Table of Contents
Why fleas are so hard to get rid of
Do I need to treat my whole house?
How to get rid of fleas fast
What should I do to stay flea free?
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Can I 100% get rid of fleas?
- By Sarah
-
- April 15, 2026
- 5 MIN READ
Fleas are one of the most stubborn household pests, and they can feel almost impossible to eliminate. You can ultimately get rid of fleas fully but not fast, and certainly not without consistency. Completely eliminating fleas is possible, but it typically takes weeks to months of repeated treatment because of their life cycle. That's the part most people underestimate and it’s exactly why infestations keep coming back.
Why fleas are so hard to get rid of
If you’ve tried everything and fleas keep reappearing, you’re not imagining things. The difficulty comes down to the flea life cycle. Fleas go through four stages, starting off with egg, larvae, pupae and finally adult.
Here’s the problem:
• Only adult fleas are easy to kill
• Eggs and pupae can survive treatments
• New fleas can hatch weeks later
In fact, 95% of fleas live in your environment, not on your pet. That means treating your dog or cat alone won’t solve the problem.
How long does it take to get rid of fleas?
Whether you are pulling your hair out screaming “I’ve done everything… and they just won’t go.”, or have got rid of everything you own because you’re not sure where the fleas are… One thing all flea infestations have in common is that they take multiple weeks to eradicate. Because flea eggs can lie dormant and hatch later, even if you can’t see any fleas hopping around, it doesn’t mean the case is clear.
You can’t kill a flea infestation instantly. Averagely, it can take about four weeks to 3 months to see no more fleas. And this relies on your treating your home as well as your pet. If you’ve got no pets, click here for simple deep cleaning steps to remove fleas in a house without pets.
Mild infestation: 2–3 weeks
Moderate infestation: 4–8 weeks
Severe infestation: 2–3 months
Do I need to treat my whole house?
To be safe, yes. Wherever your pet wanders there could be fleas, but don’t discount areas if your pet doesn’t spend much time there because fleas can hop onto you via your clothes or live in your hair for a short time before jumping off to a new place.
Treating your whole home is a thorough approach. Follow these steps:
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Vacuum daily with a flea infestation. This will remove some of the live fleas but also clean up flea eggs that have been laid in your carpets, floorboards and other dark small spaces.
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Wash EVERYTHING. Make sure to wash your pet’s bedding, your bedding, any rugs, blankets or soft fabrics on a high heat to kill the bugs (60 degrees celsius or more!)
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Spray your home with flea spray for houses. After you’ve cleaned, spray your home with a fast-acting and effective flea spray like Itch Flea House Spray to kill fleas and stop them from coming back. It’s important you allow the flea spray to settle and start killing the fleas, so don’t over spray (this will only make the flea infestation worse).
How to get rid of fleas fast
If you want to truly get rid of fleas, you need to treat your PET, HOME and ENVIRONMENT together… All at once!
Here’s how to do it:
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Treat your pets first
Your pet is the reason your flea problem won’t end. Fleas feed from the blood of your cat and dog to keep breeding. If an adult flea is living on your pet, they can lay up to 50 eggs per day.
To remove fleas, use vet-approved flea treatments. This can be oral, topical, or collars. Use a treatment that targets adult fleas and their eggs to stop infestation, like the Itch Flea Treatment for Dogs and Itch Flea Treatment for Cats.
Bathe your pet with flea shampoo to kill current fleas living on your pet, instantly. This won’t stop the fleas coming back but it helps reduce your pet’s itchiness.
After the bath, use a flea comb on your pet. Slowly brush their fur to remove any fleas - Keep this up throughout treatment to check if the fleas are going away!
Treat every pet in the house at the same time. Fleas will bounce from pet to pet so it’s important that all your furballs are on the same flea medication at the same time.
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Deep clean your home
To get rid of fleas in house fast, you need to:
Vacuum daily (carpets, sofas, cracks)
Wash bedding in HOT water
Steam clean carpets if possible
Vacuuming is critical because it removes eggs and larvae, but can also stimulate pupae to hatch (so you can kill them with flea spray). 🔄 Repeat this constantly during treatment.
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Use flea treatments for your home
The best flea treatments for your home are:
Flea sprays or powders
Foggers (flea bombs)
Professional pest control
The key is to treat all rooms, not just visible areas and focus on carpets, furniture, and spaces your pet roams.
