# Flea bomb made things worse??



## mountainwmn (Sep 11, 2009)

Well, I have been getting a little bit up the last week or so, and I figured it's prolly fleas. Last year I got bit a few times and I caught one of the little boogers. I don't have any pets, but I have a pretty bad reaction to flea bites so I tend to notice and be bothered pretty quickly even though I always seem to be the only one. 
So anyhow I looked around an found flea and bedbug bombs I bought last fall when I got bit a few times and set them off while I was away on sunday. And as of yesterday I am covered in bites. I've been here almost 2 years and haven't had this many bites the whole time so what in the world is up? Did the bomb just wake them up and make them hungry and is that supposed to happen?


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## Belfrybat (Feb 21, 2003)

Although I have no science to back me up, it is my experience that flea bombs make the fleas really really mad and they go on the warpath for a few days. Then, if you have used the correct number of bombs for the cubit feet of your house, they do finally die. But living through that initial few days can be difficult.


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## mountainwmn (Sep 11, 2009)

Thank you. I guess I don't need any science to see how badly I'm bitten up. But it's good to know this shouldn't last.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

The flea bombs that are on the market now are a complete waste of money. Environmental regulation has been so hard on insecticides that many of them would pass PETA inspection for not harming any insects.

Vacuum the area - (fleas don't make it alive into the vacuum bag, which seems odd, but is apparently true) - then dust the area with boric acid, which is a very fine white powder. Broom the powder into carpets, use a feather duster to remove it from table tops and such, but do NOT vacuum again for ten days.

If you have a major infestation, get a big pan or cookie tray of soapy water, place it in the middle of the room, place a small (15 to 25 watt) light a few inches over the pan, and leave it overnight. If you have AC, make the room cold. The adults will jump to the heat of the light, miss, fall in the pan and drown.

I've never had the combination fail. If you have outdoor/indoor pets there is the frontline or whatever it is called that needs to be added to the above.


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## RebelDigger (Aug 5, 2010)

20 Mule Team Borax. Sprinkle it everywhere, including mattress and box springs (they like to hide on these I found). It won't hurt you, it's soap. Leave it down a few days to catch any hatching fleas. Then vacuum it up.


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## fantasymaker (Aug 28, 2005)

My Gf had a bad infestation.
She went on a two week vacation.
The day after she left I cam over and put 5 pounds of sevin dust in a wet dray vac, and walked around the house with the filter out directing the exhaust into nooks crannies and hard to reach places.
Figgered by the time she got home there wouldn't be a problem.
THREE days later a friend came by saw what a mess it was and thinking the furnace had done it somehow cleaned it up.
BUT that must have been enough cause we never saw another flea in the place!
I figger the fine dust worked its way into cracks and crannies and when we cleaned up we tend to leave it in those hidden places that bugs hide.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Borax will kill fleas if you just put down a layer and leave it lay. When you vacuum it up, you then have to reapply in ten days to kill the new hatches. Then do it again ten days later. After three applications fleas will be gone.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

Borax if fine, it does the job, but it is generally not as fine a dust as the boric acid, which can get in most everywhere.

I discovered that if you broom it into the carpet, enough remains that you don't need to re-apply. Boric acid is safer in a house that Sevin, but that certainly would have killed just about anything in there.


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## CarolT (Mar 12, 2009)

Oh yes they will survive the trip into the vacuum bag! Personal experience here.  However, the only change I would make is to get the bag as far from the house as possible to prevent the fleas and the hatching eggs (warmth and vibration make eggs hatch) from getting back into the house. 

If you have no pets, you need to get rid of the mice or other animals bringing them to you. Block off access to underneath the house and trap any rodents. If nothing else, something has got fleas breeding in your yard and rain is driving them inside...

ETA: If you haven't lived there long, the last occupant may have had pets, some flea eggs can lay dormant for years, I have heard.


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## mountainwmn (Sep 11, 2009)

I figure it's leftover from the previous owner or coming in from the rabbits that I'm infested with. I don't think there's many mice in here....I haven't caught one in a while anyway.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Harry Chickpea said:


> Borax if fine, it does the job, but it is generally not as fine a dust as the boric acid, which can get in most everywhere.


Boric acid kills more insect types too. But a box of mule team borax is less than $3 and lasts for several dustings of the floor. I have never seen boric acid as cheap in that type of bulk. But it does work for more insects than borax.


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## KentuckyDreamer (Jan 20, 2012)

Last year we had an infestation that defied belief. We could walk in the basement and be covered in fleas. I spent hundreds of dollars bombing all three levels of our home at the same time, pouring the flea powder on the carpets, vacuuming, washing everything, even spraying the yard. Still, we had fleas. The dog got at least three baths a day.

