Comments on: Diatomaceous Earth: A miracle cure for flea control? http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/naturalfleacontrol/diatomaceous-earth-the-a-miracle-cure-for-flea-control/ A comprehensive guide for preventing and getting rid of fleas. Sun, 24 Jul 2011 17:33:29 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Teri http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/naturalfleacontrol/diatomaceous-earth-the-a-miracle-cure-for-flea-control/comment-page-2/#comment-660 Teri Tue, 28 Jun 2011 19:51:39 +0000 http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/?p=373#comment-660 I used DE on my cats and the carpet and did not know about the breathing the dust til after I found this article. I purchased it at a Health food store and they didnt tell me how long to leave it on the carpets or to be careful not to breath the dust. I put it on my cats and dust was flying everywhere. I think I put too much of it on my carpet also. I hope I will not get sick, or my cats eiher. I dont know what to do can you help? I used DE on my cats and the carpet and did not know about the breathing the dust til after I found this article. I purchased it at a Health food store and they didnt tell me how long to leave it on the carpets or to be careful not to breath the dust. I put it on my cats and dust was flying everywhere. I think I put too much of it on my carpet also. I hope I will not get sick, or my cats eiher. I dont know what to do can you help?

]]> By: Jerry http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/naturalfleacontrol/diatomaceous-earth-the-a-miracle-cure-for-flea-control/comment-page-1/#comment-659 Jerry Sun, 26 Jun 2011 14:22:52 +0000 http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/?p=373#comment-659 One sure fire, albeit slow, method we have found is one I got out of Mother Earth News years ago. And that is dish detergent soap in a bowl with a lamp light. Get a low profile bowl like a cereal bowl and put just a couple of drops of dish detergent in it. Fill it with water, letting it suds up a bit. Place the bowl on the floor, carpet etc and then take a desk lamp and shine it over the bowl. What happens is the fleas are attracted to the bright light and jump up to it, falling into the bowl. The detergent breaks up the surface area of the water and the fleas fall to the bottom of the bowl and drown. Works especially good at night. You will be amazed at how many fleas you'll see in the bottom of the bowl in the morning. It took several weeks of vacuuming and bowl setting but it really helped. Try it! One sure fire, albeit slow, method we have found is one I got out of Mother Earth News years ago. And that is dish detergent soap in a bowl with a lamp light.

Get a low profile bowl like a cereal bowl and put just a couple of drops of dish detergent in it. Fill it with water, letting it suds up a bit. Place the bowl on the floor, carpet etc and then take a desk lamp and shine it over the bowl. What happens is the fleas are attracted to the bright light and jump up to it, falling into the bowl. The detergent breaks up the surface area of the water and the fleas fall to the bottom of the bowl and drown. Works especially good at night. You will be amazed at how many fleas you’ll see in the bottom of the bowl in the morning. It took several weeks of vacuuming and bowl setting but it really helped.

Try it!

]]> By: Jo~Jo http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/naturalfleacontrol/diatomaceous-earth-the-a-miracle-cure-for-flea-control/comment-page-1/#comment-655 Jo~Jo Tue, 14 Jun 2011 21:37:05 +0000 http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/?p=373#comment-655 Read these comments w/interest & will not be using DE in either form. Just seems all a bit much to me, w/all the dangers included as well. I had a flea horror show last year & used Zodiak spray & bomb for fleas that worked well. Just follow directions exactly. There is also a spray & powder for you pet & nothing to worry about w/inhaling, etc. For baths... DAWN dishwashing detergent. Soap them up real good for at least 5 full minutes, starting w/the head area & work to the tail. Let it sit on them & you will see a boatload of dead fleas from it. It's what many groomers use, but they don't admit it, b/c they charge you a ton for it, & you can buy it in a store for a buck. Enough to last most of the flea season, or longer. Zodiak smells decent too, so even if you spray at night & want to close your door to sleep, it's fine & vac in the AM. Do it all...furniture, everything.... Repeat as needed, or just bomb the place & use th spray as a back up after. My Vet told me about it. Works! My Vet also said the Frontline has lost it's power b/c the fleas are immune, but it was safer to use than Advantix & other more harsh topicals on your pets. I just got some, as I was using Advantix on my dog for the last few years. Maybe the Frontline will be OK on her, b/c she has not had it on her...we'll see. Meantime, I've still got the Zodiak on hand. Petsmart sells it. Read these comments w/interest & will not be using DE in either form. Just seems all a bit much to me, w/all the dangers included as well. I had a flea horror show last year & used Zodiak spray & bomb for fleas that worked well. Just follow directions exactly. There is also a spray & powder for you pet & nothing to worry about w/inhaling, etc. For baths… DAWN dishwashing detergent. Soap them up real good for at least 5 full minutes, starting w/the head area & work to the tail. Let it sit on them & you will see a boatload of dead fleas from it. It’s what many groomers use, but they don’t admit it, b/c they charge you a ton for it, & you can buy it in a store for a buck. Enough to last most of the flea season, or longer. Zodiak smells decent too, so even if you spray at night & want to close your door to sleep, it’s fine & vac in the AM. Do it all…furniture, everything…. Repeat as needed, or just bomb the place & use th spray as a back up after. My Vet told me about it.
Works!
My Vet also said the Frontline has lost it’s power b/c the fleas are immune, but it was safer to use than Advantix & other more harsh topicals on your pets. I just got some, as I was using Advantix on my dog for the last few years. Maybe the Frontline will be OK on her, b/c she has not had it on her…we’ll see. Meantime, I’ve still got the Zodiak on hand. Petsmart sells it.

