Flea pupae can lay dormant for up to 12 months, and like to hatch when they are nice and warm – such as when it gets to winter and central heating is turned on. 

We recommend a product called ‘Indorex’ to treat your home. One can is enough to treat a 3-bed semi-detached house, so you will not need to use several bottles. It contains ingredients that kill the adult fleas quickly and effectively, and that prevent the flea eggs and larvae from developing into adults, breaking the flea life cycle. 

Indorex provides continuous protection for up to 12 months from the flea larvae and eggs. Indorex can also be used in the control of house dust mites.

Indorex must be used in conjunction with a flea treatment on your pet, as if you just treat the house OR the pet, then you will not completely eradicate the fleas.

• It is advisable to treat one room in the house at a time.

• Remove all pets from this room, including birds and fish tanks. If you have a fish tank that is too heavy/bulky to move, then switch off the pump, cover the tank with two thick blankets. Spray the Indorex as normal, ensuring the  can is held vertically with the nozzle pointing downwards. As the Indorex spray is heavier than air, the harmful chemicals will stay at ground level. Once the room has been ventilated for an hour, remove the blankets and switch the pump back on.

• Hold the container upright at about 50cm from the surfaces to be treated. Spray directly on (and if possible under) carpets and rugs, blankets, tiles, skirting boards, paying particular attention to cracks and crevices.

• A five-second burst will treat approximately 1 square meter.

• Ventilate the room after use. We recommend leaving the room for an hour before going back into it.

• If you are concerned about fleas or larvae in human bedding, then with the mattress, spray the mattress and then cover with two sheets – that should be perfectly safe. Likewise with pillows; two pillowcases on the pillow should be safe enough.

The relevant stages of the flea lifecycle also need to be explained:

• Old, crusty pupae (>4 dd old) are unaffected by any insecticide. These pupae can survive in the house for over 12 months… but, they do hatch out in response to vibration, especially in warm humid weather.

• These newly hatched fleas will be killed within 24 hours by the permethrin (an ingredient in Indorex) for up to 2 months after application. The process can be speeded up by aggressive vacuum cleaning for 7 consecutive days, encouraging the pupae to hatch and these can be physically removed by the vacuum cleaner.

• Pay special attention to areas where dogs/cats lie/sleep. Spray bag of vacuum with Indorex.