Flea treatment that's safe and actually works: Diatomaceous Earth

[Holly]

It?s flea season again!  The treatment I always recommend is diatomaceous earth (DE). It is a royal pain to use correctly, but it works beautifully?more effective and safer than any other product I?ve found.

DE is a powder made up of the crushed exoskeletons of diatoms.  It works by slicing the flea exoskeletons up and dehydrating them.  It?s completely non-toxic to humans and pets, if you get the right kind of DE.  You need to get food grade DE.  It's called food grade because it is actually used to treat food storage facilities for insects.  We have all ingested it at some time.  Some people intentionally ingest it or feed it to their animals as a mineral supplement or to treat intestinal parasites. 

The food grade DE also is not hazardous to breathe (at least not in the amounts you would inhale during a flea treatment--snorting it would still probably be a very bad idea!).  The food grade stuff is made from freshwater diatoms, and it doesn't contain the kind of silica that makes the saltwater stuff dangerous.  The saltwater stuff that has been through a treatment process is what is used for filters.  Pool grade DE will not work.  It is not good for flea treatment and it is dangerous to inhale.  Get the food grade stuff and apply it really thoroughly, and your fleas will be history!

We have used it twice, once in our last house and once when we moved in here.  We had a horrible flea problem in our last house.  With all five neighbors whose yards touched ours (both sides, behind, and catty cornered behind) having dogs with fleas (one was really, really bad), it was a huge challenge.  We had tried EVERYTHING else when someone suggested DE.

We had wall-to-wall carpeting throughout the house, and every inch of it had to be treated to get all the fleas, larvae, and eggs.  We had the carpets shampooed about a week before the DE application, because we didn't want to clean it again for awhile after we applied the DE (dampness reduces its effectiveness a lot). I also waited a week to make sure it was completely dry down through the pad.  The week wait probably isn't necessary in places not as humid as Florida.

To apply the DE, I got down on my hands and knees with a bowl of the powder, a spoon, and a scrub brush.  I literally treated one square foot of carpet at a time.  I would take the spoon and sprinkle the DE so every inch of carpet was covered and then I would tap it with the spoon to get it into the carpet a bit and off the surface.  Then, I used the scrub brush to work it down into the carpet all the way.  I did this on every foot of carpeting throughout the entire house.  I also treated all our upholstered furniture and our beds (the bare mattresses).  It was a major PITA.

For about a week and a half, I thought the flea problem was worse, not better.  Apparently, this stuff doesn't kill them immediately, and while they are dying they are going nuts and jumping on you and the dogs to get away from it (it didn't occur to me at the time to put the powder on the dogs, too).  By two weeks after this treatment, the fleas were gone.  We never had another flea in five more years in that house, and we never did the treatment again.

In our current house, there were fleas when we moved in, and they got worse in the first few weeks that the dogs were here but never nearly as bad as the previous house.  Nevertheless, I treated this house, too.  We only have a few rooms with carpeting, so that treatment was relatively easy.  The rest of the flooring is wood, brick, or tile, and I treated that, too, but with a broom.  We lived in the powder for a day or two (it is a pretty heavy powder, so it's not like having dust clouds of it or anything).  After a few more days, I went back to my usual vacuuming and mopping routines.

Well, we have lived in this house 13 years now, and it was 10 years before I saw another flea.  I did a light treatment then, and I?ve hardly seen a flea since.  Occasionally, after having the dogs at the dog park or when a foster dog arrives, there will be a few fleas, but a few days later, they?re gone.  Once a flea comes into contact with DE, it?s doomed.  I have never had another product live up to its billing so well. I had no idea that one treatment every 10 years would be enough!

After hearing a couple people say it hadn't worked for them, I thought it was important to share the application techniques that someone told me when I first used it.  You really do have to apply it very thoroughly.  Unlike a pesticide that has toxic elements that the flea just has to get near for it to kill, DE must have direct contact with the flea.  I can't imagine that, applied thoroughly in this way, it wouldn't work.  As bad as the fleas were in that first house and as many things as I tried that didn't work, DE worked like a charm and continued working for years.

