How to use wormwood for fleas at home

Wormwood is a type of herbaceous plant belonging to the Asteraceae family. The name of the herb translated from ancient Greek means “healthy,” which indicates that the healing properties of this plant were known many years ago. Wormwood is used in esotericism to cleanse negative energy in the house, to treat certain diseases and expel parasites from the body of animals or humans in folk medicine, to repel harmful insects (both from the fur of pets and from the apartment), and in cooking. Today we invite you to find out whether wormwood helps against fleas in the house?

Where to buy wormwood?

Wormwood can be collected independently during the growth of this herb: in spring, summer and autumn. In what season you need to collect wormwood depends on what part of the plant is needed. For example, in the spring the leaves of a plant are collected, in the summer - the grass, and in the autumn - the roots.

You can also buy wormwood from grandmothers-herbalists, at a pharmacy or a specialty store.

Pros of using wormwood against fleas:

1. Efficiency. Wormwood helps get rid of fleas and other uninvited insects (ants, lice, cockroaches, woodlice).
2. Safety. The herb is safe for pregnant women, nursing mothers and children, as well as animals and their young.
3. Availability. The grass can be collected and prepared independently during three seasons of the year (spring, summer and autumn). You can also buy the herb at a pharmacy or specialty store.
4. Ease of use. Wormwood is effective when used in any form: fresh, dry, in the form of a decoction, tincture or oil.

Does it help?

Wormwood for fleas is deservedly considered one of the most effective remedies among its analogues. After all, even if we go back to antiquity, when this particular herb was used in the fight against evil spirits, not a single representative of humanity doubted its unshakable power. Wormwood helps not only against fleas - the smell of the plant scares rats, ants, flies and midges.

Effect of wormwood on fleas

Wormwood is known as an effective flea repellent. But I wonder how wormwood works on fleas? Not everyone likes the aroma of this fragrant herb, and especially insects like fleas. They don't like him very much. The essential oils contained in wormwood act as a repellent on insects. They contain several acids, such as malic, succinic and tannic components. The aroma of wormwood essential oil spreading in a room forces insects to urgently and irrevocably leave the area away from this smell.

Safety measures when disinfesting with aroma oils

When disinfesting a room from insects, you should follow some safety precautions:

• essential oil product is used only diluted with water;
• An overdose of an aromatic product is not allowed;
• Pets should not be treated with this solution;
• before using the product in an apartment, you should make sure that the selected substance does not cause an allergic reaction in people and pets;
• If children or pregnant women live in the house, you will have to stop using essential oil.

Ways to fight

So, as mentioned above, the aroma of wormwood repels insects.

Freshly cut or recently collected and slightly dried grass has a more pronounced aroma. Nothing fantastic will happen to a flea if it is surrounded by wormwood. The plant does not kill it. However, she will strive to quickly get away from this poisonous smell for her.

Therefore, the first way to use wormwood against fleas is to spread the aroma in the room so that the insects themselves leave it.

Other methods include preparing decoctions and tinctures, aqueous and alcoholic solutions, as well as using an oil extract to remove fleas. Some of these remedies can be bought ready-made, others can be prepared at home.

Wormwood should be used with caution in areas where people are prone to allergic reactions. While the area is being disinfested with wormwood, it is better for allergy sufferers to move to another place.

Decoctions and tinctures

It’s not difficult to prepare a decoction or tincture of wormwood, and using these products is even easier:

• decoction The decoction recipe is simple. To prepare a decoction of wormwood you will need only two ingredients (water and freshly cut wormwood) and no more than a quarter of an hour. To do this, you need to finely chop the grass with a knife or scissors, put it in a saucepan and add two liters of cold water. Then you need to put the pan on the stove and brew it. When the water boils, do not reduce the heat and cook the infusion for another three minutes. Then the pan should be removed from the stove to cool and infuse the broth. In about half an hour, the wormwood decoction will be ready for use. The solution must be filtered through a fine sieve before use, poured into a spray bottle, and sprayed into the room that has been infested by blood-sucking insects. It is advisable to apply the product to those places where the largest number of fleas are concentrated: floors, carpets, corners, baseboards, upholstered furniture. The decoction can also be used when carrying out wet cleaning by adding it to water. It is allowed to treat animal fur with a decoction of wormwood. To do this, they can be sprayed with a decoction or bathed in water with its addition.

