Are you looking for a flop-proof way of getting rid of fleas from your home, pets and yard? Rise to the challenge by pulling out a humble box of baking soda from your kitchen cupboard to destroy them. If you applied it regularly and follow the steps in this article, you will win the battle and successfully solve your flea problem.
- Does baking soda work to kill fleas and how fast does it work?
- Is it safe to use it to treat my dogs and cats that have fleas?
- Will baking soda help with a fleas infestation in my home?
- How do you apply baking soda onto your pet to kill fleas?
- Can this awesome powder get rid of the fleas in my yard?
Does baking soda kill fleas and how long does it take?
Yes it does, but it must be used correctly, and usually in combination with ordinary table salt. The reason why this combination is so effective as a weapon against flea infestation is that they both work together to dehydrate the fleas, including eggs and larvae.
The heavier grains of salt drop further down into your pet’s fur, the pile of carpets and those little nooks and crannies where fleas like to hide. In contrast, the powdery quality of baking soda makes an easily spreadable film that makes it difficult for those gross creatures to escape unscathed.
It’s important to remember too, that the action of baking soda is to dehydrate the body of the flea and its eggs, so this is not an instant process. If you are using this powder on your pet’s coat, it needs to be in contact with the pest for a few minutes, so some residue needs to remain on your pets body for it to be effective. More on this when I get to the application process.
When using baking soda to control flea infestations in the home environment, you need to be even more patient, but I promise that it’s worth the wait. The old expression, ‘overnight’ is quite literal here when using it on your carpets, padded furniture, and hardwood floors, as I will explain.
How safe is it to use this powder on your pets for fleas?
Baking soda been used in several pet products like toothpaste and cat litter for many years and has proved itself to be very safe to use around cats and dogs. Of course, too much of a good thing is never great, and this is true of baking soda.
Never allow your pets to ingest large amounts of baking soda (see amounts specified in this link). This can cause all kinds of problems (such as muscle spasms), which can be dangerous.
The good news is that it not a pleasant tasting substance and not at all likely that your pet will happily make a meal of it. I will show you how to use baking soda on your pets a little later in this article, but suffice to say that it is going to involve applying it directly to your pet, not giving it to them to eat. However, it is worth noting that if they do lick some of it up, there is no real danger that you need to worry yourself about.
Using baking soda to get rid of fleas in your carpets
Baking soda comes into its own when you use it as a means of stamping out fleas from your home. It makes no sense to tirelessly work on getting rid of fleas on your pets and then you don’t treat the environment. Your pooch or kitty will get re-infected, and you will not get away without been bitten either. So get hold of a box of baking soda, a packet of table salt and let’s get started! I have also written a detailed guide on removing fleas from carpets, check it out.
Step 2: Liberally sprinkle this mixture over your carpet. Make sure that you cover every bit of the surface to ensure you don’t miss any fleas. Leaving just a few behind can result in the infestation starting all over again, which you obviously want to avoid at all costs.
Step 3: Using a stiff bristled broom, brush the powder and salt down into the carpet. You want to get the dehydrating ingredients down to the base of the fibers where fleas lay eggs to get rid of the pests and their larvae. I have had a lot of comments about how much effect and time should be dedicated to this, and my answer is it shouldn’t take you longer than 5 minutes or so per room (don’t overwork yourself!)
Step 4: This is the part that requires you to be patient. Leave the salt and baking powder on your carpet for at least 12 hours. You can do this overnight, and in the morning you will be able to vacuum up all the dried out, dead fleas from your carpet. Empty your vacuum into a plastic bag, seal it up to ensure that no death-defying flea can escape and discard the bag in your garbage.
PRO TIP: Don’t stress too much if you haven’t sucked up every last bit of the mixture out of your carpets. These natural ingredients won’t harm your carpet fibers like other commercial carpet cleaners. Whatever is left over will continue the dehydrating process, which is bad news for fleas. Also, the alkaline properties of the powder will neutralize acidic odors, leaving your carpets smelling lovely.
