Short answer, yes, fleas can live on furniture. But fleas in your home is a more complex issue than just the answer to that simple question. Whether you recently had a pet that was infected with fleas, or you noticed the unwanted guests in your home yourself… getting ahead of this issue is essential to keeping your furniture, your home, your pet, and yourself clean and happy! This article will cover if fleas can live on the furniture in your home and what you can do to deal with the issues if you notice them in your space.
Can Fleas Live on Furniture
Yes, fleas can live on your furniture. There’s good news and bad news associated with this answer.
The Good News: The Good News (for your furniture) is that fleas prefer to live on a warm-blooded host such as a pet or living on a person. So a flea that is found on a couch without any food or water probably will not stay on that couch long term. Without food or water from a host, fleas will die within 5-8 days, so the chances of them staying on your furniture long-term are unlikely. Fleas need a host to survive, and your furniture is not a suitable host for them.
The Bad News: The Bad News (for you and your furniture) is twofold. As mentioned, fleas prefer to stay on a warm-bodied host, and will likely seek out a host. For example, if a pet or a person were to sit on a couch that had a flea on it, that flea would likely attempt to attach itself to that host. The other Bad News is that your furniture is the perfect place for a flea to lay its eggs. According to the University of Florida, female fleas can lay between 20-30 eggs every day (1). As you can probably imagine, a flea laying its eggs in your furniture is a problem that could rapidly spin out of control and cause an infestation if not taken care of properly.
If you are unsure if you have fleas or not, check out our flea identification guide!
How Do Fleas Get Into Your Home?
The most commonly known way for fleas to get into your house is through your pet. Fleas live outdoors and will attach themselves to warm-bodied hosts that pass by them. Any pet that goes outside, if not properly treated with a flea medication/repellant, could potentially attract fleas that would then enter your home. This can also happen with people, although it is less common and usually done as a last resort as fleas prefer animal hosts. But it is definitely possible for fleas to enter your home by attaching to your clothes and hitching a ride into your home!
Since fleas attach themselves to outdoor animals, another way that fleas could get into your home is through any wildlife that may exist around your home. A skunk, possum, or any other mammal creature that spends time around your porch, deck, attic, or crawlspace could potentially carry fleas that could end up within your home.
Fleas seek out hosts by sensing their body heat, hearing their breathing, or smelling them. However, fleas cannot travel very easily or very far as their primary source of movement is through jumping. So if there are fleas in your home, they likely were transported there by a living host that brought them into your space.
Another potential way that fleas could enter your home is through any fabric, material, or plant that you bring from the outside into your space. Bringing your plants inside during a storm or cold night? Make sure you check them out. Found a free gently used couch that someone left out on the street? Make sure you clean it thoroughly before bringing it inside your space.
How Do You Get Rid of Fleas?
If you’ve noticed fleas in your home, on your pet, or even on yourself, the likely first response is to wonder how to get rid of fleas. You can check out our guide for flea removal for a deeper dive into this issue.
However, to summarize some larger ideas.
- Thoroughly Clean Your Carpet or Furniture Fabric: By using a steam cleaner or powerful vacuum you can clean the area and get rid of fleas. Additional to that, you can sprinkle substances like baking soda, lemon juice, and salt on the surfaces prior to cleaning. They will help kill any fleas that are on those fabrics/carpets.
- Use a Human Safe/Pet Safe Flea Spray: These will safely help remove and prevent fleas from pets and areas in your home such as furniture or carpet. Check out our guide on the best flea treatments for yards!
- Clean Pets Bedding: Soak your pets bedding in warm water every 2-3 weeks to keep them clean and flea free. It’s important to do this regularly as fleas could be attracted to the smell of your pet’s bedding. I’d also recommend spraying fleas with vinegar to keep your pets and your pet’s bedding clean from fleas!
- Pet’s With Fleas: For pets that already have fleas, you will need to bathe them and then comb their fur with a flea comb. That will help remove any fleas and flea feces (where fleas store their eggs) from your pet’s skin.
- In the event that you have a flea infestation, you will most likely need to hire a pest control company to help you clean up your space, as this is the best way to fully eradicate fleas from your home.
Final Thoughts On Fleas Living On Furniture In Your Home
If a flea has made it into your home, yes, it can live on your furniture, although it is unlikely that it will stay there. Fleas need a host to survive and your furniture is not a sustainable host for them to live off of. Fleas will be drawn to living things such as pets or humans so if you notice a flea on your furniture, you will definitely want to check yourself and your pet out to investigate the problem further.
One final thing that is important to consider is that there are ways you can prevent fleas from ever entering your space. The best way to avoid fleas is to start with flea prevention. Flea prevention medication for pets and outdoor flea spray for your home are two of the best ways that you can prevent fleas from even being an issue for you and your space.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this article on can fleas live on furniture and what to do if you notice fleas inside your home.
