@TallLankey

D-Limonine concentrate works pretty well on fleas. And it's non-toxic to huans and mammals. It kills bugs or arthropods like fleas in somewhat the same way that a can of brake cleaner kills wasps.

It's just purified orange/lemon peel citrus oil basically. It's actually used as a food flavoring even. It's used as "Goo-Gone"-type adhesive remover, and to dissolve stubborn grease and oil around kitchens, where something that's more toxic or harsh isn't wamted.

The D-Limonene citrus oil/solvent melts and dissolves the waxy fats and oils that small arthropods like fleas need to keep their insides in and the outside out, melts their organs, just obliterates them. If you've ever done the "squeeze a piece of orange peel so the spritz coming out kills a bug"-trick, that's what does it.

And you can wash or spray the shit out of anything in the house with it as much as you want, at least from a standpoint of being safe for people & pets. It could dissolve wood finishes, or glue in carpet, so test that first.

Found out about D-Limonene way back in 2000 when we got our first dog from an ad and the address that turned out to be the not-great end of town. He was only about 8 weeks old, and even if we didn't want him, no way he wasn't leaving without us, just to get him out of that shithole.

When the house is boarded up with plywood and the people are climbing in and out of windows, I guess that's what's called "a clue". I handed over $50 and GTFO...

And of course, he was covered in fleas. We just kept him wrapped up as best we could to avoid infesting the car. And some quick research told us that he was too small and young for most flea medicine pesticides. Toxic, seizures, other issues etc. The fancy stuff that's gentler and ruins the eggs and breeding cycle of fleas wasn't out yet, or was brand new, and super expensive. And we didn't have the time to wait for it to work anyway.

A really helpful clerk at a big-box pet store told us about D-Limonine. And a small 8oz bottle is all we'd need. So we gave him a bath outside in warm water using a Rubbermaid tote with D-Limonene. Fleas just floated up like pepper sprinkled in soup, dead.

Then pitched everything in the trash.

It was actually quite impressive I'd helped give dogs a flea bath or dip before, and it's amazing how fast they'll move to the armpits (legpits?) or run for the head, eyes, and ears, where you can't submerge the dog.

Bathing a small puppy, a Dobie-Lab mix with shorter fur etc. was definitely easier to deal with, but in his case, no fleas even made it to try and scramble for higher ground.