I googled for days...what I read was the fleas can literally stay dormant in your carpet, under furniture, etc. for a year. Bombs do not reach in all these areas. When something happends to awaken the darn things ( that is not what I was calling them last year ) they are back full force...even the vibration from a vaccuum can awaken them. 

It tooks many months and hundreds of dollars including Frontline for the dog that did not work quickly. Now, I watch like a hawk. I cannot go through that again. Last week I woke to bites all over one arm and my back. Seems the dog ( 9 lbs ) had only four fleas but one must have gotten caught in something I was wearing and let me have it. I look like a freak. But, the dog got a major hair cut, bathed, etc. I have learned my lesson...never take fleas for granted.


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## jlrbhjmnc (May 2, 2010)

Harry Chickpea said:


> The flea bombs that are on the market now are a complete waste of money. Environmental regulation has been so hard on insecticides that many of them would pass PETA inspection for not harming any insects.
> 
> Vacuum the area - (fleas don't make it alive into the vacuum bag, which seems odd, but is apparently true) - then dust the area with boric acid, which is a very fine white powder. Broom the powder into carpets, use a feather duster to remove it from table tops and such, but do NOT vacuum again for ten days.
> 
> ...


This advice worked for me in three different homes.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

"Oh yes they will survive the trip into the vacuum bag! Personal experience here."

I _thought_ it sounded odd. I thought the source was reliable, but apparently not. Personal experience trumps most articles. Thanks for the comment.

The boric acid can end up being cheaper to use. I've done a 1600 seat auditorium with about one $8 bottle from Home Despot. There is a trick - The plastic bottles it comes in is designed for "puffs"

The tip end gets cut off until the hole is about the diameter of a USB cable or a little smaller. The bottle is shaken, put at a slight angle, and a hard fast squeeze applied to it. The dust will puff out in a cloud. If it spits _clots_ of dust, you aren't doing it quite right. You DO NOT squeeze it upside down or with the dust in the nozzle. I'm not sure why shaking the bottle or tapping it helps, but it does.

There is no need to use anything but boric acid for long-term flea control in a living space, and no need to use more than boric acid and pyrethrum spray for roaches. I gotta repeat that the sprays and bombs available to consumers today work MUCH more poorly, and IMO are a total waste of money.


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## mommathea (May 27, 2009)

Another thing you want to do if you have carpet is to put a flea collar in your vacuum bag/canister. That will help to take care of the ones you vacuum up.


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## chickenmommy (Aug 24, 2004)

Harry Chickpea said:


> "Oh yes they will survive the trip into the vacuum bag! Personal experience here."
> 
> I _thought_ it sounded odd. I thought the source was reliable, but apparently not. Personal experience trumps most articles. Thanks for the comment.
> 
> ...


I agree with Harry on this one. Nina and her mother came to our house for a hurricane. Their house is completely infested with roaches and fleas. Of course she brought me some. The roaches got in to two walls in my kitchen. Both walls had cabinets attached to them. I got a drill and drilled a hole between every stud inside those cabinets just big enough to stick the tip of the puffer in and puffed once in between every single stud. Within 10 days I saw no more roaches. Ever again. Don't get me wrong. I didn't use the boric acid first. I used spray and killed my dishwasher and phone. Expensive lesson. But I replaced that cheap builder supplied dishwasher with a Fischer Paykel double drawer dishwasher for a ridiculous amount of money and have never regretted it.


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## davel745 (Feb 2, 2009)

Maybe use diatomaceous earth it kills them dead. Get food grade. Put it everywhere and in two days they will be gone. I sprinkle it on the dogs and cat and sprinkle some on the rugs. It won&#8217;t hurt humans or pets.


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## ronbre (Apr 26, 2009)

20 mule team borax on everything, wait as long as you can stand it then vacuum and repeat..one repeat should do it if you leave it long enough to do the job..

it worked for me..we left it a week, vacuumed and left it a week again, vacuumed and no more fleas..that was 4 years ago


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## ronbre (Apr 26, 2009)

oh then use flea collars


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## deaconjim (Oct 31, 2005)

Having once owned a pest control company, I've had some experience with really bad flea infestations. A lot of good advice has been given in this thread, but there are some other things that are useful to know.

Boric acid and DE work in much the same way. Fleas, and all other insects, have an exoskeleton which is covered in a waxy substance. Boric acid and DE both have sharp edges that, when the bugs crawl through it, scrapes off the wax. The wax will regenerate over time, but if enough is lost the insects will dry out and die before that happens.

