Natural Remedies for Lice

Olive Oil, Vinegar and Tea Tree Oil

2 User Reviews
5 star (2) 
  100%

Posted by SoCal (Orange County, CA) on 06/23/2008
★★★★★

Lice: I have found that olive oil, vinegar & tea tree oil works great. I soaked my daughter's head in Olive oil with a shower cap on it for 2 plus hours as soon as we discovered she had lice. We then used the metal nit combs to comb through her hair. You have to be very thorough doing this. It's best to section off areas of the hair. Using magnifying glasses and working in the best light - the outside sun - is the best way to be thorough about getting the nits. After combing through her hair the first time I then soaked her hair in vinegar for an hour or more with a different shower cap on. Then we combed through her hair again - with the tiny metal toothed combs - very very thoroughly. I rinsed the comb often in a bucket so the nits would be dislodged. Go over and over the sections of hair to get those nits and any left over lice. Most people get the lice but aren't thorough enough about getting the nits. The nits are eggs and they will hatch if you don't get rid of them. The whole cycle can start over if you aren't thorough with nit picking. She then shampooed with her regular shampoo that we put tea tree oil in - about 10 drops in a typical bottle of shampoo. We did the same in her conditioner but added twice as much tea tree oil. While the conditioner was in her hair she combed it through to dislodge any loosened nits/eggs. We continue to use the tea tree products and comb it through her hair periodically to ensure she no longer has lice. We have found this method to be better than using the chemicals.


Peppermint Castile Soap

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Chris (Chicago) on 01/18/2016
★★★★★

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Dr Bronners peppermint castile soap for Lice. You have to use the peppermint one though because the peppermint and saponified oils kill the lice. It's used as a natural insecticide in organic gardening.

What you do is you use the Dr Bronners straight undiluted. Apply it generously to dry hair. You do not have to bag it. The soap dries and won't get on your stuff. Even if it does its just soap. Bagging a childs head is a suffocation hazard, I know alot of parents mean well and think it wont happen to their kid but this is more common than you think. So you get a bit of soap on your kids pillow, ITS NOT THAT SERIOUS. Leave the soap in all day or overnight, when you take your kid a bath and rinse it out make sure not to get it in their eyes because the peppermint stings. It's harmless but why make them more uncomfortable. A bunch of dead lice will be falling out of their head after doing the treatment.

Do the UNDILUTED treatment every few days (use your best judgement as you know how bad the infestation is), everyday when you bathe them use the dr bronners diluted as a shampoo and when their hair is dry add coconut oil as a leave in treatment. You can even add peppermint oil to coconut oil but its not necessary. Coconut oil does plenty on its own. You should nit pick but you dont have to. My daughter is autistic and its hard to get her to sit still for it. Also if you miss even one egg and it hatches your efforts were for nothing. Use dr bronners and the coconut oil religously and you will keep killing them as they hatch and youll be lice free before you know it. Use the dr bronners diluted as a shampoo, then use the coconut oil as a leave in treatment. No nit picking necessary. Though if you do a vinegar rinse after shampooing and comb with the nit comb it will help take the eggs out but you can just comb, you dont have to sit there for hours nitpicking. Just comb it through their hair and youll get some eggs out here and there. This is how I rid myself and my daughter of lice without nitpicking through our hair and our family and friends have also has success with the Dr Bronners. I normally notice theyre all gone after 1 or 2 treatments (you might find babies that have hatched after the first treatment). But I keep shampooing for 2 to 4 weeks as a precaution. Washing with Dr bronners regularly and using the coconut oil kills them as they hatch and keeps them from laying more eggs. So even if you are nitpicking and miss some eggs they wont live long enough to mature and lay more. And remember to use the Undiluted treatment every few days as a more heavy duty treatment. Its the most important one.

On another note PLEASE DO NOT USE KEROSENE on your child's head to get rid of lice. All it takes is some static on your childs clothes to light the kerosene and their head on fire. It's very dangerous. I understand lice suck and they are a plague on our children but at the end of the day they are harmless bugs. You don't need to practically douse your childs head (or yours) in gasoline. ITS NOT THAT SERIOUS.


Peppermint Oil and Coconut Conditioner

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Tammy (Bridgeport, New York) on 12/10/2011
★★★★★

I used about 4 drops of peppermint oil used in candy flavorings and coconut conditioner- mix together coat head really well, cover with shower cap for about 30 minutes. The peppermint and coconut oils kill lice on contact and after you rinse it out, the nits comb right out with ease.


Pick Them Out in Sunshine

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Charity (Faithville, Us) on 03/21/2015
★★★★★

I have LOTS of experience with these lice. My daughter got them and did not mention it to me until it was horrific case. We tried tea tree oil. A whole bottle overnight, she had long hair wrapped in a towel. I wouldn't do that again.

