Christy Lee On Garage Squad
If you have been trying to remove fleas from carpets and other places in your home, chances are that you have come across people recommending the use of flea traps. However, many of them can be fairly costly and since you often need more than one, the total amount that you will need to spend can start adding up fairly quickly. Are these products just another attempt to take your hard earned cash, do they actually work and if so, how can I use the same concept to make 10 of these traps in 10 minutes for only a couple bucks?
Simple Answer, Do Flea Traps Work or Not?
Simply put, flea traps do work but only for removing them in certain areas (e.g. the lounge). They need to be used as part of an overall flea control plan that involves killing flea eggs, putting preventative measures in place to keep them away and treating your dogs for fleas (or your cats, etc.) Just to make things perfectly clear, these traps will not solve any fleas that may be lurking on your pets, they will completely ignore them!
Since there are a few options, let's have a quick look a few different types to see what they offer. After this quick summary, I am going to show you how to make a natural, homemade trap that has helped me solve flea problems in my house a number of times 🙂
- Electric traps – These products have a small housing that contains a sticky mat. This sticky surface holds fleas in place when they land on them. Most of these traps lure their pray by providing warmth and light and thus its best to use them in a dark room to have the best result. Depending on your choice of brand, some even emit an odor that attracts fleas! Do these electric flea traps work? Well despite the fact that you will need to change the mat (that catches the fleas) on a fairly regular basis, this option is fairly hands off and is effective for getting rid of fleas in the house (especially on your carpets). In fact, some products even promise to lure fleas from up to 25-30 feet away!
- Light bulb, water and soap traps – These traps are often homemade and since fleas are attracted to light, we can use this to our advantage. The basic process is to suspend or lean a light source (such as a small bedside lamp or an electric bulb) over a shallow pan or bowl that is full of water and soap. When the adult fleas come and investigate the light, they hop right into the bowl (to get closer to the light) and drown. I have used this method before and while I have found it to be fairly effective, I find that the fleas don't always land in the bowl (unless the electric bulb is extremely close to the water, which of course is fairly dangerous) and while and it's actually the basis for my own brand of trap, I would advise you to rather use my homemade flea trap that we will discuss shortly.
I have found a few other methods on the internet such as honey traps, etc. but other than the ones listed above, I haven't found them very effective but if you have had any good results, please let me know in the comment section at the bottom of this article and I will be sure to test them and list them here if they are decent 🙂 I just don't want you to waste your valuable time and thus only want to recommend what has good results.
How To Make The DIY Flea Trap (Two Simple Steps)
Here is the exact trap that has worked very well for me in the past. It may look too simplistic but I have had great results and I am sure that you will as well! The best part? You can have about 10 of these up and running within about 10 minutes as I suggested earlier! The only expense is the purchase of a couple battery operated tea light candles. You will need one per trap that you make but since you can usually grab about a dozen of these for a couple bucks at your nearest grocery store, this will hardly break the bank. 😉
STEP 1: Fill a couple bowls with water and mix a two tablespoons of dish soap into each one. Dawn dish soap is a great flea killer, and it will get rid of them in minutes. You will need one bowl per flea trap. The best type to use is ones that are fairly wide with low sides as this gives a higher chance to catch a leaping flea. I have had a few readers suggest the use of large plates or pie dishes and I am happy to say that after trying it, this works very well! (Thanks Andrew!)
STEP 2: After mixing the soap into the water, carefully place a single battery operated tea light candle into each one, place it in areas where you are having the highest concentration of fleas. Simply repeat this process for a number of other traps and place them in key areas. This entire process should take you about 60 seconds per trap, making it one the fastest methods for combating fleas!
As previously mentioned, since you want fleas to be drawn to the trap, its best to put them in place before you go to bed at night. Once the lights are out, they will be a shining beacon of death for those pests. After some reader feedback, I have been told that this trap isn't as unique as I thought it was but regardless, it's the one that I have used for the past couple years with excellent results so it has my stamp of approval. Please also remember to empty the water in each trap in the morning to keep things hygienic, you definitely don't want your pet drinking from this water! 😉 Combine this with a decent flea treatment for your pets and a few other flea infestation home remedies and this will help you get rid of a flea problem quickly.
NOTE: I have had some people tell me that you can use tea light candles instead of battery operated LED ones. While this is true, I don't recommend it, as even though it works, it can be a potential fire hazard. You can feel free to try whatever you want though, just know that I don't suggest you do it, especially if you have pets.
Want to Rather Purchase a Trap? Here Is Some Unbiased Advice
Based on research and feedback from a number of sources, I recommend making a choice between the "Victor M230 Flea Trap" and the "Springstar S102 Flea Trap". Both of these use a sticky pad to trap the fleas and the refills are very affordable. These two brands also have great reviews and can usually be found at Walmart, Home Depot and Lowes for under $20. While there are other options, try and find one of those to be sure that you will get results. Recently, I have found a product called "myfleatrap" and if anyone has any experience with it, I would appreciate feedback in the comment section.
Well there you have it! Flea traps definitely work and you can easily create your own from the comfort of your home. If you are still finding fleas around the house, it's likely that your pet is the cause and it will need to be treated separately. I have a few great articles on this subject (such as treating cat fleas) and I encourage you to check them out on this blog. If you have any feedback or would like to ask a couple questions, feel free to leave a comment comment below! Thanks for staying to read my entire article and I look forward to hearing from you!
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.
Source: https://www.thebugsquad.com/fleas/flea-traps/
