What Kills Fleas On Contact? The #1 Flea Killer [REVEALED]

In this guide, you’ll find out what kills fleas on contact instantly both inside and outside your home.

You’ll learn the risk involved with this instant flea killer and how to use it to overcome the risk.

Plus, you’ll find two more options to kill fleas on contact. These are home remedies to kill fleas on contact and the most effective flea killing sprays.

Keep reading.

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What Kills Fleas On Contact?

Some household products and sprays kill fleas on contact.

You’ll get to know about them in a minute.

But for now, let us reveal a product that you might not be aware of, which is the most lethal flea killer. 

Let’s dive in to know more about it.

Rubbing Alcohol Kills Fleas On Contact

Rubbing alcohol, is a flea killer that kills fleas on contact. 

It also kills ticks, bed bugs, and plant pests like mealybugs, aphids, whiteflies, and scale crawlers. 

So, what is rubbing alcohol?

Rubbing alcohol is made of isopropyl alcohol and water. Pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, cleaners, and many others use it both as a disinfectant and cleaner.

Most of the time, you’ll find rubbing alcohol in two different variants. 

These variants depend on the ratio between isopropyl alcohol and water.

One variant is with 70% isopropyl alcohol and 30% water. The other is 70% plus isopropyl alcohol and less than 30% of water. 

So, which variant kills fleas and other bugs on contact?

Rubbing alcohol with 70% isopropyl alcohol and 30% water is the best flea and bug killer.

Why?

At 70% isopropyl alcohol level, rubbing alcohol has more disinfecting and flea killing capability. 

30% water content, which can also contain denaturants and perfume oils, helps the isopropyl alcohol dissolve slowly, penetrate the shells of the fleas, and kill them.

The disinfecting power of rubbing alcohol drops drastically when the isopropyl alcohol content is more than 85%.

High levels of isopropyl alcohol lower the anti-bacteria and anti-flea killing capability of rubbing alcohol.

Doctors use rubbing alcohol with such high isopropyl alcohol content for purposes like easing nausea after surgery. 

How Does Rubbing Alcohol Kill Fleas And Other Bugs And Bacteria?

Rubbing alcohol is a desiccant.

It dehydrates the fleas by absorbing all the moisture in the fleas’ bodies. 

When fleas come in contact with rubbing alcohol, rubbing alcohol acts as a solvent. It means that it dissolves and eats away the fleas’ outer shell.

Once it breaks the fleas’ exoskeleton, it starts to absorb the moisture inside the flea’s body.

Breakage of the exoskeleton is good enough to kill most of the fleas. 

The high water content in rubbing alcohol acts as a double whammy for the fleas.

When rubbing alcohol gets inside the fleas’ body, it slows down its evaporation and increases the rubbing alcohol’s contact time with the fleas’ organs. 

More contact time means higher absorption of moisture in the flea’s body. 

That causes drying out of the fleas’ body from the inside, which leads to the fleas’ death.

Rubbing alcohol works in the same way on bed bugs, ticks, and bacterias as it works on fleas.

How To Use Rubbing Alcohol To Kill Fleas?

Using rubbing alcohol to kill fleas on contact is a relatively straightforward process. 

All you need is a spritz bottle. 

Then pour the rubbing alcohol in the spritz bottle and spray it on places like bed, carpet, furniture, wooden floors, and on any other areas where you’ve observed fleas.

Fleas come from the yard, garden, or outdoors where there’s thick vegetation. 

In these places, fleas breed and wait to latch onto a host like your pet dog or cat.

So, it would be best to spray the rubbing alcohol on the thick vegetation of your yard and garden to kill hidden fleas. 

Spraying rubbing alcohol on plants is safe. It won’t harm your plants.

It’d kill any plant pests like mealybugs and other pests harming your plants.

Some people advise mixing rubbing alcohol with water before spraying.

We don’t recommend it. Mixing water will increase the water content in the rubbing alcohol and reduce its effectiveness.

If you’re using rubbing alcohol with 70% isopropyl and 30% water, we highly recommend not mixing water with it.

Should You Use Rubbing Alcohol To Kill Fleas On Pets?

Never use rubbing alcohol to kill fleas on your pet dog and cat.

Why?

Rubbing alcohol causes vomiting, disorientation, respiratory disorders, and seizures if pets consume it. 

And when you spray rubbing alcohol to kill in your home, ensure that your pets don’t come in contact with it at least for 24 hours.

