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What Is the Best Homemade Flea Shampoo?

Black Lab getting a bath in an outdoor blue kiddie pool

You never know what is put into those commercial flea shampoos or how much of one. While the ingredients are listed on the back of the bottles, you still have little or no control over what goes on your dog’s back.

One way to stay in control is to make your own flea shampoo. That way you know nothing harsh will be cleaning your dog’s fur or getting rid of those fleas. To find out how to make your own flea shampoo, just continue to read our article.

It has the information you want to know about.

How effective is flea shampoo? Click here to learn more.

Homemade Flea Bath for Dogs

One reason why you should start to make your own flea bath is that many dog breeds do have sensitive skin. The harsh chemicals in commercial options are too rough for your pet.

The good news is that you do not need to add a lot of ingredients together to make it work. The fewer the ingredients the better your flea bath or shampoo. Or you can make your own bar of soap instead of using liquids.

How you make it is up to you. You just need a few ingredients to make it work. In case your dog has skin issues, you can add some essential oils like chamomile or lavender to fight inflammation or irritated skin.

Some ingredients you can use but you only use a few of these together are:

  • Olive oil
  • Coconut oil
  • Castor oil
  • Jojoba oil
  • Shea butter
  • Cocoa butter
  • Milk
  • Beeswax
  • Lye

Need to know “How To Give a Dog a Flea Bath”? Click here to learn more.

Homemade Flea Shampoo for Puppies

Puppy being washed outdoors

You can add those ingredients listed above and they will do a nice job., However, if you keep the recipe simple, it won’t cost you much to make. The fewer the ingredients the better it is.

In fact, you can make your own homemade flea shampoo with just 2 ingredients and save. All you need is white distilled vinegar and liquid bacterial soap.

Mix equal amounts of both ingredients together and you have your homemade flea shampoo. That is all there is to it. There are no complicated recipes and no need for measuring cups or spoons.

Just make sure you add equal parts of each, and you are done. This should be safe for puppies as well. Then since both ingredients last a long time, you can make up a big batch and have it on hand for months.

This will help you save as you won’t be spending big bucks for commercial flea shampoos.

Best DIY Flea Shampoo for Dogs

Brown dog shaking off water outdoors

Here are several ‘recipes’ you can try. Make small amounts so you can test them out and see which is the best one for your dog and his or her flea infestation.

1. Dry Flea Shampoo Recipe

All you need for this option is 1 cup of baking soda, 1 cup of cornstarch, and 4 drops of lemon or lavender essential oil. Mix them all together and then pour the dry shampoo over your pet.

Make sure to massage the shampoo down to your dog’s skin so they get the full effect of this treatment.

2. Homemade Dog Shampoo with Coconut Oil

The ingredients for this option are: ½ cup liquid Castile soap, ¾ cup distilled water, ¼ cup liquid coconut oil, 5 drops lavender oil, and 5 drops rosemary oil.

Just put all of these ingredients together in a glass bottle and seal the top. Then shake the bottle until all the ingredients are mixed together. After that, wash your dog with this new shampoo.

How To Make Homemade Flea Shampoo

Brown and tan chihuahua in a bathtub with rubber ducks on the edge of the tub

It is not hard to make homemade flea shampoo for dogs. All you need to have is a recipe and all the ingredients listed in that recipe. Then you just follow the instructions and before you know it, you have your own homemade dog flea shampoo.

As you can see from the above recipes, you do not need a lot of ingredients to make an effective shampoo. You can do it without using all those harsh chemicals the dog shampoo brands use.

There are a lot of recipes on the internet that you can try out. One more for you to consider is the Lemon Flea Shampoo. All the ingredients you need are     ½ cup fresh lemon juice, 2 cups warm water, and ½ cup baby shampoo.

Mix the water and lemon juice first, stir and then add the baby shampoo. Keep stirring until mixed. That is it.

Some Final Words

Long haired chihuahua in a bathtub standing on its hind legs with its front paws on the edge of the tub

One of the good things about making your own flea shampoo for your dog is that you stay in control of all the ingredients. With no harsh chemicals included, you can make sure your dog is treated just right.

Plus, you can save money doing it yourself.

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