Flea infestation are exclusive to pet owners. Fleas can thrive even in an environment without pets.

Usually, flea infestations are caused by pets or by people introducing them to the home. The close interaction between pets and their owners increases the chances of people getting bitten. Flea bites are typically painful and mostly happen on the ankle and lower leg. However, flea bites can occur on any other part of the body (usually while on beds and sofas).

Need help with a Flea problem?

Our chemical flea control service

Our London pest control technicians are experienced flea exterminators. We will survey your property and guide you through the steps you need to follow and our plan of action.

Once the home is ready for spraying, we’ll carry out the treatment systematically using our strongest pesticide mix. We may also use a cold fogger (ULV) device to deliver the pesticide solution so it can reach into every crack.

Use of ULV technology is particularly important in rooms containing many belongings that restrict access for our technicians.

Our Flea Heat Treatment service

Our heat treatment kills fleas at all stages of life. We will heat up your home and its contents to over 56°C using LPG heat blasters. Such an approach would require the fire alarm system to be disabled. Bathrooms and kitchens will then be treated with a cimex steamer.

Using heat treatment to control fleas has the advantage of destroying most of the population at once. Heat treatments are normally complemented with spraying a pesticide or organic solution for bathrooms and kitchens.

Flea control at home

Fleas are one of the toughest pests to kill and require a powerful mix of pesticides. They are crawling insects and the most efficient way to deal with them is to spray residual insecticide on the floor and any other surfaces they may regularly walk on.

Adult fleas are mostly found on pets, but these only represent a small proportion. The bulk of a flea infestation is actually spread all over the home in the form of eggs, larvae and pupae. Therefore, the entire household will need to be treated thoroughly.

In lab conditions, pesticides can last several months. But in the real world, pesticides will be far less effective after a few weeks. Since the life cycle of fleas is 3-4 weeks, we carry out two visits at a two-week interval to ensure that pesticide activity is high for optimal results.

How much does flea control cost?

Inoculand offers a flea control service from £210+VAT for a one-bedroom flat including two visits at two-week intervals. Any extra bedroom is charged a further £49+VAT.

Pets at home and flea treatment

Inoculand recommends shampoos & combing, and once-a-month topicals for the best results.

An important factor to keep in mind is that every product has been designed with a certain use in mind. You cannot use the flea shampoo to treat a rug or use flea spray that was designed for direct use on the pet to treat a full household. Use these products appropriately.

There are a number of essential oil extracts that are being used as a flea repellent. Here at Inoculand, we recommend Tea Tree oil extract, but others use lavender or cedar oil extract. The downside is that you need to put a few drops on a piece of fabric (bandana or collar) every single day.

You may also use natural acids, such as lemon juice or cider vinegar, diluted into a solution being sprayed directly on the fur or applied with a brush or sponge. You can also use scent sachets filled up with dry aromatic plants and place them on your pet’s sleeping area.

Bear in mind that all the above should really be done on an ongoing basis – it is a preventive routine rather than reactive flea treatment.

This is possibly the easiest thing to do. Put the sleeping mat or bed in the washing machine on a long hot wash cycle, above 60 °C. Of course, check the label as there is a chance that such treatment could cause damage to certain mats and beds. The alternative to hot washing is deep-freezing: -18 °C for 2-3 days.

Vacuuming thoroughly will remove up to 50% of the flea problem. It can be quite labour-intensive but it will make a great difference, especially for carpets. Once you are done, you need to immediately get rid of the collected dirt in a sealed bag.

This vacuum cleaning routine will have to be repeated daily, however, vacuuming alone will not get rid of fleas entirely.

Nurseries sometimes worry and refuse to use pesticides inside the sandpit. Parents do not like the idea of their children playing in residual chemicals. An alternative is to pour large amounts of salt inside the sand, and only spray around the sandpit.

Note: if a flea infestation is localised in your yard, possibly due to a fox activity, you would not be able to use salt as it may be detrimental to the lawn.

We use a highly concentrated mix of pesticides and insect growth regulators (alpha-cypermethrin, tetramethrin, pyriproxyfen, piperonyl butoxide, lambda-cyhalothrin). Together, the active ingredients attack the various development stages of fleas from different angles simultaneously.

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