Ticks suck; here’s how to get them out of your house
Though there are many beneficial insects in the world that are welcome in your garden, ticks aren’t among them. These uninvited house guests aren’t just annoying—they can be carriers of diseases. Whether you’ve just found a tick in your bedding or you caught one biting your leg, here’s how to get rid of ticks in the house.
Ticks frequently enter your home on pets that come in and out of your house, and they’ll also hitch a ride on humans. If you have an infestation of ticks in your yard, or if you’ve been walking in an overgrown or wooded area, ticks can hop on clothing such as socks or pants. Ticks can also live in outdoor dog houses, woodpiles, overgrown shrubs and hedges, tall grass, leaf piles, and even in storage sheds. And once these bloodsuckers get inside, they make themselves right at home.
With over 90 species of ticks in the United States alone, it’s no surprise that they’re among the most common bugs in your home. The most often spotted are the American Dog Tick (Dermacentor variabilis), the Brown Dog Tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus), the Deer Tick/Blacklegged Tick (Ixodes scapularis), the Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum), and the Winter Tick (Dermacentor albipictus).
Adult ticks have eight legs, usually black or brown bodies, and small heads. Tick larvae only have six legs. Most ticks are no bigger than a pinhead, but they can grow multiple times that size when engorged after feasting on blood.
Wondering if you have ticks or bed bugs? Because both can be found on bedding, it can be tricky to tell them apart. Adult ticks become round and engorged, as large as a pea, whereas engorged bed bugs become more elongated. Additionally, adult bed bugs only have six legs.
There are many ways to try to remove ticks from inside your house, but the most effective method will be to use these methods in conjunction to really destroy any infestation.
Decluttering and cleaning are excellent ways to control indoor tick infestations. Think of it as giving them nowhere to hide. Here are some things you can do:
Pick up items from the floor
Clean out and wipe shelves
Wipe cupboards, especially lower cupboards
Sweep and mop
Vacuum carpets and furniture
Vacuum along baseboards and in corners
Empty vacuum bags into the garbage and take them out immediately
Wash throw blankets and pillows
To get ticks out of your carpets, vacuum. But if you want to be sure you are killing the ticks, there are a couple of other tricks.
Salt dehydrates tick larvae and eggs. So, sprinkle salt on your floor or carpets and let it sit overnight, then vacuum in the morning. Salt may damage some floors or fabrics, so use with caution.
Boric acid can kill tick larvae and can be sprinkled on carpets or area rugs then vacuumed up a few hours later. Boric acid can be toxic to small children and pets (if consumed) so keep them out of the areas until it’s all cleaned up.
As soon as you spot a tick in your house, it’s time to do some serious laundry.
Use hot water to wash any clothing, bedding, throw blankets, etc.
Throw clothes you’ve worn while hiking in the dryer first on high heat for 10 minutes to kill the ticks. Then wash all clothes thoroughly with hot water.
Don’t throw infested clothes in the laundry hamper or on the floor.
It’s always wise to treat your pets with a year-round flea and tick medicine. Many pet owners use either a collar or an oral medication to repel ticks. That being said, if you spot ticks on your pet, remove the ticks and then treat your pet topically.
Use a tick-killing product with ingredients such as fipronil, amitraz, or permethrin. Follow the instructions on the label.
Or use dishwashing liquid and water to scrub down your pet. Let the soapy mix sit on their coat for at least 15 minutes
Rinse and thoroughly dry your pet.
There are several safe, non-toxic pesticides that can be used in the home to treat fleas and ticks on the market. Follow manufacturer instructions, but generally:
Spray tick pesticide in corners, windowsills, and along baseboards.
There’s no 100% guarantee a tick won’t enter your house but there are plenty of little things you can do to help prevent them.
Avoid walking in overgrown areas.
When hiking, wear clothing that covers your skin, such as boots and pants. Tuck your pants into tall socks.
Wear light-colored clothing to spot ticks easier. Put any clothing you’ve hiked in directly into the dryer or washing machine.
Shower or bathe after hiking in known tick areas.
Use tick repellent.
Inspect pets, kids, and yourself before entering the home. Check any hiking gear, too.
Run an air-conditioner or a dehumidifier to reduce the moisture in your home.
Treat your lawn and garden for ticks.
Don’t let your yard get too overgrown.
Keep grass mown short. This keeps the lawn drier and less likely to host ticks.
Most, if not all, of the ways to get rid of ticks in your home will take just a few hours and won’t break the bank. However, if the tick infestation is severe you may want to hire a professional exterminator near you.
An exterminator will have the knowledge and equipment to apply pesticides in your home safely and kill any ticks. If your tick infestation won’t go away despite trying any and all of the DIY methods, it’s probably time to call a local pest control company.
Ticks love conditions where humidity is 90% or higher, so most ticks will die within a few hours to a few days in the average climate-controlled house.
If you find a tick inside crawling in the house, remember not to just step on it or try to crush it. Ticks have hard bodies and it’s hard to kill them this way. Instead, pick it up with toilet paper and flush it. You can also place it in a sealed bag, or kill it by placing it in alcohol.
Ticks are most commonly found behind (or even inside) ears, behind knees, in belly buttons, in the hair, and in your underarms. If you find a tick on your body or on your pet, use a pair of clean tweezers to grab the tick as close to the surface of your skin as possible. If you simply yank or twist it, you can leave the tick’s mouth parts lodged in your skin and will need to remove those carefully with the tweezers.
Once you have removed the tick, flush it down the toilet and wash your skin with rubbing alcohol or soap and water. Know the signs of lyme disease such as fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, and a rash.
