Does A Steam Cleaner Kill Fleas? We Answer All Your Questions (And Tell You Which Models To Use)!

Almost every pet owner will have experienced the misery of flea infestation in their home at one time or another. If your pet has started scratching, or if you’ve noticed that you suddenly have red, itchy bites on your body, fleas could very easily be the cause.

Often, by the time you realize that your furry friend is suffering, the parasites have already spread around your home and have laid their eggs in every room. By this stage, it can prove to be incredibly difficult to get rid of them, and all too often you find that you end up enduring weeks, if not months, of irritation while you try to get to grips with the problem.

If you’re going through your own flea infestation nightmare, you’re probably ready to try everything and anything to resolve the problem. While the most common method may be chemical pesticides, there is a safer and easier way to eliminate these irritating pests – using a steam cleaner!

When you use a steam cleaner fleas don’t stand a chance. The vapor that’s produced will neutralize them effectively at every stage of their life cycle, so you can enjoy a pest-free home without having to deal with the expense of hiring contractors or using complicated and potentially toxic chemical treatments.

If you’re keen to find out more about how you can use a steam cleaner to eradicate your home’s flea infestation we tell you everything you need to know about the different kinds of steam cleaner that you can use on fleas and other pests, and how they can even help you to power through your other cleaning projects!

Does Steam Kill Fleas?

The simple answer to “does steam kill fleas” is yes. Using a steam cleaner can effectively wipe out fleas in every stage of their life cycle and in the entire environment, even in carpets and other difficult to reach places like around furniture. A steam cleaner is a much more effective solution to removing debris than a vacuum cleaner, and it can remove the cocoons and larvae that dry vacuuming struggles to eradicate. Steam’s high temperature proves to be lethal to fleas as they are unable to survive in an extreme temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.

Why Use A Steam Cleaner To Kill Fleas?

There are many reasons why a steam cleaner is a great addition to your armory when trying to wipe out a flea infestation in your home. For a start, steam is non-toxic, unlike chemical treatments and pesticides, and it is therefore a safer solution to use around family members, children and pets. Another added advantage is that, after the investment in buying a steam cleaner, the treatment is extremely inexpensive, while using chemical treatments or hiring pest control contractors can prove to be very costly indeed.

What About Vacuuming?

While vacuuming is an important tool on its own to remove fleas from the home environment, it doesn’t always get rid of infestations completely. After steam cleaning, it is very important to carry on vacuuming regularly to get rid of any eggs which fall off your pet in the hours and days following the deep clean.

Rooms in which your pets spend a lot of time will have more fleas and eggs to remove, so taking extra time to vacuum those areas where your pet sleeps, eats and is groomed is essential. Vacuuming under furniture is also important since larvae could be hiding underneath, and cushions and pillows should also be thoroughly vacuumed, including any folds of fabric or crevices. Rugs and hard flooring should also be vacuumed and mopped to remove any pupae, eggs, larvae or even adult fleas and the food that the larvae feed on.

Vacuuming should be carried out on a daily basis since eggs will hatch 2 days after they were laid. In order to ensure that the life cycle has been completely disrupted, the routine should be continued for a minimum of eight weeks since it’s possible that fleas may continue to emerge from your carpets for as long as 2 months after treatment.

Other Steps To Take To Remove An Infestation

As well as steam cleaning floors and vacuuming regularly, there are some other key steps to follow to ensure that your home remains flea-free.

Washing all clothing on a hot wash is important to kill any eggs or adult fleas, and both pet and human bedding should also be thoroughly washed in a washing machine to ensure that the problem will be fully rectified.

Treating Pets For Infestations

While steam cleaning and vacuuming work in tandem to get rid of problem fleas, these measures alone cannot put a permanent end to an infestation problem. The pet must also be treated in order to kill the parasites which are living on its body. Every female flea can lay around 25 eggs every day, so if you don’t give your pet a flea treatment, re-infestation will continue to occur. There are various treatments which pets can be given to remove fleas and prevent them from recurring, including using flea combs, collars, shampoos, tablets or drops.

Choosing A Steam Cleaner

There are many different types of steam cleaner on the market today, but if you need to choose the right steam cleaner to get rid of a troublesome flea infestation in your home, a canister model is the best possible choice. Producing the necessary heat and intensity to kill fleas at every stage of their life cycle, canister steam cleaners are also able to get into difficult to reach places, nooks and crannies much more effectively than a steam mop, ensuring that you can get rid of every single pest in your home. You can check out our comprehensive buying guide to find some of the top rated canister steam cleaners on the market and make an informed decision about which is the right model for you.