FleAs In the House but No Animals...

Do you have a pier and beam foundation? I had fleas in college b/c of the pier and beam foundation. I had to fog under the house, as well the inside. I don't use foggers now, I use fumigators - it doesn't leave a film and gets in the cracks much better. We had a huge infestation 3 summers ago (we had 4 dogs, an acre w/ possums, rabbits and armadillos) - the fumigators wiped them out w/ one application.

Try Sevin Dust. Read up on it first though. We always used it in the hosue and outside too. I think we may have left for a while after putting it in the house but it was long, long ago.

Fleas, not flees. :)

You did not say how long you have lived where you are living. The old tenants could have had animals with fleas. Your friends could have an animal with fleas that they brought to your house on their clothes. etc... You could try a flea bomb by following the directions with food etc... It's a big pain. And no fair since you don't have animals! Good luck.

It doesn't take much for fleas to be tracked in on peoples shoes and socks from the yard, from neighbors dogs running through, from cats prowling around the yard and back door, for them to hop right in.

I used to cut up flea collars and place them around the legs of couches. And since you don't have animals, place the flea powder around all doors and heavily trafficked areas.

You might want to also instill a 'no shoe' policy to keep them out of house, if they are coming in from the yard and neighborhood.

Have you brought anything stuffed or a blanket that was used into your house lately? Have you had anyone over who has pets? They can travel on clothes, blanket, stuffed animals, etc...

If a coworker or friends house has fleas, a flea could be on or in their clothes and then jump on to you and can bring it home without even knowing it. Fleas are great jumpers and get around often times without even being noticed. You can flea powder all you want, but if you want to get rid of the problem permanetly, I would either go with the flea bombs you can buy at walmart or a grocery store, home depot, ect or call a profressional exterminator. Fleas spawn pretty rapidly!

do you have mice?
Mice can get fleas as well.
I'd set out some traps just in case
Also you could have something living under your house that has fleas.

We are in a constant battle with mice even though we have 4 cats. They are in the walls and we can sometimes hear them skittering around. Terminex told me that as long as there are mice, we will have fleas. The frontline we put on the cats doesnt help any thing but the cats. Terminex also said that you have to treat more than the carpeted areas as fleas can live in the dust and dander and such that collects behind molding or quarter round trim in uncarpeted rooms. We use Havoc rat bait from the local Farmers Co-op and they also have a spray that works 260 days. We don't see any fleas anymore, but the cats caught 4 baby mice the other day so we will continue to treat the house. (it was built in 1920) However they are getting in must be small as we never see full grown mice anywhere but outside, near my herb garden.

If you have squirrels or stray animals in the neighhborhood, you have fleas in your grass. When you walk through the yard, they get on your clothes.

Fleas are going through a meta-population explosion right now.

They could be bed bugs, or sand fleas

I'm not sure why, but I have a suggestion on how to get rid of them. Assuming you have carpets, sprinkle borax (found in the laundry detergent aisle of the grocery store) all over the carpet, then use a stiff bristle broom to scrub it in a bit, let it sit for an hour or too, then vacuum it up. Empty your vacuum bag, replace with new one, put a bit more borax into the new bag. Also, use the borax when washing your clothes - great multi-purpose cleaner and totally gets rid of fleas. I was once told by a pro carpet cleaner that this is what they use to get rid of fleas in carpets.

Are you sure they are fleas? Fleas need a live host....

When I've had them inside (I have a dog) I've had to use the spray bombs and it does work. Do it once, wait 3 days & do it again in case there are eggs hatching in the meantime.

Have you brought in any used furniture? Borrowed clothes from a friend that has pets? I know someone brought in a used couch and later found out it was infested with fleas. She had a serious problem after that. I would probably call someone in to try to find the source before it becomes a huge issue.

Do you have house cleaners that use their own vacuum?

-M

At our old apartment I walked across the lawn to go to the trash and I found fleas all over my socks so they could be in your grass. Try fleabusters you can do it yourself or have them do it, it works great.