Did you catch a flea and now you’re wondering, “Can You Flush a Flea Down the Toilet?”
Should you throw the crumpled up tissue with a flea in it into the trash or in the toilet?
Do fleas swim, jump out of toilets or drown? In this article, we’ll find out if fleas should be flushed down the toilet.
Can You Flush a Flea Down the Toilet?
A flea can survive in water for 24 hours or longer. If you are certain that you have squished a flea in tissue paper, flushing it down the toilet adds a secondary layer of security instead of throwing the paper into the garbage can.
Fleas are resilient in water and can survive for lengthy periods of time. Soapy water makes it impossible for fleas to get out.
Do Fleas Die If You Flush Them?
Flushing fleas that are still alive may not kill them for quite some time. It could take 24 hours or longer for fleas to drown in only water. Flushing them down the toilet may keep fleas alive for up to 7 days.
Drowning or flushing a flea is best done when the flea is confirmed to be dead. Also, if you drown a flea first in soapy water like dish soap mixed with warm water in a bowl, they will suffocate with clogged pores.
The reduced surface tension of the water will also make it impossible for the flea to escape.
How Long Does It Take For a Flea to Drown in Water?
Fleas have survived for centuries as lingering pests because of their resiliency. They are not meant to live underwater, but they can stay in it for up to 7 days. A fully submerged flea with no chance to get out of the water should die or drown in 24 hours.
If the water contains pore clogging dish soap as well, the surfactants in the soap with reduce the surface tension and the flea will drop lower into the water and drown.
Do Fleas Die with Water?
Water alone is not going to kill fleas or their eggs very easily. Flea eggs will survive through blasts of water or being submerged in it. It could take days for the eggs to die this way.
We cannot wash off fleas from our bodies or our pets. These fleas need to be removed or killed. There are flea soaps that will do this for us.
Dish soap in a bowl will attract fleas and they will drown due to the reduced surface tension of the water. The dish soap or plenty of other soaps will help to suffocate fleas much better than water alone.
How Do You Flush out Fleas?
Fleas can be vacuumed and the bag should be tossed out of the home. The further away from your property, the better is it for you to prevent them for returning.
You can empty the bag in a bowl or large container of water mixed with dish soap. This is how fleas will drown.
Add some salt, baking soda or boric acid to surfaces around the home to flush out fleas. The aim is to dry them out with these powdery substances.
Will Fleas Jump Into a Bowl of Water?
Fleas don’t want to jump in bowls of water. Adding dish soap will attract them into the bowl. Plain water won’t cut it.
Also, if a flea happens to fall or jump into plain water, they can survive for 24 hours to 7 days. They can get out and continue to look for a host to feed off.
Adding dish soap into the water will reduce its surface tension and they will sink deeper without any hope of getting out.
Do Fleas Drown in Washing Machine?
Unfortunately, fleas can survive in a washing machine with only water. If you add heat and laundry soap to the washing machine, they will drown and die.
If you are unsure of whether or not you have fleas on your clothes, washing them with hot water and soap will help to get rid of them.
Can You Flush Fleas?
If you want to flush fleas down the toilet, smash, squish and squeeze them to the point that you are sure they are dead.
Fleas are resilient. Tossing a crumpled tissue with a flea in it into the garbage is not a safe as a toilet. Flush them down, but try to make sure that they are dead first.
Fleas can leap out of water and live in water for up to 7 days. We need to drown them and adding soap will help to do so.
Do Fleas Die In Water?
Fleas don’t swim, but they are survivors. They will eventually die in water if there is no hope for them to get out. Kill flea larvae with soapy water.
Fleas like to lay eggs on floors and carpets. They hate citrus smells and will avoid area that contains these odors. Use water mixed lemons or citrus oils. Add baking soda and dish soap. All of these will help to kill fleas.
Conclusion
Killing fleas with water alone is not going to cut it. Capturing a flea and simply flushing it down the toilet doesn’t mean the flea is dead. We need to be certain that our efforts are not going to waste.
We should make sure the flea is dead before flushing it. We can do so by squishing the tissue or drowning the flea inside it into a bowl of dish soap mixed with water. Fleas can float and survive for 24 hours to 7 days when they fall in water.
They cannot survive when the surface tension is reduced due to dish soap that ends up pulling them deep down. Fleas will sink and die this way.
It is safe to flush fleas down the toilet, but we should not take the chance that they could jump out of the toilet bowl before we flush. Squish, smash or dunk the flea in soapy water first to make sure it’s officially dead before we say goodbye to them forever.
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