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If you review our FLEA CONTROL ARTICLE, you'll learn the real key to breaking any flea infestation is to get their eggs. Our ONCE A YEAR FLEA GRANULES do just that. They're plenty safe for use in any home – even where a child or other other "sensitive" person might reside. More importantly, they actually works. Get this applied to any carpeting found in the home and you'll be well on your way to solving your problem.

Additionally, you should deploy 3-4 FLEA TRAPS in the home where flea activity has been noted. They will really help to both collect any foraging fleas as well as alert you to any problem area you may have missed.

Lastly, don't forget the yard or any pets that have access to the home or the yard. As our article explains, it's important to get control of the problem throughout the home but if you leave the yard and the pet untreated, no doubt the problem will persist.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Flea Control Article:  http://www.flea.net/flea-control

Once A Year Flea Granules:  http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page23.html

Flea Traps:  http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page22.html

Thanks!

The once-a-year flea granules, First Defense, will not stain or discolor any rug when used properly. I don't think it could change the color of any carpet unless you pour a whole container out in one location and left it there for several weeks. Maybe then the color would fad a bit but I doubt it; the product is just not that caustic and has never shown any type of bleaching characteristic in all the years we've been selling it. If it did, someone would have said something. I personally have used it on all kinds of carpet and furniture varying in color from light to dark and it's never altered any of the treatment surfaces/material. And when applied as it's supposed to be applied ( as the following clips shows), for sure nothing will happen. As you can see, very little of it actually comes out so it's just not enough to really matter. In fact, once it settles in, you won't even know it's there.

On carpets with little to no nap like low laying oriental rugs, you can still use it but it definitely won't last as long. For obvious reasons, the product does vacuum up rather easily without long carpet fibers to hold it in place. First Defense typically adheres to the long strings of standard carpet fibers and on low profile rugs (carpet lacking long carpet fibers), it just doesn't do a good job of lasting as long as it normally can. If you are treating a situation with no current flea problem, I would stick with the First Defense and use it on these low risk rugs trying to hold off vacuuming them as long as possible. And remember, the vacuum can do a good job of removing all the flea eggs and other debris from oriental rugs and other low nap carpeting. It's the long string, more common wall to wall carpeting that poses the real risk and not these low nap area rugs. So even if you don't treat them with the First Defense, a good vacuuming can do wonders and will keep them flea free.

But if you really want to treat them (for example, if you have an active flea infestation and don't want to take any chances),  go with the Precor 2000 listed in our Flea Control article. It's what we recommend for use on hardwood floors too so you'd have a few locations where you could put it to use anyway.

Lastly, don't forget to install some of the Heated Flea Traps. They do a great job of monitoring local activity and if you have an ongoing flea pupae problem, the traps will really make the problem more tolearble.