It's absolutely true that detergent in water will quickly drown fleas.  I
used to comb them off the dog & drop them into such a dish.  Easier than
trying to crush the little beggars between finger nails.  //Jack

>
> but i do recall some dim memory about fleas being killed by the dish
> of water with a drop of detergent ... seems the detergent reduced the
> surface tension of the water enough that the fleas couldn't skate on
> it ... so they sank and drowned. but i don't know if that's a fact or
> not ... could be another legend. we just always picked 'em off with
> tweezers and smacked 'em with a hammer. ;)
>
> joel