Flea Control Secrets – Natural Flea Remedy – Cedar Wood

In any flea control effort, you must remove and treat fleas in the environment (both indoors and outdoors) and on the animal AND these efforts must be done at the same time to be effective. There is a lot of inaccurate information circulating on the internet so I thought I’d go into some of the best natural flea treatment alternatives and one of the best is cedar or cedar wood.

Many alternative flea remedies are actually repellants. This means that they will not actually kill fleas (or insects), but will instead keep them away from pets and the environment. Not so long ago, folk medicine and old-fashioned home remedies used a lot of common sense and products found in the home (or garden) to effectively get rid of fleas.

Growing up, I remember the soothing smell of cedar chests, the fresh scent of cedar chips in the morning dew in the garden, and I was amazed at the number of cabinets made of cedar to repel moths. Now I loved the smell, but the reason cedar was used so often is that cedar wood acts as a great deterrent and repellent to many different types of insects.

In the Middle Ages, fleas spread the bubonic plague, so cedar wood was burned to fumigate streets and houses and eliminate ectoparasites. In more contemporary times, cedarwood oil was officially registered as a pesticide in the United States in 1960. It was approved to repel moths and to be used as a tag (or collar) for pets and a liquid that can be sprayed on bedding. animals.

Cedarwood oils come from trees in the botanical family Cupressaceae (true cedars, junipers, and cypress trees) and in the United States, cedarwood oil is harvested from four different sources:

• Juniperus virginiana (eastern red cedar or Virginia cedar),
• Juniperus ashei or Juniperus mexicana (Texas cedar),
• and Thuja plicata (western red cedar).

However, the Chemical Abstract Service registration number also applies to:

• Chinese cedar oil (Cupressus funebris),
• Kenyan or East African cedarwood oil (Juniperus procea),
• and Moroccan or Atlas cedar oil (Cedrus atlantica).

Since its record, cedar wood is considered an excellent alternative for less toxic flea control in the garden, home, laundry, and around pets. For example, when used in the garden with other biological aids, such as parasitic nematodes, cedar chips can help kill fleas before they spread and enter your home.

Inside the home, many people use cedar shavings inside pet beds. For use on animals, there are commercial cedar pet shampoos, cedar flea repellent sprays for pets (such as LiquidNet), and an entire company (CedarCide) dedicated to creating cedar products to counteract fleas and other insects.

The safest uses are in the environment rather than on animals, unless the product is labeled as safe for pets. There are many home remedy tips for cedar flea, such as:

Cleaning solutions
Add drops of cedar oil to your steam cleaner or floor cleaning solutions so the essence of cedar soaks nicely into your home while adding to other flea control strategies.

Sprays for clothing and fabrics
Add a few drops of cedarwood oil to at least two cups of water and put in a spray bottle and spray on clothing and sheets (or other bedding). You can even add a little to your dryer fabric softener sheets.

Cedar wood blocks, cedar wood hangers and cedar wood sachets
Used in closets and around the home, these products can help keep insects at bay and can be placed almost anywhere.

Finally, when using any aromatic herb or essential oil on pets, always check with your vet, as many natural products can be toxic to pets. Do not forget that since our smell is not as clever as that of our pets, use any aromatic with a little moderation.