In article , snipped-for-privacy@xxx.com says... :) Dear All, :) :) The weather is getting hot. Recently we have noticed there maybe fleas :) in our carpet. We don't want to replace the carpet, because that is :) several thousand dollars. I am wondering if there are some other ways to :) deal with it. :) :) We don't have pets in our home. But the previous owner has one. We :) bought the house and moved in two years ago. :) :) Many thanks. :) :) If you have fleas you have to have a host animal. Two years after the pets are gone is too long for the fleas to continue. If you have fleas inside there will be no mistake, you will see them on you. If you are seeing a small hopping insect, it may be springtails, very common this time of year. They will be greyish rather than jet black and will easily squash with a finger where fleas are hard to smash.
The easiest carpet treatment is to get an aerosol from a pet store, vet or dog groomer that you apply directly to the carpet and it should contain what is called an IGR. The spray directly kills the adult flea and the IGR keeps the eggs from hatching and the larva from developing into the biting adult. There will be a little residual that will kill the new adults that show up from the protected pupa (cocoon) stage. Vacuum as much as you can until you are sick of your vacuum, the vibration helps stimulate the adults to emerge from the cocoon stage and the sooner they emerge the sooner they are gone.
If you are having fleas you need to address the host. It will be a stray or wild animal living in the attic or under the crawl. In these situations you can treat the carpet as much as you want and you will be having fleas for they need to be addressed at the source (attic or crawl) and you will probably need a pro to properly treat those areas.