When fleas jump onto your bed they’ll make your sleep comfortable and queen inflict flea bites that are painful.
So, you ask, how to keep fleas off me while I sleep? In brief, cover your skin with long-sleeve and clothing (pants and socks), and treat the gear and clothing with 0.5% permethrin-containing flea control products.
- Other precautions you may take include vacuuming the carpets and upholstered furniture, laundering the bedding and clothing
Let’s dig in!
Details: How to Keep Fleas off Me While I Sleep
It can be challenging to control the biting tendencies of fleas and they’re spread in the house especially when they get onto bedding or bed.
1. Wear Long Pants and Sock
Wearing long socks and pants (long trousers), and putting on closed shoes will protect you from flea bites since this pest won’t bite through most fabrics & clothing – the please will be kept off your feet, lower legs, and skin.
Please don’t bite through thin fabrics socks jeans and various clothing.
However, the pets can bite through snug-fitting and thin clothing like yoga pants pantyhose, and tights.
- When the fleas can’t get to your skin directly, they will move under the clothes to start their biting spree.
The bugs love to bite and suck blood from the covered areas of your skin since they will go unnoticed for long.
- When disturbed in their blood-sucking mission, fleas will move under the seams of your clothing and hide there for up to 1 day but will come out to feed periodically.
What place are only able to jump about 7 inches to 8 inches which will be around your knee.
However, once they land on you there b and feed without wondering or excessive movement.
- Therefore flea bites will largely be found on the lower legs, calves, ankles, and feet
But fleas can occasionally be found on the upper body of humans such as the pubic area, waist, and upper legs especially if the person was sitting on the ground.
- Fleas may also bite any exposed skin area on the wrist but it’s unlikely that way they will bite the human scalp or face.
The best clothes that will help you stop flea bites ingrown closed-toe shoes, long pants, and socks.
2. Spraying a Flea Repellent for Humans
Next, you can stop flies from landing on your clothes by spraying some suitable flea repellent such as 0.5% permethrin.
Permethrin will repel a broad range of insects especially when in low concentrations.
The chemical insecticide will be ironed into the fibers of your clothing and thus it will be easy to wash or wet.
- After flea-treating the fabric or clothes using 0.5% permethrin, they will actively repel the bugs (pests and insects) for 6 launderings or about 6 weeks
Further, when sleeping or strolling in outdoor spaces, you can repair the fleas by using some spray that has DEET as the active ingredient.
The flea repellent for humans that I recommend from Amazon include sprays, bracelets, SALLYEANDER No-Bite-Me.
- The natural repellent for flies that you can use includes essential oils that you may apply on your skin – I recommend myrtle oil and thyme oil since they give better results than DEET and permethrin
The 3M Ultrathon flea repellent will repel insects including fleas for about 12 hours and has to be excellent for your long sleeping hours.
- The product has a low DEET level compared to other flea repelling products in the market
- It’s designed for tropics and jungles to repel pests including creepy crawlies and thus it’ll easily prevent insect bites in the house and on your bed while you’re sleeping.
- Also, its usage will be economical since just a little of the 3M Ultrathon will go for a while for you to repel the fleas for more sleep nights.
The Avon Skin-So-Soft is another lotion that’s suitable for repelling fleas from humans. The company has included Picaridin ingredients in the flea repellent to improve its insect repelling ability.
- The Picaridin ingredient will be safer than DEET, it lasts longer and has low odor levels. Also, it won’t irritate the human eyes or skin and doesn’t feel sticky when applied.
3. Wash or Launder Clothes and Bedding for Fleas
I recommend you launder the clothes and bedding in the washing machine at hot temperatures to kill fleas.
A temperature setting of about 140 degrees Fahrenheit in the washing machine will help kill the flea eggs and the adult fleas.
However, you must keep the fabrics and bedding inside the washing machine at that temperature for about 10 minutes.
- Finally, put the bedding and clothes in a dryer at high temperatures to complete the flea-killing mission.
Fleas may also take refuge in your shoes and thus you may carry them around wherever you go.
You should spray some insecticide inside the shoes to kill even the fleas that will jump from your pets into the shoes well they are playing.
- So if you suspect that there are fleas in the bed, you should wash the bedding using hot water and also don’t forget to wash the mattress pads, pillows, blankets, and sheets.
Also, flea-treat the house because some flea eggs and adult fleas might be hiding in carpets or crevices & cracks.
Will the dryer sheets kill or repel fleas? Well, the dryer is an excellent tool to exterminate fleas. Its inner Chambers will have high temperatures that will kill fleas on fabrics, stuffed animals, clothes, and bedding.
- Awesome when the temperature is set at the highest it can also kill flea eggs prior to their hatching.
4. Bathe and Flea-Treat the Pet
If you regularly sleep with your pet such as a cat or dog on your bed it’s important that you bathe and flea-treat the animals well.
Pets that have fleas on their bodies will significantly contribute to the occurrence of fleas on your bed – the bugs might eventually bite you.
- The fleas will hide in the pet’s body, hair, or fur before jumping onto different surfaces in the house and beginning their colony after laying many eggs.
So bathe the pets using soapy and warm water and also use a flea comb to remove those fleas that are entangled in the pet hair.
The soapy water that is warm will drown the flea eggs and kill the adult fleas. So bathe the pets regularly to ensure that the bugs are exterminated in their initial growth stages.
But can I sleep on a bed that has fleas? Well yes, you can because please love warm environments and the bed is such an area.
Father the adult fleas will get comfortable after sucking blood, hide in the mattress, will lay eggs, and drop their body waste – which will be food for their larvae.
- You can also repel flies using some natural days such as rosemary, tea tree, peppermint, eucalyptus, and citronella.
Please also hate Abby smells such as DEET, citrus, clove oil, vinegar, mint, cedar wood, and lemongrass oil.
Will Fleas Live In The Mattress?
Yes, fleas will live in a number of places in the house including the carpeting, cushions, and also in mattresses.
The immature please will feed and live off various posts including pets and humans in the rugs and beds.
Pets can transfer fleas to your furniture and beds if you allow them to sleep there.
- So, it’s important that you find the location of the fleas to fully control the infestation.
It’s not common to find fleas hiding in bedding and beds and living there for a long time.
But the fleas you may find on the bedding and beds maybe there are mainly searching for a blood meal or could have dislodged from your pet.
- So if you don’t change or wash the bedding for a long time the immature flea may grow and continue biting you and your pets.
If you have light-colored sheets on your bed, you may notice some oval-shaped, dark, and tiny spots to significant the presence of fleas in the bed.
Conclusion
You can keep fleas off your body while you’re sleeping by spraying some flea repellent on the skin or clothing and wearing long socks and pants.