Diatomaceous Earth for Fleas

Many people actually keep wondering, how to get rid of fleas? Is there any way by which we could free them from our surroundings? Fleas are basically small wingless creatures causing sheer nuisance to us and could be the possible reason for some infections as well. To top it, if you happen to own a pet, then they would be ridiculous to handle. They love to reside in and around bushes so owning a backyard could be one of the high trafficking areas for fleas as well. The solution to all this is obviously killing them at the right time. If you are on the lookout for flea control, one of the ways is to use diatomaceous earth.

Along with the many pest control methods, use of diatomaceous earth is one of the most effective ones. Before going into the details of its uses, you need to know what exactly is diatomaceous earth. If you are aware of the term algae, you might as well be well versed with diatoms. Diatoms are a special type of algae plants residing inside water. They are characterized by crystalline structure and varied colors; very similar to diamonds and thus appear very attractive. Talking about the diatomaceous earth, it is a dry powder manufactured from the shells of these diatoms. Let us see how to kill fleas using this diatomaceous earth.

First of all, you need to buy good quality and branded diatomaceous earth from the nearby store. You could get it in a plant nursery as well. It is a chemically manufactured powder so you have to be careful while handling it. Make use of hand gloves and goggles so that you don't come in direct contact with the powder. For house treatment, you would have to empty your house as in by making sure that all your family members as well as your pets are out of the house. Direct inhalation of the earth powder is not advisable and hence the extra care. Since there is a lot of flea trafficking surrounding your house, use the powder all over your house, mainly in all the rooms that are near the windows, doorways and also near the entrance. You could spread the powder on the carpets as well so that the fleas stay at bay. However, for getting rid of fleas totally, you would have to leave the house empty for a couple of hours at a stretch. After which use a vacuum cleaner to clean the powder. The diatomaceous powder actually causes dehydration in these fleas by creating cuts in their body leading to their death.

When it comes to pets, you can use the diatomaceous powder, however, you have to do that with utmost care. Go for the food grade diatomaceous powder only. This is because, direct use of the powder can lead to severe drying of their skin leading to scratching as well as irritation of eyes and ears. This is one of the natural ways to get rid of fleas from the animal body and keeping it free from the infections. You could spread the diatomaceous earth on the backyard lawn as well and under the shrubs or bushes in and around the backyard. This would help prevent the invasion of fleas.

This was all about the diatomaceous earth for fleas. The only caution you need to follow during this fleas treatment is while handling the diatomaceous earth powder. It can be used for controlling other insects like bedbugs, chiggers, beetles and snails as well.