Using baking powder on hardwood floors or tiles for fleas
Fortunately, hard, smooth surfaces are not that inviting to fleas and they would prefer to head for warm, soft dark spots in the house but that doesn’t mean that you won’t find them jumping about on your beautiful wooden floors. You have the choice of treating them with baking soda in powder form, or you may make your flea repellent liquid spray.
Use the powder directly on hardwood or tiles: To make a power that will get rid of any stray fleas, use 1 cup of baking powder and a ¼ cup of salt. Using your trusty, homemade sprinkling container (mentioned earlier), apply this mixture all over your floors.
It’s definitely a good idea to put your pooches or kitties in a separate area when you do this. You don’t want them slipping and sliding on the powder – and take care that you don’t do the same. Leave on for as long as you can, then vacuum it up.
Make a spray bottle solution (recommended): I prefer this method as it makes it easier to spray along your skirting boards, into corners and joins in your flooring. Not only are you making the coverage of your flea repellent more effective, but you also won’t have to vacuum up a whole load of powder spread all over your floor. You can allow the mixture to dry naturally and just do the normal sweeping and washing of your hardwood floor whenever you wish.
Make a flea zapping apple cider vinegar spray using ¼ cup salt, ¼ cup baking soda, ¼ cup ACV and 2 cups of water. Shake up all the ingredients to blend nicely and spray away. Don’t saturate your wooden floors; a fine mist is all you need. You don’t want to wreck your beautiful floors with too much water! Repeat this method as often as you wish; more often if you are applying it to tiles to completely stop the cycle of fleas.
Don’t forget about your upholstered furniture and your garage
Unfortunately, fleas love to “just chill” just as much as you do, and the little dark crevices in your couches and in your garage are often favorite flea hideouts. Here is how you can deal with them.
Your sofas: Fill the same shaker bottle (discussed earlier) with equal amounts of salt and baking soda and sprinkle all over your upholstered furniture, down the sides of and underneath cushions. Using a soft brush (you don’t want to ruin your fabric with a hard bristled brush) distribute the mixture evenly over the fabric surfaces. Leave overnight for the powder to perform its death-dealing magic, and then vacuum it up.
Your garage: Make enough of the same spray that you would use for treating your hardwood floors and use it to spray into dark corners and the entire floor space of the garage. The residue left on any surfaces will continue to act as a flea repellent, and although you can repeat the process every couple weeks (depending on how proactive you want to be), this doesn’t need to be cleaned up and works wonderfully.
How to use baking soda to get rid of fleas on your pets
Fortunately, baking soda is safe to use directly on our pooches and even on our picky felines. One of the most effective ways of using this powder is to perform a baking soda bath for your pet (especially for dogs), but let’s look at a couple options:
Make a baking soda based flea spray: Use this for your pooch or your cat – your kitty will much prefer a gentle spray of this formula to be dunked into a baking soda bath. Using a spray bottle, mix one teaspoon of baking soda, one teaspoon sea salt, 1 cup apple cider vinegar and one cup of warm water together.
Spray carefully over your pet, avoiding his face or any sensitive areas. The salt and apple cider can make this spray sting so make sure that you don’t spray onto any open cuts, grazes or sores and delicate skin. Massage into your pet’s coat for a fresh smelling, flea free coat. Reapply every few days and see how the flea population diminishes.
Use baking soda as a dry pet shampoo: Baking soda is known to be a great cleaning agent so put it to great use by giving your pet a dry shampoo rub down that will do more than just freshen up his or her coat. Getting the powder down into his fur will leave a residue that will coat fleas enough to dehydrate them. Apply in any way that works for you – using your sprinkler tub or just your fingers and massage into your pet’s coat.
Always avoid your pet’s face but be sure to rub carefully into those favorite flea spots- behind ears, back of neck and base of the tail. When you are satisfied that you’ve done a great job, take a small towel and rub off any excess baking soda. You don’t want your pet licking off and ingesting too much of the powder.
