We had a flea problem inside and outside our home. A friend of mine gave me a bucket of diatomaceous earth or also called DE. She bought it from the local feed store.
My friend uses it on her livestock, as well as, in her food to keep her wheat berries that she grinds in her mill pest free. It coats the wheat berries, but since it's food safe it's okay that she consumes it.
Make sure the kind you buy is food safe. Some pool companies sell it, but that is NOT the kind I am talking about. When you touch it, it feels like chalk. Its abrasiveness is what kills fleas, ants, cockroaches, and more. It dries them up from the inside out! It is not a chemical and is safe to use in the garden as well!
It is recommended that when you use it wear a mask to avoid breathing in the dust.
How to use: I reused an old baking powder container as it had tiny holes in the container. I sprinkled it lightly into our carpets to let it settle down and then let it sit for about 15 minutes. Then, I vacuumed it up. Don't worry about trying to get it all out. The DE will work its way down into the carpet fibers and there will do its work. Anytime a pest comes into contact with it, it will dehydrate them.
One application lasts about a year. It is safe around pets and children. We have not had a single flea found inside or outside our home since. I also used it around our home to get rid of the many ant hills in our yard.
Because it's also food safe, I sprinkle about a half teaspoon in our cat's food dish. When they consume it, it also kills internal parasites.
I called the feed store to see how much it was and they sell a 50 pound bag for $20. It may vary in your neighborhood, but just to give you an idea. The bag she bought has lasted her 7 plus years and the ice cream bucket size she gave me hardly looks touched. A little bit goes a long way.
DE has many more uses. Go here to read more about it. This link (of which I am not affiliated with) has good information: wolfcreekranch
By tasana from MO
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Tasana was perfect. Better than my idea. I had grey squirrels and we used to give them a bath (no poison) times 2. Keep them warm before during and after. Dry flea removal would be Dia earth (FOOD GRADE or it will kill) or garden sevin dust. Carpets must be treated or infestation starts all over again.
Diatomaceous Earth (aka DE) is excellent and 100% natural for getting rid of fleas, but please be sure and only use the food grade diatomaceous earth and not the gardening kind. and especially not the pool grade. The food grade diatomaceous earth is white in color. the other types are gray in color because there is clay in them. The food grade DE you can even feed to your pets and even take yourself as natural remedies for parasites, etc.
The fastest way to get fleas off your pets is to go to your vet and purchase a pill(s) called cap star. they are approximately $5.00 per pill, and you give your pet one pill. within 15-30 minutes all the fleas are gone! you will most likely need to repeat the cap star pill in 3 days time from the first pill.
Cap star is safe and it is not a pesticide, but is sure does work! It is by far the best stuff I have ever used on my little doggies for ridding them of fleas! Cap star and diatomaceous earth food grade combined will take care of your flea problems fast, cheaply, and most importantly effectively!
fyi - You can purchase the food grade diatomaceous earth at most pet feed stores, like shar kare and buckerfields, and most health food stores.
take care:) xo trisha e.
Diatomaceous earth is great, BUT, I find that when even a bit of it remains in a piece of furniture or in anything or anywhere in the room, it's hard to breathe.
DE will make a dog's fur icky if put right on the dogs. It is a heavy clay powder. If you don't mind that, use it.
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