]]> By: Pete from AZ http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/naturalfleacontrol/diatomaceous-earth-the-a-miracle-cure-for-flea-control/comment-page-1/#comment-654 Pete from AZ Mon, 13 Jun 2011 08:55:16 +0000 http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/?p=373#comment-654 Fleas don't hatch directly from the flea eggs. They hatch into a larva form, which crawls around in whatever environment they were dropped into, eating the flea dirt which, with the eggs, also falls off the pets. After as little as 9 days, but usually longer, it spins a cocoon. In it, like a butterfly, it morphs into a juvenile flea which can remain dormant in the cocoon for up to a year before emerging, High humidity and 65-80 degrees F speed up the cycle so that it may all happen in about 2 to 3 weeks. Leaving the DE in the carpet, where the future fleas will develop is probably the most important part of a control program. You will continue to have new fleas for a month...no, forever, if you don't kill the developing forms before they become fleas and start the cycle all over again.. A new female flea will start her egg laying 24-48 hours after she gets her first blood meal from a pet. She will lay up to 40 eggs a day continuously until she dies, in 4-6 weeks. That's a lot of eggs from 1 flea. Leave the DE in the carpet and vacuum as usual. It will kill the developing larval forms. If you see any new fleas (they are about half as big as adults) put a new layer of DE down again. Fleas don’t hatch directly from the flea eggs. They hatch into a larva form, which crawls around in whatever environment they were dropped into, eating the flea dirt which, with the eggs, also falls off the pets.

After as little as 9 days, but usually longer, it spins a cocoon. In it, like a butterfly, it morphs into a juvenile flea which can remain dormant in the cocoon for up to a year before emerging,

High humidity and 65-80 degrees F speed up the cycle so that it may all happen in about 2 to 3 weeks.

Leaving the DE in the carpet, where the future fleas will develop is probably the most important part of a control program. You will continue to have new fleas for a month…no, forever, if you don’t kill the developing forms before they become fleas and start the cycle all over again..

A new female flea will start her egg laying 24-48 hours after she gets her first blood meal from a pet. She will lay up to 40 eggs a day continuously until she dies, in 4-6 weeks. That’s a lot of eggs from 1 flea.

Leave the DE in the carpet and vacuum as usual. It will kill the developing larval forms. If you see any new fleas (they are about half as big as adults) put a new layer of DE down again.

]]> By: Louise http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/naturalfleacontrol/diatomaceous-earth-the-a-miracle-cure-for-flea-control/comment-page-1/#comment-651 Louise Thu, 02 Jun 2011 14:56:42 +0000 http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/?p=373#comment-651 I have read in more than one place that you don't want to mix the DE with water because that renders it useless for killing fleas. Another reason not to do that is that fleas thrive in humid environments. Some folks recommend washing the carpets, but damp carpets just give fleas a very happy place to live --and we don't want to do that do we? ;) I have read in more than one place that you don’t want to mix the DE with water because that renders it useless for killing fleas. Another reason not to do that is that fleas thrive in humid environments.