Another useful thing to know about insects is that they breath through small holes in the exoskeleton. Either liquid soap or oil will clog up those holes, suffocating the but. In the right location, either substance makes a great insecticide if applied directly to the insect. 

Fleas lay eggs which, unlike many other insects, are not sticky and will fall off the host during normal movement. If your indoor pet has fleas, those eggs will drop off in places where the pet lays, plays, or jumps. These eggs will hatch within a couple of weeks, and the larvae will go through 3 life stages or instars. The adult flea will develop in a cocoon, and may stay dormant in that cocoon for months until they sense a host is nearby. This is why a flea infestation can suddenly redevelop after you think it has been eliminated.

Insecticides do not kill the eggs or the larvae, which can make flea treatments rather difficult. Chemicals called Insect Growth Regulators interfere with the molting process and prevents the insect from reaching maturity.

When treating for fleas, it is important to treat all areas where fleas or eggs might be located, especially when using foggers. Pick up anything off the floor and furniture that might shield that area from treatment. Vacuuming is very effective, but always remember to dispose of the vacuum cleaner bag immediately after use. 

In most cases it is necessary to treat indoor areas as well as any outdoor areas to which your pet has access. If your pet has access to the crawlspace of your home, it is very important to treat this area. Also remember to treat your pets at the same time.

Flea populations can grow rapidly and should be attacked agressively. If you have two fleas on day 1, under ideal conditions the population can grow to over 2 million fleas in just 100 days.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

"Boric acid and DE work in much the same way. Fleas, and all other insects, have an exoskeleton which is covered in a waxy substance. Boric acid and DE both have sharp edges that, when the bugs crawl through it, scrapes off the wax. The wax will regenerate over time, but if enough is lost the insects will dry out and die before that happens."

I was hoping that this common misconception wouldn't come up. DE is different than boron. Boron, as in both Borax and boric acid, is incompatible with the metabolism of many insects. In essence, it is a poison to them, but not to us except in very large quantities. Boric acid is not "sharp" in the same way the DE is. Borax is downright dull.

DE does work by cutting, and can be less effective if wet, where it gets harder for it to get lifted up onto the insect. Of the two substances, boric acid is far more reliable in going for fleas and roaches and has an almost unlimited residual effect in hidden spots. (Which is why many pest control companies do NOT use it. Pest control companies make money by coming out month after month, irritating the roaches with nerve sprays and pyrethrums so that for two days they are apparent and the spray is "working" in front of the customer with some dead roaches apparent and ready to be swept up. The worst of the infestation is killed, the survivors hide away and make a new crop, and the process repeats next month or the month after. Actually EXTERMINATING the problem permanently is killing the goose with the golden egg. I've had exterminators describe this to me, which is even more disgusting.) 

When I give advice on the subject or roaches and fleas, I AM an expert. Over the many years I spent working in theatres and around food, I've had to _fire_ about two dozen pest control companies and franchises that were simply not getting the job done, even with a friendly chat on how to get things under control. (Terminex was the worst. I hired and fired a number of franchise owners before giving up on them entirely.) In many of those situations, I had to take employees as a crew and go in and clean up the situation myself.

I will repeat. _Proper_ use of boric acid and pyrethrum ALONE (with lights and soapy trays for flea infestations) have resolved _every single roach and flea problem _wherever I have used them. IGRs are fine, and they can break the cycles and make the process of complete 100% eradication faster, but in most cases they are not required.

If someone wants to do other stuff, fine by me. I just prefer to get the job done properly ONCE and not have to worry about it.


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## mountainwmn (Sep 11, 2009)

I haven't gotten bitten after the first few days, but just re-reading this is making me itch. Where exactly do you get boric acid anyway?


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

Home despot, dollar store, drugstore, grocery store.


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## HomeOnTheFarm (Mar 9, 2004)

We had a massive infestation in our bedrooms last year. With little kids, I'll go any route possible before using dust and/or poison. So here's what I did...I completely cleared out dressers/closets/bedding and anything that could be washed in the washing machine went there and then into the dryer (instead of the clothesline). The floors were picked up and then thoroughly vacuumed (going slowly over the entire floor...including underneath beds). Then I plugged in my fancy-schmancy steam mop and went over the bedding and the carpet nice and slow, steaming the entire time. I kept anything that had gone through the laundry in the laundry room and repeated the vacuum/steam method every day for a week. It decreased their numbers immediately and ensured that they wouldn't be reviving from inside the house.


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## ronbre (Apr 26, 2009)

the reason to retreat immediately after vacuuming is the vacuum vibrates the babies and sends them looking for a host..you need to be prepared with more borax on the vibrated babies to kill them when they go on the hunt


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