Freshly prepared decoction is most effective. Therefore, it is not recommended to prepare wormwood infusion for future use, but to brew it as needed. In addition to the decoction, the tincture helps.

• tincture. Wormwood tincture is also considered a reliable remedy against fleas. It is used to eliminate insects from an animal’s fur, and also as a prophylactic against re-infestation by insects. To prepare the tincture, you need to take dried wormwood (pharmaceutical wormwood is also suitable), which should be ground in a coffee grinder to a powdery state. The powder is poured with vodka or alcohol and placed in a dark glass bottle with a hermetically sealed lid. The proportion of tincture ingredients is 1:6. The tincture should be stored at a temperature not exceeding 16-20 degrees Celsius and shaken periodically. In a week the product will be ready. The tincture must be strained using a fine sieve or gauze, and can be used for its intended purpose. If you do not have time to prepare the tincture, you can buy it at the pharmacy.

Wormwood tincture for fleas is not for use on animal skin. The product should be applied only to the withers and further along the spine to the tail. Make sure that the animal does not lick the tincture off itself for its own safety. Like a decoction, wormwood tincture can be diluted in a small amount of water to wash the floor. So, folk remedies with herbs help us get rid of fleas at home.

It is also known that decoction and tincture of wormwood are effective in the fight not only against fleas, but also against cockroaches and ants.

Wormwood oil for fleas is not the last among the listed remedies. You will learn further about how to prepare it.

Wormwood essential oil

Wormwood is used for fleas and in the form of oil. To prepare wormwood oil, you need to collect the stems of this plant, as well as leaves and inflorescences.

The most suitable season for collecting all these components is mid-to-late summer. The plant must be finely chopped with a knife, compacted tightly into a glass container and filled with any vegetable oil. It is necessary to tightly close the container with a lid and shake well. Place the bottle of oil in a dark and cool place for at least 2 weeks. When 14 days have passed and the mixture turns green, it must be strained through cheesecloth. The product is ready for use. The extract can be poured into saucers or lids and placed in places where harmful insects live, and you can also treat animal hair with oil. Be sure to monitor the animal's reaction to avoid the development of an allergic reaction. It is not advisable to use flea oil on a kitten or puppy; the mother may lick it and get food poisoning. Wormwood essential oil for fleas is most often used for adult animals. It can be applied to the collar.

Fresh wormwood

The easiest way to prevent fleas is to use fresh wormwood. There is nothing fancy about this. To use wormwood against fleas, it is not necessary to prepare a special remedy. Fresh wormwood is even better at repelling fleas than dry wormwood. To do this, the plant should be cut into small pieces and placed in different places in the room: on window sills, near ventilation holes, in the corners of the house. If there is an animal in the house, the grass should be placed near its bedding or bed, as well as next to upholstered furniture. Wormwood can also be placed in small vases in rooms. Just don't pour water into them. This contributes to rapid rotting of the stems. Flea-repellent tufts or wreaths of wormwood need to be periodically replaced with fresh ones. The aroma will repel fleas, and will also disperse existing ones. And you will get two effects in one: the flea herb will help and fill the house with a meadow aroma. Plus, it looks beautiful.

Use of herb

You can get grass in several ways:

• Collect a fresh plant yourself and dry it at home;
• Buy dried leaves and use them to prepare an infusion;
• Buy ready-made infusions and solutions with the required percentage for killing insects, for wet cleaning or for washing animals.

