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If you live on the edge of the woods or you take your dog on a lot of hikes, fleas may be a concern for you. When an infestation happens, you can use a flea spray to get rid of these pesky insects. To help you choose the proper product for your yard, home, or pet, the This Old House Reviews Team researched the best flea sprays on Amazon. Here are our top five recommendations.
Most Coverage: Ortho Bed Bug, Flea, and Tick Killer
This spray targets bed bugs, fleas, and ticks where they’re hiding around your home. You can apply it around bed frames, along baseboards, and in other affected areas to kill these pests on contact.
Key Features
- Comes in a one-gallon jug with a spray wand
- Kills bed bugs, fleas, and ticks
- Uses synthetic chemicals
What Customers Are Saying
Positive reviews said that this spray was easy to apply, worked quickly, and killed bed bugs effectively. However, unhappy customers had issues getting the wand to continuously and evenly spray the product.
Most Versatile: Adams Flea and Tick Home Spray
If you’re dealing with more than just fleas around your home, this versatile spray may offer the protection you need. In addition to killing fleas, it also eliminates ticks, bed bugs, spiders, mosquitoes, cockroaches, ants, and other common household insects.
Key Features
- Comes in a 24-ounce spray bottle
- Kills bed bugs, fleas, ticks, cockroaches, ants, and more
- Uses synthetic chemicals
What Customers Are Saying
Satisfied customers liked that this spray was fast-acting and had a minimal smell. However, some users claimed that it didn’t always kill fleas upon contact, requiring several layers before it displayed any results.
Best Scent: Wondercide Flea, Tick, and Mosquito Spray
This spray eliminates 100% of fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes using plant-derived oils, including the lemongrass oil that gives it its scent. The fresh aroma makes your home and pet smell pleasant, though other scents are available if lemon isn’t your cup of tea.
Key Features
- Comes in a 32-ounce spray bottle
- Kills fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes
- Uses natural ingredients
What Customers Are Saying
The majority of customers found this spray to have a pleasant scent, kill bugs on contact, and apply easily to pet coats. However, those who gave this product a negative review said that it was ineffective on ticks. Others stated that it made their cat sick.
Best For Yards: Vet’s Best Flea and Tick Yard and Kennel Spray
This spray is ideal for large infestations in your yard, as it kills fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes across 5,000 square feet. Because your pets spend time in your yard, it uses a safe plant-based formula that’s made with peppermint oil.
Key Features
- Comes in a 32-ounce bottle with a hose attachment
- Kills fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes
- Uses natural ingredients
What Customers Are Saying
Customers gave this product positive reviews for being pet- and child-safe, killing a lot of ticks, and having a minty smell. However, dissatisfied customers said that it was difficult to spray and arrived poorly packaged.
Best For Targeted Treatment: Pet Naturals Flea and Tick Spray
With all-natural ingredients, this flea spray is one you can feel safe applying directly to the fur of your dog or cat. It comes in an eight-ounce bottle to treat a few fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, and flies here and there with cinnamon, lemongrass, sesame, and castor oils.
Key Features
- Comes in an eight-ounce spray bottle
- Kills fleas, ticks, flies, and mosquitoes
- Uses natural ingredients
What Customers Are Saying
Customers said that this spray was able to repel insects that had already attached to their pet’s skin. They also liked its easy application and nice smell. However, unhappy customers commonly complained about the spray requiring constant reapplication and the nozzle being difficult to use.
Buyer’s Guide
To determine which flea spray works best for your infestation, there are several elements that you should take into consideration. Below, we explain some of them.
Ingredients
Flea sprays are either made with synthetic chemicals or natural ingredients. Chemical-based sprays may give you pause if you’re using them on your pets or around your children. However, natural sprays may be more expensive and less effective. If you’re using a chemical-based spray, read its ingredients closely to see what it’s made with. Some chemicals, including imidacloprid, fipronil, permethrin, methoprene, and pyriproxyfen, are known to cause health problems for animals.