Sorry this is so long, but I hope it's useful.   

[Jacksmom]

I can attest to the greatness of DE.

I've gotta be honest tho, I am an extremely lazy person.  I did not have it in me to do the technique that Holly does.  But, I must stress, I don't think my flea quantity was as bad as hers. 

Late last summer, I noticed Jack scratching, then Sparrow.  Sure enough they both had the critters.  I ordered the DE on line, Holly gave me a site that sells it.  I put it in a large shaker jar and went to all the spots that they layed; beds, blankets, corners, etc.  I also treated both Jack and Sparrow.  Jack was a peach, one of my girls would shake and I would rub it in.  Sparrow, on the other hand, was not as easy.  That took a little bit of wrestling.  I gotta say within 2 weeks, not one critter was seen.

[LibbyP]

Hey could I get the link and can you order it in Ontario? We don't have fleas... but we do have a new trailer that the girls will be going to soon that has ALOT of sand. Just to use as a pre-measure, Miss Libby cannot have anything topical as all her hair will fall out and she'll be as bald as can be and I'm sure THAT wouldn't be a pretty sight. 

[EastJenn]

This is where I've ordered before but I have no idea if they ship to Canada:

http://www.dirtworks.net/Diatomaceous-Earth.html

You might be able to find it locally, though.  A lot of farm or garden supply stores carry it.

[Doghealer]

AWESOME.

I have been reading about this stuff lately and trying to decide whether to buy some. I have only seen a few fleas here and there but we are about to move into a new home and I know the previous residents had some cats, so I was hoping to find some way of treating the house without using chemicals... bingo! I'm really glad to hear great testimonials from people I know I can trust! I will order some pronto!

Thanks!

[MastiffOverload]

How much are you ordering to treat your house? It comes in such a range of amounts . . .

[Doghealer]

How much are you ordering to treat your house? It comes in such a range of amounts . . .

I'd like to ask that same question too!

And also, Jenn- how long does shipping usually take from that website? Any idea?

Thanks!

[saltcreep]

I am not trying to put a downer on this product, but it seems like it would be really harsh on your lungs... I'd be careful vacuuming and applying it.

I've never really looked it up , but it kills the fleas by cutting them up ... I am just assuming it can't be great for your lungs... just something I thought about.

[EastJenn]

I would get at least five lbs. to treat your house.  I think the shipping from that site took about five days?  I don't remember it being overnight fast, but not slow, either.

You don't have to worry too much, lung wise, as long as you're buying the food grade.  The grades that are bound with crystalline silica can do NASTY stuff to your lungs.  Those grades aren't good for pest control anyway, though.  As long as you aren't huffing big dust clouds of the DE, you should be fine.  Fleas have chitinous exoskeletons (look out for the bug dork!) which are easily broken down (and actually making fleas easily biodegradable).  That's why DE is good at killing fleas but doesn't wreak havoc to your insides if you eat it.

[saltcreep]

That's good info, do you know if there is any easy way to know what kind you're getting?

I am assuming the stuff from the farm store is probably not a food grade product .. haha

[EastJenn]

Some farm stores do carry food grade because a lot of farmers use it to treat their crops.  You just have to read very carefully.  Most food grade bags are marked as food grade.  If it says household, with pyrethrine, commercial, or anything about swimming pools, you don't want it.  You want to make sure it assures < 1% crystalline silica (almost none will say "free".  It's a labeling issue) and no other ingredients.

[Doghealer]

All hail East Jenn and her vast knowledge of chitinous beings!!!

I worked as a vet's assistant when I was a teenager and I had to listen to a lot of conversations about chitin. Hehehehe.

[saltcreep]

All hail East Jenn and her vast knowledge of chitinous beings!!!

I worked as a vet's assistant when I was a teenager and I had to listen to a lot of conversations about chitin. Hehehehe.

I think I have a new signature..... 

[Holly]

Hey Brandon, just ask her about maggots--that's her real area of expertise!

[EastJenn]

LMAO!  That made my night!