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Don’t skip follow-up treatments
This is where most people fail.
Without a second or third round of flea treatment, your pet becomes unprotected and a place for fleas to live on again. Due to flea eggs hatching in cycles, new fleas appear days or weeks later which means you must repeat your pet’s flea treatment every 4 weeks and respray your home every 10-14 days initially. Remember to continue cleaning throughout this for at least several weeks.
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Treat your garden
Fleas often originate outdoors and get carried inside. So it’s important to target the source. To get rid of fleas in your garden or outdoor space:
Focus on shady, damp areas
Treat places where pets rest
Keep grass short
What kills fleas instantly?
Flea tablets (for pets) can kill adult fleas in hours, like those in the Get Rid Of Fleas Kit which includes Itch Instant tablets that kill adult fleas within the first 4 hours!
But you must break the lifecycle completely to stop a flea infestation 👉 Treat pets and your environment together, then maintain prevention long-term.
Why can’t I get rid of fleas?
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You didn’t treat all pets - Even one untreated animal restarts the cycle.
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You skipped follow-up treatments - Eggs hatch later and the infestation returns.
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You didn’t treat the environment - Remember: most fleas live in carpets and furniture.
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You relied on DIY remedies alone - Many popular fixes (like powders or essential oils) are inconsistent.
Can fleas live without pets?
Yes, and this surprises many people. Fleas can survive in carpets and furniture, and enter your homes via clothing or wildlife. Mostly, fleas will stay dormant until a host appears.
That’s why even pet-free homes can have infestations.
What should I do to stay flea free?
Once you’ve cleared fleas, prevention becomes everything. Fleas are now often a year-round problem, not just seasonal so it’s good to implement these best practices in your life going forwards:• Use regular flea prevention on pets• Vacuum weekly (minimum)• Wash pet bedding frequently• Check pets for fleas routinely
So can you get rid of fleas permanently? You can 100% get rid of fleas, but not overnight.What you should take away:
👉 Consistency beats everything 👉 You must attack every stage of the lifecycle 👉 Expect the process to take time
If you approach it like a one-time fix, fleas will win. If you treat it like a 3 month challenge, you will
Get rid of fleas and stop them from coming back.
Is your home riddled with fleas?
The Itch Flea Eradication Kit is our proven method to eliminate fleas from your pet and your home! It’s got everything you need to get rid of fleas fast with fast, free overnight delivery.
Shop now
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Flea
Treatment Issues
Why is my pet still scratching after applying a flea treatment?
Not all flea treatments are created equal. So it may be the treatment you used hasn’t done the job and you need to use something stronger. Itch Flea Treatment is a vet-strength, double action spot on treatment that not only contains Fipronil but also (unlike lots of other flea treatments), (S) Methoprene. Treatments that also include (S) Methoprene, like Itch Flea Treatment not only target the adult fleas feeding on your pets and kills them dead in 24 hours (and ticks in 48 hours), but also targets flea eggs and larvae, stopping the fast and furious flea life cycle dead in its tracks to stop new fleas developing.
We asked in-house Itch vet, Dr. Zoe Costigan to give us the lowdown on why your cat or dog might still be scratching after applying a flea treatment to your pet. Here's what she had to say:
“It’s fairly normal for there to be a period of hyperactivity amongst the fleas as the active ingredients in a flea treatment take effect and this can cause an increase in your pet scratching. It should settle down after 24 hours. If after 24 hours your pet continues to scratch, there could be other things going on. Your pet could be flea-allergic, it could have a skin infection or a hormone imbalance, or other conditions which can lead to itchiness.”
Flea
Identification
Can an indoor cat get fleas?
While most of us associate fleas with outdoor adventures, but is that always the case? The answer is yes, an indoor cat can get fleas! Fleas are agile little creatures, and even the most pampered indoor kitties are not entirely immune to them. Keep reading to find out how to prevent and treat these pesky invaders.
Flea
Treatment
What to do after applying flea treatment
Fleas are a nasty nuisance, so let’s make sure you kill them for good. Applying preventative treatment to your pet every month ensures any fleas that hop onto your pet are killed quickly. It’s important to stick to some key steps when applying flea treatment to your pet. Here at Itch, we like to call these the House Rules, and they make sure the fleas on your pet will be gone, for good.