First Published: 15 November 2023. Last Updated: 25 March 2026.
How to Get Rid of Fleas in Your House
Treating your home for fleas is key to tackling an infestation and breaking the flea life cycle, but it is often overlooked by pet owners.
This guide explains how to effectively treat your home for fleas with a household flea spray to protect your pet and reduce their chance of reinfestation.
How Long Will Fleas Live in a House Without Pets?
Adult fleas can survive for one to two weeks without a host, depending on when they last fed. Removing the flea's food source might starve adult fleas, but does nothing to tackle immature fleas (eggs, larvae, and pupae) or break the flea life cycle.
The pupal stage is the trickiest to handle, as newly developed adult fleas will only emerge under the right conditions and can lie dormant for up to a year.
Safe in their chemical and vacuum-resistant cocoons, flea pupae can sense changes in temperature, CO2 levels, and vibrations, which they use to indicate a suitable host is present.
How to Get Rid of Fleas in the House Fast
Every stage of the flea life cycle must be targeted to effectively eradicate an infestation, which we detail below:
Treat Your Pet For Fleas
First and foremost, you need to protect your pet. Treat them with a suitable flea treatment that kills on contact to stop flea bites and provide your pet with some relief.
To target immature fleas (eggs and larvae, in particular), choose a cat or dog flea treatment containing insect growth regulators like (S)-methoprene. This active ingredient stops flea eggs from hatching and prevent larvae entering the pupal stage.
Not sure which flea treatment is best? Check out our guides below for recommendations:
Vacuum Your Home
Immature fleas drop off your pet and into the environment. They can often be found in pet beds, soft furnishings, carpets, and even the cracks around skirting boards.
Vacuum your home frequently (once or twice a day) to suck up as many roaming fleas, their eggs and their larvae as possible. Flea eggs and larvae are hard to spot with the naked eye, so vacuum thoroughly for a week or more to make sure you're not missing anywhere.
Make sure to empty your hoover into an outside bin to prevent fleas from getting back inside.
Wash All Your Pet's Bedding
Fleas are temperature-sensitive, and a hot wash at 60°C or higher will kill eggs and larvae, then wash them down the drain.
Think of where your pet spends most of their time. This is where you're likely to find the highest concentration of immature fleas. Think pet beds, sofa cushions, curtains, your own bedding, and carpets.
Make sure to wash everything you can on a hot wash to remove any eggs or larvae that might be hiding there.
Use a Flea Spray For the Home
Flea pupae, as mentioned, are the trickiest to eradicate and pose the greatest threat of reinfestation. All they need to do is emerge and start feeding, and the flea life cycle can start over again.
There are no chemicals or flea preventives that affect pupae due to their cocoon. Instead, you need to treat the environment and then encourage them to emerge.
Household flea sprays like Indorex® Defence Household Flea Spray or the FRONTLINE® HOMEGARD Household Flea Spray are designed for use in the home on carpets, furniture, and soft furnishings that can't be washed, and even in your car. They're not safe to use on or around pets, so make sure you remove them from the room or home while using.
Once the treatment has been left to work (typically an hour), ventilate the room fully and allow your pet back in. The presence of your pet or the vibrations from vacuuming should encourage fleas to emerge from their pupae, where they'll be killed by the home treatment.
How To Spray A House for Fleas
Each flea spray you buy will come with its own instructions for use on the packaging, but here’s a quick run-down of the general way to use a household flea spray:
- Remove your pets from the area you’re treating
- Close all doors and windows in the area you’re treating
- Shake the can and remove the lid
- Use the product as per the manufacturer's instructions
- Leave the room with doors and windows closed to allow the product to dry (30-60 minutes)
- Re-enter the room and open all windows and doors to ventilate the area (60 minutes or more if you can)
- Vacuum the area thoroughly for 7 consecutive days to ensure pupae emerge and are killed by the product
Remember, each product will have its specifications and warnings, so always read the label before applying any pesticide products to your home.
Customers Also Ask
Getting rid of fleas overnight is not easy, but it can be possible with a combined approach. Start by treating all your pets, then treat your home with a household flea spray or treatment. Next, wash all of your pets' bedding and fabrics on sofas and furniture, vacuum every few hours, and empty the vacuum straight into the outside bin.
While this is not guaranteed to kill every flea life stage in your home, it will likely reduce the flea population significantly.
Treating a home for fleas without pets is the same as treating a home with fleas. The only step that's missed is treating your pet.
Make sure to wash all bedding and fabrics that may house fleas, vacuum your home frequently to remove adult fleas, larvae, or eggs in the carpets, and treat your entire home with a household flea spray. Since there are no pets in the home, you can treat every room without worrying about a pet being affected by the treatment.
Why not try the Strikeback™ Super Strength Household Flea Control Kit to eradicate the fleas in your home?
Getting rid of fleas in your home doesn't need to be expensive financially, but may cost you time as it can be tricky to effectively break the lifecycle of fleas.
Household flea sprays cost anywhere from £10-£20, with most lasting from 6-12 months. However, you may need to buy mutliple cans of spray to cover an entire house.
Professional flea fumigation by a pest-control professional can cost between £100-£200 or more depending on your home and the extent of the infestation.
Fleas can be tricky critters, but with some patience and a proactive approach to treating your pets and home, you'll be well on your way to a flea-fre future!
Browse our full range of flea preventatives below, including flea sprays for the home , flea treatments for cats, and flea treatments for dogs.