Versatility
Some sprays work on other pests in addition to fleas. They typically target a range of common household insects, including bed bugs, ticks, mosquitoes, ants, and spiders.
Application
With some flea sprays, you apply them to the area of your home or yard where you have seen fleas. They typically kill the fleas on contact. However, because they’re usually made from harsh chemicals, you have to leave the area clear for a period of time after application. Other sprays work by killing or detaching fleas that live on your pet’s fur, bedding, and collar.
Quantity
From one-gallon jugs to five-ounce bottles, flea sprays come in different quantities. You can determine how much spray you need by considering how often you plan to use it and how large the infestation is. If your pets spend a lot of time outside and you anticipate needing to reapply the flea spray monthly, weekly, or daily, opt for a large container. However, if you have a flea issue in a specific area, you can get just enough spray to treat it.
Results Time Frame
Some flea sprays kill the insects on contact, which can be useful if your dog has picked up a flea and you need it removed right away. However, if you have a large infestation, it may take days or weeks to fully eliminate the problem. Check the description of your flea spray carefully to see how quickly it can produce results for the size of your infestation.
How To Keep Your Pets Protected From Fleas
Flea spray is an essential item for any pet lover whose dog or cat spends a lot of time outdoors and lives in an area that’s highly susceptible to fleas. However, flea spray alone may not be enough to keep your furry friend safe. Here are some other steps you can take to prevent and get rid of fleas.
Keep Your Home and Yard Clean
Changing your linens, vacuuming and mopping your floors, and wiping your counters limit the risk of fleas getting into your home. You should also maintain your yard, as mowing the grass, pruning the bushes, and removing the fallen leaves give fleas fewer places to set up camp.
Check Often
Any time your dog or cat spends a significant amount of time outside or displays unusual behavior, check their fur and skin for ticks right away. The more often you complete a thorough check, the more likely you are to catch the fleas early before they can become a bigger issue.
Consider a Flea Collar
With approval from your vet, a flea collar can help repel and kill fleas. Flea collars should fit firmly around your pet’s neck, touching their skin without constricting their breathing.
Be Careful in Warm Weather
Fleas are more prevalent during the warmer months of the year, so you should be especially careful with your pets during the summer. Try to limit the amount of time your pet spends outdoors in the heat of the day and at dusk and dawn.
Brush Your Pet With a Flea Comb
Brushing your dog or cat with a flea comb can help remove attached fleas and eggs from their fur. Keep a bucket of warm water by your side whenever you use a comb so that you can quickly drown any fleas you come across.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are flea sprays harmful to pets?
Many flea sprays are made with safe plant-based ingredients, but others contain chemicals that can cause allergies or sicknesses. To determine which type of spray you have, read the product description. If your pet displays concerning symptoms, such as skin irritation, sneezing, vomiting, diarrhea, or watery eyes, it may be a result of your flea spray, so wash it off immediately.
Does flea spray stain carpet or upholstery?
There’s a chance that your flea spray could leave a stain on your furniture or carpet depending on the spray’s formula and the surface’s material. However, the product should clearly state on its label which materials it’s safe for.
Do flea sprays also work on ticks?
The majority of flea sprays also kill ticks, but check the product description to make sure.
How can I tell the difference between fleas and bed bugs?
To identify whether a pest is a flea or bed bug, look at its appearance, movement, hiding place, and host choice. Generally, fleas are oval-shaped and prefer pet fur, while bed bugs have a flat, seed-like shape and go more often for human skin.
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We recommend products in each review using an intensive research process, spending hours combing through the best available models on Amazon. For a product to make our list of top picks, it must hold a solid sales record on Amazon, have consistently positive customer reviews, and offer unique features, among other factors. After narrowing down our list of recommendations, we conduct additional research and sometimes in-person testing to ensure that the products meet our standards. Once we conclude the research phase, we craft a well-rounded, user-friendly article that includes our recommended products and additional information to help homeowners like you make the right purchase.
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