Some folks recommend washing the carpets, but damp carpets just give fleas a very happy place to live –and we don’t want to do that do we? ;)

]]> By: wizarddrummer http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/naturalfleacontrol/diatomaceous-earth-the-a-miracle-cure-for-flea-control/comment-page-1/#comment-646 wizarddrummer Wed, 20 Apr 2011 22:56:41 +0000 http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/?p=373#comment-646 I have used this and it works. My method of spreading it is to use a sprayer. I pour in 1.5 gallons of water, mix in about 1.5 cups of DE; shake rattle and roll and spray the carpets around the sides of the house. This method will give you an even application and keep the dust down while appliying. You need to have actually put down a thicker dry coating around baseboards etc. I have used this and it works.
My method of spreading it is to use a sprayer. I pour in 1.5 gallons of water, mix in about 1.5 cups of DE; shake rattle and roll and spray the carpets around the sides of the house.

This method will give you an even application and keep the dust down while appliying.

You need to have actually put down a thicker dry coating around baseboards etc.

]]> By: jb http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/naturalfleacontrol/diatomaceous-earth-the-a-miracle-cure-for-flea-control/comment-page-1/#comment-272 jb Fri, 03 Dec 2010 09:50:15 +0000 http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/?p=373#comment-272 Brenda, DE is not a chemical that kills the fleas, it is fossilized earth, so it dehydrates the fleas and cuts them. It takes about 24 to 72 hrs for the live fleas to die. If new fleas hatch, then it's the same for them... so it's not an immediate thing. Just be careful not to inhale the dust, same for your pets as it is not good for the nasal passage and lungs. I use a water spritzer bottle in the house after I've applied the DE, and outside, we mix the DE with water and spray it wet... no dust. Also, the food grade is edible and great to detox the pets (of tape worms etc.) and humans. Brenda, DE is not a chemical that kills the fleas, it is fossilized earth, so it dehydrates the fleas and cuts them. It takes about 24 to 72 hrs for the live fleas to die. If new fleas hatch, then it’s the same for them… so it’s not an immediate thing. Just be careful not to inhale the dust, same for your pets as it is not good for the nasal passage and lungs. I use a water spritzer bottle in the house after I’ve applied the DE, and outside, we mix the DE with water and spray it wet… no dust. Also, the food grade is edible and great to detox the pets (of tape worms etc.) and humans.

]]> By: Brenda http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/naturalfleacontrol/diatomaceous-earth-the-a-miracle-cure-for-flea-control/comment-page-1/#comment-246 Brenda Mon, 11 Oct 2010 20:03:22 +0000 http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/?p=373#comment-246 Hello I was hoping for some help my husband and I bought some DE and just put it down this past weekend and seem to have just pissed the fleas off I was wondering if we did it wroug we dusted the yard,the dogs and the whole house the the darn things are still living.HELP!!!!! Hello
I was hoping for some help my husband and I bought some DE and just put it down this past weekend and seem to have just pissed the fleas off I was wondering if we did it wroug we dusted the yard,the dogs and the whole house the the darn things are still living.HELP!!!!!

]]> By: Jack Carrier http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/naturalfleacontrol/diatomaceous-earth-the-a-miracle-cure-for-flea-control/comment-page-1/#comment-242 Jack Carrier Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:34:17 +0000 http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/?p=373#comment-242 Hello: All the questions posted here are addressed in the ebook. If you spend the money for the ebook you'll have a nice guide to refer to. We'd love to hear your comments about the book. Thanks! Jack for Fleacontrolbook.com Hello:

All the questions posted here are addressed in the ebook. If you spend the money for the ebook you’ll have a nice guide to refer to.

We’d love to hear your comments about the book.

Thanks!

Jack for Fleacontrolbook.com

]]> By: mike http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/naturalfleacontrol/diatomaceous-earth-the-a-miracle-cure-for-flea-control/comment-page-1/#comment-241 mike Wed, 29 Sep 2010 01:21:25 +0000 http://www.fleacontrolbook.com/?p=373#comment-241 Hi there I was wondering if you could use pool d.e. I know it is dangerous for pets and humans to inhale. But I have no pets and it will only be used outside where the flea problem is. I have a deck and the fleas are under the deck. I have tried bug sprays that you use with the hose twice before and the fleas still exsist. they are under the deck and in the dirt. I think the pool d.e. would work. thank you for your time. Mike Hi there I was wondering if you could use pool d.e. I know it is dangerous for pets and humans to inhale. But I have no pets and it will only be used outside where the flea problem is. I have a deck and the fleas are under the deck. I have tried bug sprays that you use with the hose twice before and the fleas still exsist. they are under the deck and in the dirt. I think the pool d.e. would work.
thank you for your time. Mike

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