How to Make an Effective Homemade Flea Trap, 3 Ways

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Heather Bien is an expert decor writer for The Spruce. She splits her time between Washington, D.C. and Locust Hill, VA, receiving her B.A. from the University of Virginia. Her bylines include Apartment Therapy, MyDomaine, HelloGiggles, StyleBlueprint, The Knot, MindBodyGreen, and The Everygirl.

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Heather Bien

Heather Bien is an expert decor writer for The Spruce. She splits her time between Washington, D.C. and Locust Hill, VA, receiving her B.A. from the University of Virginia. Her bylines include Apartment Therapy, MyDomaine, HelloGiggles, StyleBlueprint, The Knot, MindBodyGreen, and The Everygirl.

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Updated on 08/22/23
How to make a homemade flea trap

The Spruce / Ana Cadena

Project Overview
  • Total Time: 10 - 20 mins
  • Yield: 1 flea trap
  • Skill Level: Beginner
  • Estimated Cost: $15

Spotting a flea on your pet is cause for concern, and it gets even worse when you realize that they've made their way into your furniture, beds, and carpets. Thankfully, making a homemade flea trap is easy and effective, and it can help save you a call to pest control, while saving your pets and your upholstery in the process.

How Do You Know You Have Fleas?

If you have pets, you're probably familiar with the preventative methods to protect your pet and your home from a flea infestation. But that doesn't mean it's always foolproof, particularly during their most active seasons in summer and fall.

Fleas are tiny (just one-eight of an inch in length) and their oval-shaped, dark brown bodies are flat, which lets them easily make their way through an animal's fur. If a pet does fall victim to fleas, which feed on blood, it can cause itching and irritation, which is often the first sign that you have a flea problem.

However, you can find out if they've made their way beyond your pet and onto your carpets and furniture by walking around with a high pair of white socks on. Because fleas are known to jump onto their victims, it won't be long before you'll find these tiny dark brown pests latched on to your white socks, hoping to find a new mammal to feast on.

Tip

Fleas can be easily mixed up with another small pest: the bed bug. If you start discovering bites in the night, the easiest way to tell the difference is whether you have pets. No pets? It might be bed bugs.

Are Fleas Difficult to Get Rid Of?

A flea's life cycle can last months to years, which can make them difficult to get rid of, especially if they've laid eggs throughout your home. The key to treating them is consistency. Once you've found that you have fleas in your home, you will have to continue to take action to make sure they don't get worse. Luckily, these three DIY flea traps will help you continuously work to prevent the flea problem from coming back, without having to hire the help of outside pest control.

What You'll Need

Equipment / Tools

  • Desk lamp
  • Shallow plate
  • Night light
  • Cardboard
  • Shallow bowl

Materials

  • 2 tablespoons dishwashing detergent
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 roll double stick tape
  • 1 cup corn syrup

Instructions

Materials needed to make a DIY flea trap

The Spruce / Ana Cadena

How to Make a Soapy Water Flea Trap

  1. Choose the Right Placement

    Determine where you're seeing the most flea activity—this is where you'll want to set up the trap, making sure it's near an electrical outlet.

    Deciding on placement for a flea trap

    The Spruce / Ana Cadena

  2. Add Water and Dish Soap

    Fill a shallow bowl with water, then add a tablespoon of dish soap.

    Adding dish soap to a shallow bowl of water

    The Spruce / Ana Cadena

  3. Turn on a Desk Lamp

    Place a desk lamp with targeted light directly above the shallow bowl. Turn off all other lights in the room. This is best done at night.

    Turning on a desk lamp above the bowl

    The Spruce / Ana Cadena

  4. Wait for the Fleas to Jump Into the Dish

    Fleas are attracted to the warmth of the light and will try to jump towards it, landing in the soapy water in the process. The dish soap ensures that the fleas won't be able to get out of the water (otherwise they'd bounce off the top because they're so lightweight), and they'll drown.

    Waiting for fleas to jump into the shallow bowl dish

    The Spruce / Ana Cadena

How to Make a Sticky Tape Method

  1. Choose the Right Spot

    Similar to the soapy water method, find a spot where fleas are most active in your home, located near an electrical outlet.

    Choosing a location for the flea trap

    The Spruce / Ana Cadena

  2. Place the Tape on the Cardboard

    Place a piece of cardboard along the ground and cover it with double sided sticky tape.

    Tape on cardboard used as a flea trap

    The Spruce / Ana Cadena

  3. Turn on a Desk Lamp

    Turn on a targeted desk lamp directly above the cardboard. Turn off all other lights in the room.

    Turning on a desk lamp over the cardboard

    The Spruce / Ana Cadena

  4. Wait for the Fleas to Stick

    The fleas will jump towards the warmth of the light at night, landing on the sticky trap, where they won't be able to escape and will meet their demise.

    Waiting for fleas to stick to the taped cardboard trap

    The Spruce / Ana Cadena

Tip

Historically, many of these methods were done using a lit candle rather than a lamp. However, that poses a fire hazard and is not worth the risk. A task lamp, like a desk lamp, allows you to target the light directly on the trap and will provide enough light and warmth to do the trick.

How to Make a Corn Syrup Flea Trap

  1. Choose the Right Spot for the Trap

    Determine where the fleas are most active. Similar to the other two methods, you'll again want to find a spot in a dark room close to an electrical outlet.

    Choosing a spot for a flea trap

    The Spruce / Ana Cadena

  2. Mix Water and Corn Syrup

    Bring equal parts corn syrup and water to a boil over high heat. Turn the heat off and let the mixture cool down completely.

    Heating water and corn syrup in a pot

    The Spruce / Ana Cadena

  3. Put the Mixture Into a Bowl

    Pour the corn syrup and water mixture into a shallow bowl.

    Pouring the corn syrup mixture into a shallow bowl

    The Spruce / Ana Cadena

  4. Trap the Fleas in the Mixture

    Place the bowl directly under a desk lamp. Just like with the other two methods, the fleas will be attracted to the warmth of the light and will jump towards it. They'll land into the sticky corn syrup mixture and won't be able to escape.

    Placing the trap out to catch fleas

    The Spruce / Ana Cadena

Other Flea Trap Tips

All three of these traps will kill fleas, and you'll wake up to a sticky trap or bowl full of dead fleas in the morning. But it's not a one-time operation. You will have to continuously work to trap fleas over weeks and possibly months since their life cycle can be so long and you can't know when all the eggs were laid within your home.

However, you can also run other preventative measures to ensure the problem doesn't get worse. From deep cleaning window sills, vents, and any gaps between the inside and outside of your house to vacuuming thoroughly, bathing your pet regularly, deep cleaning any favorite pet resting areas, and washing your bedding and upholstery on hot or with a steam cleaner, you can put a cleaning routine into place that keeps fleas out of your home.

And, if all else fails and your infestation becomes severe, it can be worth hiring out the job and bringing in a pest control service to address this issue.

How to Make a DIY Wasp Trap