Herbal Flea Remedies

We all hate fleas. Even people who don't have four-legged, furry children hate fleas. So we all strive to keep them out of our homes, yards, and off of our precious pets. But usually flea preventive is expensive. And chemicals. And awful. It makes us feel bad, it makes our pets feel bad, it stinks, and what a huge money dump!

Unfortunately, once you get an infestation, there's no turning back and you may have to seek the help of an exterminator or house bombs and Damascus earth... and a groomer with a strong dip. But once you get to the point of where you can control it—there's good news! There are a lot of herbal remedies that can help! And here are just a few of them.

Number 1: The Old Soap and Water Trick

It's a solution that many of us use for a lot of things—such as stink bugs or beetles. It works for fleas, too. Use warm water to dilute some dish washing soap, and put it in a bowl and put it in the corners of the rooms where you have the most flea activity. Avoid using a lavender scented or lemon scented soap! Those are flea deterrent smells. So they would avoid the water.

Number 2: Black Walnut Hull

Make a tincture of black walnut hull and/or grind the hull into a powder.

Add to food in the power form, or as a tincture, add it to their flea baths, and sprinkle the dry powder on their fecal matter once they have expelled the worms that are the flea larvae. Add black walnut hull to a bottle of cheap vodka and let sit in a dark place for a couple of weeks until the hull is dissolved and the vodka is black. (This is also good for topical parasites such as ringworm too!) Black walnut hull acts as a laxative to expel the flea larvae and kill them in the process. Also, it makes the dog unattractive if applied in a spray on their fur (mostly their bellies and armpits though!). If you want to attempt making enough to spray your yards and your house, be advised that this tincture stains! I do not recommend using this as an indoor spray, however if you wanted to add it on top of the herbal spray mixture outside, it shouldn't do anything but help!

Number 3: Herbal Spray

A natural, safe, and good smelling flea repellant! This spray should come out with almost no color, so this one you could probably spray on the inside of your home with nearly no consequences.

1. A sprig of fresh rosemary
2. A whole lemon—thinly sliced
3. Iodized salt
4. 2 liters of water
5. 4 liters of vinegar
6. Witch hazel extract

Bring the water, salt, rosemary, and witch hazel and lemon slices to a boil then add the vinegar. Add to a spray bottle and let sit overnight. The next day, you'll be ready to spray the inside of your home and even directly on your pet safely. Spray it on the animals outside (immediately after you spray with walnut and this spray in your yard). Soak them thoroughly in it if you have not given your dog a bath in the last hour. Take this time to spray on the inside of your home. For best effect, take your dog to a flea groomer to have a flea bath first, then flea bomb your home while they are gone. Also, it is recommended you do put a flea prevention treatment on your animals as well—there are companies that use herbal treatments! This herbal treatment works better as a maintenance, and spraying your house and pet directly after a chemical treatment would definitely be a faster way to cure the infestation, and not as a cure to an infestation. Remember, if you are already infested, you will most likely need to use flea bombs and dips as a first line of combat. Also remember that fleas' breeding cycles are two weeks. So you will need to make sure you are repeating this cycle exactly seven days after the first treatment.

Number 4: Baking Soda and Salt

Cover your floors in baking soda and salt. Take a hard brush and rub it into your carpets. Let sit for a few hours. Then vacuum! (Note: If you have fleas, you should be vacuuming at least twice a day anyway until they are gone!)

Number 5: Plants

What if you want to just take that extra preventive step to making sure the flea population stays under control next year before they get bad? Well! There are a few plants that fleas naturally shy away from:

• Spearmint
• Rosemary
• Lavender
• Penny Royal
• Chrysanthemums

These plants are all flea deterrents! So maybe you might want to start a garden!

I hope this helps, and if anyone has any more natural flea remedies they'd like me to add to this article—send me a message.