Ao over the course of six months . I nit picked out in the sun. If there is one egg left on the hair shaft and it hatches. Then you are back to square one. I also washed her stuff constantly in hot water and bagged it while using stuff that had been in bags. I also had 3 feet of hair and never got it. My other family members never got it either.

For my grand daughter, I used a lighted magnifying glass my friend got lice and I picked her twice in a week between her using tea tree shampoo and she was over them. The combs don't get them all off the shaft you have to pick.


Pure Alcohol, Aka Rubbing Alcohol

2 User Reviews
5 star (2) 
  100%

Posted by Joe (Starkville, Ms) on 12/20/2011
★★★★★

Easy, inexpensive remedy that completely eliminated lice after 3 treatments. Mix equal parts of 91% rubbing alcohol and white vinegar into a spray bottle. Add 1 drop of tea tree oil for every fluid ounce of mixture. 3-4 ounces will be sufficient to treat a head of long hair. Thoroughly wet hair with mixture, and comb out in sections with metal nit comb. After every few strokes, rinse the comb in a container of water to see what is coming out of the hair and to track progress. Wash and condition hair afterwards with coconut based products. Blow dry hair on high heat. Repeat treatment every other day to break the reproduction cycle until lice are gone.


Pure Alcohol, Aka Rubbing Alcohol
Posted by Demina (Athens, Greece) on 12/08/2008
★★★★★

Hello, in Greece in order to deal with lice we wet the hair with a very common disinfectant, a form of pure ethanol, the name here is "pure alcohol", I think the name in UK is "surgical spirit", is the kind of alcohol or ethanol we use for disinfecting hands, in its clearest transparent white form. As this, in many countries, is considered alcohol it might have a high price, so we can used also a mixed an unedible- form of that with glycerine etc - very cheap.

We wet the hair with it, put a towel for 20 min and repeat every day in the beginning for 3 days and then every other day. The lice suffocate and die instantly. They cannot develop resistance to this as even larger insects (cockroaches) also suffocate and die instantly if you spilt ethanol on them.

As the normal use for this is for disinfection and the pure form is used in all alcoholic beverages, well I guess is not very bad to put lets say a very strong vodka in your hair.

EC: surgical spirits = rubbing alcohol. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubbing_alcohol


Rubbing Alcohol

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Rick (Benton, Ar) on 03/23/2011
★★★★★

I got a wicked case of head lice from a hotel in Alexandria, La recently when I went on a job interview. After just 2 days my head was on FIRE!!! I took my cat's flea comb and ran it through my hair, and BINGO, there was one of the little rascals! I dumped about 1/4 of a bottle of household rubbing alcohol on my head, guarding my face and eyes with a towel, and YOWEEEE did it burn! but here I am 10 minutes later (YES 10 MINUTES)! And no burning or itching! Thanks Earth Clinic! I am not sure if it is appropriate to mention my life long cure for athletes foot, ringworm, and exyma, which is Ether based starting fluid????? Can I share that?? 23 years later, and athletes foot won't even come near my zip code!


Rubbing Alcohol, Olive Oil

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Valerie (Germantown, Md) on 10/02/2009
★★★★★

Lice: First you pour rubbing alcohol on your entire head. Cover eyes with towel first. After it dries, pour olive oil on your head and leave on over night. Wash in am.


Salt

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Christina (United States) on 10/14/2019
★★★★★

After seeing OTC products (Vamousse and Licefree) that kill both lice & nits that have an active ingredient of sodium chloride (table salt) since it dehydrates them, I make my own.

Roughly 3/4 table salt and 1/4 liquid dial hand soap (I would assume any liquid, even water would work since the salt is the key ingredient)....just enough liquid to make a spreadable paste out of the salt. I then saturated my daughter's head with it (mine too just to be sure even though a quick self check didn't turn up any lice or nits) and put a shower cap on for four hours.

Then the salt & soap got washed out.

My daughter's school has a "no live lice" policy but not a "no nit" policy so while I wanted to get rid of nits (alive or dead). I slathered our heads with conditioner and combed for a couple hours with a fine-tooth rat tail comb. I'm sure she had lice for at least a couple weeks since I got hundreds of nits out of her hair during that first comb out (none out of mine).

I continued the conditioner / comb out 1 - 2 times a day until I saw no nits come out. It took over a week to get them all out (in that time I never combed out any live lice so that confirmed that in all likelihood the salt mixture had indeed killed the nits as none of them hatched). More than once it was tempting to give her a pixie cut (wouldn't "get rid of them" but would make the comb out process a bit easier in shorter hair than her shoulder-length hair--I have very short hair and my comb out, combing thoroughly in all directions took me under 15 minutes, hers took 1 - 2 hrs-- and she would love the cut for any reason, but I didn't feel confident enough in my hair cutting abilities to do a good cut and I couldn't take her to a salon with nits in her hair, even if they were dead, so I just had to be thankful she didn't have long thick hair to work through).

