de flea control

I heard I can control fleas with diatomaceous earth or what my friend is calling de dust. He says it’s very safe and can be used everywhere. I don’t see it on your site. Does it work?

Diatomaceous earth does work well on fleas. The reason it isn’t more popular is that most people don’t like the white powdery mess that is generally an issue when trying to use it exclusively. That being said, there are some locations where it’s quite effective and it’s “messiness” is not an issue.

First of all, DE can be applied just about anywhere in the home. It’s Ok to use on the floor and places where pets rest. But again, it is quite messy, like baby powder, and can make people sneeze so it’s not really a good option in the home except for a few limited applications. If you read our Flea Control article you’ll notice we have a section which talks about treating hardwood floors and then cement floors. For cement floors, we recommend a dust called Drione. This product is very similar to DE and you can definitely use the DE in place of the Drione.

Outside in the yard the DE is good for dog houses, garages and other places where pets rest or where fleas have been active. But keep in mind it won’t be active once it gets wet so it does have limites regarding it’s residual. In other words, expect to be applying it more frequently than the products we have listed. But it will work on fleas quite well and we have in big bags so it is a good option. You can see it on our Non Toxic Pest Control site under the Dust Section.