Risks Of Using Rubbing Alcohol

Now that you know that rubbing alcohol kills fleas on contact, it’s time to understand the risks of using it.

The main question that many of our readers email us and ask is that if they should use rubbing alcohol often?

The answer is a big NO. You shouldn’t over-rely on rubbing alcohol for fleas and bugs treatment inside your home.

Rubbing alcohol may be a good disinfectant and a flea killer, but repeated usage of it has its risks. 

Repeated exposure to rubbing alcohol can cause skin rash and itching on the skin.

When inhaled, rubbing alcohol can irritate the nose and throat, cause headaches and dizziness.

It’d be best if you don’t rely entirely on rubbing alcohol to kill bugs and fleas inside your home. 

So, what are the alternatives to rubbing alcohol that kill fleas on contact and fast?

The following section covers them all.

Home Remedies To Kill Fleas On Contact

There are four household items that you must be having right now in your home to kill fleas.

#1 – Dish Soap

Dish soap both traps fleas and kills. 

Fill a plate with a generous amount of dish soap. Pour some water on it.

Keep the plate in places where you’ve observed fleas. 

Places like the vicinity of the bed, couch, carpet, pet bed, and furniture are excellent choices to keep it.

To make it most effective, keep the plates during the night.

Dish soap and water act as a glue that makes the fleas stick with the solution. 

The dish soap in the mixture kills the trapped fleas.

For better results, keep a fresh blend of dish soap and water every night.

#2 – Homemade Flea Killer Spray

You can make a homemade flea killer spray with household items and water.

Take half a gallon of white vinegar or apple cider vinegar, a quarter of a gallon of water, 200 ml of lemon juice in a bucket.

Stir the mixture well. 

Add 200 ml of peppermint essential oil into the mixture. And stir it again.

Pour the mixture in a spray bottle and spray it on places where you’ve seen fleas. 

Spraying the mixture directly on the fleas will also fleas on contact. 

Peppermint essential oil has insecticidal properties that repel many types of bugs, including fleas.

Bed bugs, fleas, roaches, and many other home-invading bugs and pests hate the smell of peppermint.

#3 – Mixture Of Baking Soda And Salt

Scattering a mixture of baking soda and salt is a great way to kill fleas on soft furnishings like carpets, rugs, mattresses, and upholsteries.

All you need to do is mix equal amounts of baking soda and salt and scatter the mixture.

Let the mixture settle down for 15-20 minutes. 

Then vacuum clean the areas slowly, without leaving any corners where you’ve scattered the mixture.

Vacuum cleaning will remove the dead bodies of fleas on the surfaces. 

Dispose of the dust bag far away from your home so that any live fleas don’t jump off the trash bin and re-enters your home.

#4 – Diatomaceous Earth

Another effective killer of fleas and bugs is diatomaceous earth. 

Scatter diatomaceous earth on the places where you’ve seen the fleas. 

Then vacuum clean the surfaces. 

Diatomaceous earth penetrates the fleas’ exoskeleton and deprives them of their life-supporting moisture inside their bodies.

You’d find more options in our guide on home products that kill fleas.

Flea Killing Sprays For Home That Kill Fleas On Contact

Do you want some options for good flea killers that kill fleas on contact?

Below are some of our recommendations that do kill fleas on contact and instantly.

Adams Flea And Tick Home Spray

It’s an all-purpose flea killer spray that kills adult fleas, flea larvae and even destroys flea eggs.

Vet’s Best Flea And Tick Spray

It’s a great flea spray for the outdoors. It has peppermint oil and clove extract that kills fleas on contact.

It’s an effective mosquito killer in the yard too. 

Advantage Flea, Tick and Bedbug Carpet and Upholstery Spot Spray

It’s ideal for killing fleas on carpet and furniture, including bed mattresses.

You’ll have to spray it on the fleas and bugs to kill them on contact.

Please don’t forget to read the precautions mentioned on the bottles of these sprays before using them.

Conclusion

In this guide, we’ve revealed what kills on contact. It’s rubbing alcohol.

You’ve also found out why rubbing alcohol is an effective flea killer and the risks that are associated with its repeated usage.

Keeping that in mind, this guide also has some alternatives. 

They’re household items that you can use right now to kill fleas inside your home and yard.

There’s also a list of three sprays that kills fleas and other tiny biting bugs on contact.

Fleas are tiny, and they can easily hide in your bed, leaving behind bite marks and robbing you of your sleep.  

To know more, read about signs of fleas in bed.