If your home has become overrun with fleas, TikToker Johnna Mathews (@johnnamathews) shared a method you may want to look into.
In a viral TikTok with over 274,000 views, she shares a flea-killing hack imparted unto her by a Petco employee. However, some doubt the efficacy of the hack. Moreover, others believe the item involved in Mathews’ hack could pose health risks to humans.
Death to the fleas
Mathews’ video begins with her outside, walking and talking into the camera. According to her, she’s got a foolproof way of getting rid of fleas once and for all.
“Listen, if you have, have had, or think you may have in the future, any possible chance of having fleas, you need to listen to this tip,” she says.
The first part of her suggestion: Go overboard with your vacuum cleaner. “One of the key things about cleaning up fleas when you have them and making sure they don’t come back is vacuuming, vacuuming, vacuuming,” she says.
However, she says sucking up the suckers isn’t the primary flea-fighting hack she’s referring to. Vacuuming alone will be enough to kill most fleas. However, more “resilient” ones have been known to survive and live inside dust containers.
@johnnamathews Thank you cashier at Petco for this tip and all of the time you spent helping me! #fleas #cleaningfleas #cleaningtips #fleainfestation #cleaninghacks #tipsandtricks #fleasonthedog ♬ original sound – Johnna Mathews
Collar time
Mathews’ hack involves placing a relatively inexpensive item inside your vacuum cleaner’s dust collector. The secret item in question? A flea collar.
“The tip is that you get one of those flea collars from the grocery store,” she says. “It’s like, 5 bucks nothing fancy. And you put it in your vacuum collecting compartment. Where all the dust gathers, right?”
Moreover, she says folks will need to leave the flea collar inside their vacuum for about a month. Consequently, this will result in a flea genocide, eradicating both living fleas and eggs.
“And it will kill any fleas. Or any of the fleas’ eggs that are in there,” she says. “And it completely wipes out the life cycle.”
She also reminds folks to dump out their vacuum bag after every vacuuming session.
Old reliable
Additionally, others have extolled the benefits of placing flea collars in vacuum cleaners. One Redditor who posted to the r/LifeProTips sub recommended this technique as well. User @sensible_pip said they learned the tip from a veterinarian “after battling a bad flea season.”
Folks on the Dog Forum seemed divided over the potential efficacy of this technique. One commenter cited disparate opinions from experts: One who espoused the method. The second, however, warned against placing flea collars in vacuum bags. That’s because, according to the doctor in the article, toxic fumes could accumulate.
Another commenter also seemed against using flea collars, calling the products “bad news.” Supplementing this argument is research from the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) on flea collars. According to the group, the chemicals in flea collars “are poisoning kids and pets.”
Furthermore, the NRDC states that it has urged Petco and PetSmart to stop selling the products entirely. That’s because they contain TCVP, a pesticide that can impede brain development in young children.
TikTokers sound off
One commenter added to Mathews’ suggestion, writing, “Also dump the vacuum OUTSIDE. They will climb right out the trash and back into your house.”
Another shared a flea scenario that seems like it was lifted straight from a horror story. “I shampooed the carpets of an apartment i was going to move into to take $off the security deposit.. it hatched ALL the eggs. ended up being condemned,” they shared.
Someone else said they’ve heard of other flea collar hacks to keep furniture safe from the bugs. “I had a friend who would buy flea collar and put them under couch cushions as a just in case thing,” they wrote.
However, another TikToker replied that any old cheap flea collar will not do the job. “You always empty after especially if you have fleas and unless those collars kill eggs which most don’t it won’t work!” they claimed. “Those cheap collars do not kill the eggs! You have to get a collar with IGR.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Petco via email and Mathews via TikTok comment.
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