Fresh stems with leaves are suitable for getting rid of various insects from the home. It is necessary to scatter the leaves around the house in their habitats and periodically replace the dried leaves with fresh ones to maintain the effect.

Order an antiparasitic drug directly from the manufacturer

Dried leaves are good for creating an infusion or solution for wet cleaning or bathing pets to treat them for fleas.

Important safety advice:

• Limit children's contact with the plant;
• For chronic allergic diseases such as asthma, atopic dermatitis or a history of anaphylactic reactions, use should begin with a small dose for testing to check the reaction;
• Restrict access for pets who live in the apartment. Wormwood has low toxicity, but can cause poisoning if taken in large doses.

Life cycle of fleas

How to prepare and store wormwood

To have a sufficient supply of healing herbs, it is better to prepare them in large quantities in advance. When dried and crushed, wormwood does not take up much space, but will help you if necessary. More often, people collect wormwood and other medicinal herbs in the summer season. Common wormwood grows in sunny open meadows, which are used as pastures for livestock. It is easy to distinguish wormwood from other plants. It has a light green (slightly bluish leaf color), rich aroma and a peculiar shape. The plant can reach a height of 1.5-2 meters. In late summer, wormwood blooms with small yellow flowers.

Procedure for collecting and preparing wormwood:

1. When collecting grass, it should be grouped into small bunches and tied with thread at the base of the stems.
2. The resulting bunches should be hung in a shaded and well-ventilated place to dry.
3. After drying, the plant can be moved to another place for storage. The temperature in it should not exceed 24 degrees, and it should also be protected from direct sunlight and high humidity.

Storing wormwood in dry whole or crushed form is allowed for 2-3 years. It is advisable not to store wormwood in the form of a decoction for a long time, but in the form of a tincture it can be stored for an unlimited time.

Using a decoction

The advantages of a decoction compared to an infusion are less toxicity and a longer shelf life.

Order an antiparasitic drug directly from the manufacturer

Making a decoction:

• Dilute dry leaves with water in a ratio of 1:20;
• Boil;
• Cook over low heat for 30-40 minutes;
• Cool and strain;
• Treat furniture, floors and walls throughout the apartment.

The decoction does not leave marks on furniture and painted walls. After treatment, a specific odor remains, which soon disappears.

You can even wipe upholstered furniture with the broth. To do this, you need to blot a cloth cloth in it and rub it evenly over the sofas and even pillows. After this, sleeping on the furniture is completely safe.

It is worth mentioning that the effectiveness of such a solution is relative. It is impossible to give a complete guarantee of the death of parasites; it is more often used to prevent their reproduction in an apartment than for total disposal.

Pets have fleas

Of course, prevention of disease is better than cure. Therefore, it is advisable to prevent fleas from infesting your pet. To do this, you need to periodically examine it and also monitor its behavior. If a cat or dog has fleas, then at first you will not notice anything unusual. The pet will behave as usual: periodic scratching, normal sleep and appetite. But when insects begin to actively organize their lives on the animal’s body (reproduce and constantly feed on its blood), it will be difficult not to notice these changes. The pet begins to constantly itch, bite itself in the hope of getting rid of parasites, meow or whine pitifully, eat and sleep poorly. When the situation is completely advanced, the animal may stop sleeping and eating altogether and begin to lose weight. In severe cases, anemia may develop in the animal, leading to death. This is especially dangerous for kittens or puppies.

To avoid this, you need to:

• carefully examine the animal for the presence of fleas on its fur and body. The fur of cats and dogs is dense, so the inspection should be carried out in daylight or use artificial bright lighting;
• bathe your pet in water with a decoction of wormwood;
• replacing and spraying animal bedding with a decoction of wormwood;
• You can apply a little wormwood tincture or oil to the withers;
• You should place small branches of fresh wormwood around your apartment or house or place saucers with the essential oil of the plant. This scares them away.

Such a multi-stage attack will definitely prevent fleas from living a normal life on your territory and near your pet, and will help you get rid of them as quickly as possible.