Make a baking soda bath for dog fleas: This is one of my favorites for dogs. Place ¼ cup baking soda, 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, 5 drops of peppermint oil (which is great for keeping fleas away) with 2 cups of warm water. Rub this mixture into the fur, avoiding his face. Brush or comb through your pooches fur, getting the ingredients down to his skin. Leave on for at least five minutes, longer if your doggie is happy to allow you. Leave the mixture on your dog, just give him a rub down with a dry towel to get off any excess moisture and repeat once a week.
You can also use this concoction as a final rinse if you have used a commercial dog shampoo. Since baking soda is alkaline, it will neutralize any acids contained in the shampoo, restoring the ph balance of his skin and will effectively get rid of your doggies fleas.
PRO TIP: If your doggie or kitty does have any flea bite sores or any other skin irritations, mix baking soda and a little water to make a paste. Apply to any irritated areas using a ball of cotton wool to help soothe bites and scrapes. The alkaline nature of this powder is great for giving your pet relief from burning or itchy skin.
PRO TIP: If you have a cat and don’t want to use baking soda (some people don’t like the powder going everywhere), consider using coconut oil (read my guide on it). It is great for flea control on cats, works quickly and with repeat use, even gives your kitty cat a lovely, glowing coat. It is also pretty easy to apply and relatively cheap, so go check it out.
Is it possible to use this powder for a flea problem in the yard
What about using baking soda to snuff out fleas in the yard? A mixture of salt and baking soda in equal quantities together with two cups of water can be placed in your garden hose sprayer attachment and sprayed in your garden and onto your lawn.
This will help keep critters at bay, but quite honestly I believe that you need something stronger to blast fleas outside in a hot, humid environment. A better option would be to use a combination of essential oils in your hose sprayer, or using something like beneficial nematodes for flea control (which is my personal preferable, have had some fantastic results and you can learn all about it in that article.).
Just as a little update to this article, I have just written a guide on treating your yard for these pests, and if you are battling with an outdoor problem, I recommend that you take a look at it. I will still answer any questions about using baking soda outside in this article, so please don’t hesitate to ask. I just want to make sure that I keep all my articles up-to-date with the latest content.
In conclusion, baking soda is fantastic choice for flea control!
Who would have thought that such an easily accessible and cheap ingredient that’s usually available in the pantry could be so versatile? I hope you enjoy putting all these different suggestions into action and that you have great success in saving your pets, your home, and yourselves from the curse of fleas with this natural, safe product.
Please share your experiences with me or to ask any questions regarding this product. I always answer comments on my blog (even if there is sometimes a little delay, life gets hectic sometimes), so please don’t hesitate to tell me what you think. Thanks for reading!
Hello! My name is Natasha, and I have been helping people with their insect problems since 2012. I have published a book, worked with many pest control companies, and helped thousands with various infestations on a one-to-one basis. My goal for this blog is to create evidence-based guides that are easy to understand, provide sufficient depth and can be trusted to be very accurate. Please remember that my guides are for informational purposes only, and that you agree to the terms of use when reading content on this website. If you leave a comment, I typically respond within 48 hours.
Hello Natasha- I first want to say “Thank You” for all of your advice, information and help. I have Stage 4 COPD so I need a safe solution to use inside my home for fleas and on my cat. I was wondering if using the baking soda and salt mixture (whether dry shaker or liquid mixture solution) on my floors, furniture and baseboards will cause damage to them. You hear how salt water causes rust and although would be using it sparingly, I am just wondering if you have encountered any issues. Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Hi Rhonda! It is my pleasure, thanks for your kind words! I have not encountered any issues, so you are safe to go ahead with the treatment. Let me know how it goes and if you have any questions, I am here to help!
Can Rock salt be used? Powdered as well? Thanks loved your site… Will be back??
Hi Cynthia! Yes you can, and it does work. The application process is similar to baking soda, but check out my article that specifically covers using salt for killing fleas (under the “fleas” category at the top). Have a good one!
Should you do all the beds too? ?
Hi Jo! I recommend that you just wash the linen and put a little bit around the bed itself. Let me know if you need some additional help!