With the cost of some popular flea treatment and medication productions exceeding $50, eliminating these blood-sucking parasites from your home can be quite expensive. What’s even more troubling is that many of these products require several applications. FrontLine, for instance, only offers 30 days of protection against fleas, at which point it must be reapplied to the pet. Assuming you spend $50 for a box of FrontLine and own just two dogs, you’ll spend $1,200 on flea medicine alone, and that doesn’t factor in the cost of treating your actual home or yard.
Avoid Premium Flea Medications and Products
If you’re on a budget and don’t want to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year on flea treatment products, you should avoid the name-brand medicines. FrontLine is a great product that workers wonders against fleas, but it can place a heavy financial burden on budget-conscious individuals and families. Thankfully, there are other ways to treat and prevent fleas without breaking into your saving’s account.
Vacuum The Floors
This is probably common sense to most people who’ve dealt with flea infestations in the past, but you should keep your floors vacuumed. One study found that vacuuming eliminates up to 95% of fleas inside the home, making it even more effective than expensive flea medicines.
If you’re struggling with a flea infestation in your home, try to get into the habit of vacuuming your floors at least once every other day. Any fleas that happen to make their way into the carpet will get sucked up by the vacuum cleaner. When you are finished vacuuming, double bag the contents and take it outside to your trash can.
White Vinegar
Another inexpensive way to get rid of fleas is to treat your home with filtered white apple cider vinegar. This stuff typically costs about $2 bucks a bottle at the grocery store, which is a fraction of the cost of “premium” flea medication and treatment products.
Start by filling up a spray bottle with half vinegar and half water. Next, go throughout your home and spray it generously in locations with high flea activity, such as the carpet, baseboards, pet bedding, blankets, throw pillows, etc. The pungent odor of vinegar may turn some people away from this technique, but surprisingly the vinegar actually eliminates bad odors. Once it has dried, your home will smell fresh and clean — not to mention there will be fewer fleas inside thanks to vinegar’s highly acidic properties.