals, but will once again cause flea pupae to hatch to adults. The chemical cannot kill the pupa, as it is hidden within its cocoon, but the adult fleas that emerge can be killed by the freshly placed spray, even after it is dry.

It may takes about 3 weeks for fleas to complete their life cycle, from egg to adult. You still will see occasional fleas for the next two to four weeks, until they are all emerged from their pupae. You can speed up this process by vacuuming regularly, but adding more chemical applications on top of what is already there

Outdoor Flea control
Fleas prefer to live in cool, shaded areas close to moisture, which outdoors would include under shrubs, trees, bare areas of ground, etc. Normally fleas don’t live in open sunny grassy areas. A good form of attack for outdoor fleas control is to perform a thorough spraying, with plenty of water, with a chemical such as Talstar PL Granule or Talstar One Insecticide or Tengard SFR One-Shot Liquid Termiticide/Insecticide . These products are also very effective against killing ticks, ants, roaches, spiders and most common bugs. Thoroughly spray the areas where where pets run, sleep and rest. Pay close attention to areas in and around dog houses.An insect growth regulator, added to you spray, will cause the immature fleas to die and will prevent eggs from hatching and completing their life cycle. By combining the 2 forms of chemical you will achieve a complete control system that attacks adults, immature fleas and prevents the existing eggs from hatching. Talstar PL Granule or Talstar One Insecticide or Tengard SFR One-Shot Liquid Termiticide/Insecticide need to be mixed with Precor (IGR). Talstar PL Granule or Talstar One Insecticide and Tengard SFR One-Shot Liquid Termiticide/Insecticide will kill the adult fleas and Pro Control Total Release Fogger will control the immature fleas and stop the egg hatching process.

Available for the DIY homeowner at www.epestsolutions.com

Products We recommend:

Ultracide

Precor 2000
Tengard SFR One-Shot Liquid Termiticide/Insecticide
Talstar PL Granule
Talstar One Insecticide
Pro Control Total Release Fogger
Petcor

For more information or to read more about each product listed below check out our website at
www.epestsolutions.com

Stopping the Bed Bugs

Shop with http://www.epestsolutions.com/ for all your bedbug advice and control products.

Bed bugs are well-adapted to living with humans. Like other successful parasites, they prefer to live near their next meal.In the case of the nocturnal bed bug, this usually means close to where people sleep or lounge.In recent surveys of bed bug-infested apartments, for example, more than 90 percent of the insects were found living in beds, sofas and recliners ( see “battling bed bugs in apartments, “ pct august 2006).Disposal. The fastest way to reduce bed bug numbers is to throw out infested items. Bed bugs can be hard to eradicated from beds and upholstered furniture because so many may be present and well concealed.Box springs, sofas and recliners are especially challenging, affording unlimited hidden harborage within inches of the host. Heavily infested or damaged mattresses, frames and headboards also may warrant disposal. Nonetheless, throwing out infested items isn’t an option for some customers and often may not be necessary.When infested items are discarded, bagging or wrapping them prevents dislodgement of bugs en route to the dumpster.Encasement. One good way to limit bed bug habitation of beds is encasement. See our product: Allerzip anti allergy mattress encasements. Encasing both the mattress and box spring denies them access to inner, hard-to-treat areas.Once the Allerzip anti allergy mattress encasements cover is installed, any bed bugs which happen to be inside are entombed and eventually will die. A tight-fitting smooth outer cover also makes it easier to spot and destroy any bugs reappearing on subsequent visits. Encasement like allerzip anti allergy mattress encasements makes a lot of sense if the old infested bed is to be kept. Allerzip anti allergy mattress encasements also help protect new bed components until the current infestation is eliminated.Allerzip anti allergy mattress encasements are the highest quality zippered bed encasements of various available. Bed bugs trapped inside will not bite through the fabric, but cheaper covers are more likely to tear during installation and use. One high quality encasement developed specifically for bed bugs was recently introduced by allerzip anti allergy mattress encasements protect-a-bed ( chicago ) . Available know thru epestsolutions.com.
Vacuums.

Vacuums can remove many types of pests ranging from cockroaches to ladybugs. Routine vacuuming by clients is seldom of much benefit against bed bugs because they hide in places where normal housecleaning efforts do not reach. Targeted vacuuming of infested harborages, however, can be useful if performed properly and limits of the procedure are understood.Bed bugs are harder than cockroaches to dislodge with a vacuum.Adults and nymphs cling more tightly to surfaces and each tiny translucent egg is affixed with a cement-like substance. When vacuuming bed bugs, better results are achieved by scraping the end of the suction wand repeatedly over the harborage area. While many bed bugs will be dislodged, some individuals – and especially eggs – will be left behind. Removal becomes difficult if not impossible when bugs and eggs are located deep within crevices of wood, fabric or upholstery. Another potential concern when vacuuming bed bugs is the chance they will be spread. Perhaps more so than with cockroaches, we have noticed some bugs and plenty of eggs surviving the high-speed ride down the vacuum hose into the collection bag. If vacuum bags are not discarded, bed bugs could be transported to other clients or back to the office. Brush attachments enhance the potential for spread by allowing bugs and eggs to adhere to the bristles.
Sterifab / Bedlam.
Sterifab and Bedlam are often used to treat bed bug infested beds and upholstered furniture. Although both Sterifab and Bedlam are technically pesticides, some companies choose to use them because of their comparatively short residual when treating human contact surfaces. Sterifab and Bedlam contain mainly alcohol and the relatively shortlived pyrethroid d- phenothrin.There is uncertainty whether either product has sufficient residual activity to kill bed bug nymphs emerging from eggs, why in most cases a good safe pyrethroid (suspend) is also recommended. To study this question, groups of adult bed bugs were sprayed directly with each bedlam and sterifab.In another experiment, adults and newly emerged nymphs were confined on filter paper discs that were treated one hour, two days or seven days earlier. Three different bed bug populations were evaluated:
Two previously shown to be susceptible to pyrethroid (suspend) insecticides, and a third population known to be resistant.
When adult bed bugs were sprayed directly with sterifab or bedlam, all (100 percent) died including those from the pyrethroid-resistant population.
Efficacy against resistant bugs presumably was related to the alcohol present in both formulations which itself is lethal to bed bugs as a contact (wet) spray.
When newly emerged nymphs were confined on surfaces treated with sterifab or bedlam one hour, two days, or seven days before, almost all (95% to 98%) of the pyrethroid (suspend)– susceptible nymphs were killed, but nearly none (2%) succumbed from the resistant population.
These preliminary findings suggest that both Sterifab and Bedlam provide excellent contact kill as a direct spray against adults and nymphs. Whether they’ll also afford residual protection against emerging bed bug eggs depends on the (pyrethroid) susceptibility of the population and perhaps other factors still being investigated.
Laundering / Drying.
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Bed bugs often infest bedding, clothing and other personal belongings which cannot be treated with insecticides. But highest water setting should be used.Please note we could find no study that has been done to test the benefits of laundering and drying of infested bedding.