Fleas but no pets - questions about treatment now that there are no new bites...

ChrisM78

Just under 2 weeks ago, I saw a flea on one of my arms in the main room of my flat (living room/bedroom/kitchen with laminate floor). I'd been very itchy for a few weeks but put it down to detergent - the flea's presence told me otherwise. I moved my bedsheets and saw 3 others. I spoke to a (now retired) pest controller two days later who advised me to hoover up some ant powder, put on some white clothing and stomp around all the rooms in my small flat to see how bad things were, and then vacuum every day. He also recommended putting out dishes with warm soapy water on the floor to get an idea of how many of them there might be (the most I saw were 4).  

With me having no pets, he considered the cause of the issue to be a cat who seemed poorly who belonged to the flat below who I saw under my front door mat (which was odd), but whose entrance door is opposite mine. They left 5 weeks ago, and presumably eggs/fleas found their way into my flat via me stepping on the mat...

Over the last 4 days, no fleas are in the dishes and I've felt more comfortable bearing my legs & arms, with no new bites or sign of fleas. I spoke to the pest controller at the end of last week who felt that I'd probably dodged an infestation, and said to start treatment when there were apparently no more fleas. 

I think I've used up his goodwill re advice so - do I need to treat every room even though I only really saw fleas in the main room? Do I need to move furniture/fridge to spray under? I have a lot of things under my bed (such as musical instruments) - should I move them? If so, I presume I should move them into the other room (which is carpeted) and just leave them there, vacuuming under the bed the next day. The hoovering's been tricky as I have a dodgy left knee but I've done as much as I can. 

Baldytyke88

ChrisM78 said:

With me having no pets, he considered the cause of the issue to be a cat who seemed poorly who belonged to the flat below who I saw under my front door mat (which was odd), but whose entrance door is opposite mine. They left 5 weeks ago, and presumably eggs/fleas found their way into my flat via me stepping on the mat...

If that is correct, there is no food for these fleas, so no problem. But if that is not correct, you risk the problem getting worse.

It's making me itch

Keep hoovering and cleaning, just in case.

marcia_

 I know of someone who got fleas in her clothing on an infected train, was in the local press they sprayed all the trains. Her flat was infested and she had to get someone out to treat her flat. 

Keep_pedalling

It sounds like you are on top of this. Flea larvae feed on organic material (including drooping of adult fleas) so if you keep up the vacuuming for the next few weeks you deprive them of their food they can’t developed into adults. It takes 2-4 weeks to get adult fleas from eggs, so if you keep going for 4 weeks since the last sighting then you should be safe.

twopenny

Powder is better than spray I found when I had pets. 
It can be left in the carpet for a day or so then hovered up. It also deals with those who may have got into the hoover.
Empty contents into a bag and tie it tight.

silvercar

You’ve got to keep treating for a whole life cycle of the flea, to make sure any eggs don’t hatch and continue.

You could try over spraying the room ie more than the recommended dose, leaving it shut for an hour then coming home and ventilating.

Eldi_Dos

Ironing is a important and often overlooked hygiene precaution, especially in situations like like this.

When you have dried your clothes, turn them outside in and give the seams and any crevices a hot iron, this should deal with any creature's or eggs laying dormant, then turn them out and do again. Iron all your clothes including socks and underwear.You may even get clothes that are stored away out and give them a iron again.

I often have a wry smile when I read people saying how little ironing they do to save costs or time but they seem to forget the original use of ironing was to protect clothes and people rather than smartness.