Since getting rid of our infestation, I've taken preventive measures and added spraying our hair with tea tree oil & water every morning before we leave home / she goes out to play.

So far no new lice.


Selsun Blue, Vinegar, Essential Oils

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by May (Australia) on 07/24/2018
★★★★★

Hair Lice - I found this formula on internet - worked like a charm in 1 application

You require a bottle of Selsun Blue shampoo, any conditioner, vinegar, tea tree & eucalyptus essential oils

  • 50 ml of the bottle of Selsun Shampoo
  • 100 ml of any conditioner
  • 3/4 cup of vinegar
  • 25 drops of Tea Tree plus 25 drops of Eucalyptus essential oils

Mix and shake well in a bottle.

Dampen hair slightly, apply the solution and rub in well as if you are shampooing hair.

wrap in a shower cap & leave on for 1hr if possible.

rinse hair - blow dry hair on heat - go through hair with a fine knot comb.


SPF 30 Sunscreen

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Lesha (Ottawa) on 04/24/2015
★★★★★

Hi all! Have had head lice for three years on and off...crazy, upsetting, and difficult! I have found an answer.I used sunscreen 30 for three hours. I noticed it was greasy and unwelcoming. To let you all know...I have tried all remedies! Okay...so, dry hair and apply 30 sunscreen on the root lines first...apply a lot! Rub in and cover all hair like a helmet. Place shower cap on for three hours. Go to shower tap, bend over and apply a hardy conditioner for hair...rub in and add more...you will feel a waxy effect taking place....wet hair with warm water and comb with small-toothed comb. It will be like taking a wet wax off hair...keep combing. Rinse hair in warm water...not hot! Now you have a seal. Wrap hair for 10 min. in towel. Release hair and blow dry on high. Stop and take a break...on head and upside down...pay attention to crown and back and 2 inches above ears...do again...stop and take a break...the hair will separate in small ribbons....dry more if you can/ Now sit and breath and have a drink...do not wrap hair again...put towel on pillow for sleep. In morning, blow again until hot...and wash hair as usual. Blow dry after or sun dry shaking hair and fingering. I hope this helps friends. Sunscreen 30 and later a hardy conditioner on top.... waxy buildup...comb. Blow hair...break for a bit...and resume/ Please no tears.... this will work!!!!


Tea Tree Oil

6 User Reviews
5 star (6) 
  100%

Posted by Heather (Leicester) on 06/22/2012
★★★★★

Hi, this always works. You need a couple of bottles of tea tree hair conditioner from chemist- or any conditioner if that's not available but tea tree is the best due to it's smell and it being mildly antiseptic. You need one wide tooth comb to get rid of tangles and a couple of the small lice/ nit combs from the chemist in the White colour as these show up the nits so you can see them coming out. Wash hair as normal then towel dry hair til it is no longer dripping and just slightly damp. Then use the conditioner and use say half the bottle on
The whole head of hair. Use the wide tooth comb to help distribute the conditioner and to get rid of the knots and tangles so that when you use the small nit combs it won't hurt!

Next when you are tangle free and there is still plenty of conditioner left, work through the whole of the hair from root to tip with the small nit comb using the thicker end first to remove the bigger nits, they become immobile in the thick conditioner. Every time wipe the comb on tissue paper and you will see what you have removed and flush this away as some will come out live. You need to do the whole head to remove live ones then use the thinner side of the comb to remove the eggs, again wiping each time to ensure you don't transfer back to scalp/ hair. Use extra conditioner if necessary. Then rinse out the conditioner and dry hair. That's it!

Try and do everone in your house on same day and tell anyone you have been in contact with to do the same. Repeat again after a couple of days and then again after 1 week. Then take more vitamin c as I think all that nit biting lowers the immune system! Good luck. This works. Every time my daughters had them we got rid of them in this way. X


Tea Tree Oil
Posted by Heather (Leicester, England) on 04/03/2012
★★★★★

Here's how I always got rid of nits in my daughters hair. Go to the chemist and buy a couple of bottles of tea tree hair conditioner or, failing that peppermint and a couple of White plastic nit combs. Wash your child's hair in shampoo as normal and then towel dry it. Next load the hair up with tea tree conditioner and comb through with a wide tooth comb to ensure no tangles( very important! ) next use the wider part of the nit comb from root to end and wipe on a tissue every time - you will see large adult insects, and little eggs stuck in conditioner on paper, continue right through hair, paying extra attention around ears and back of neck. Then rinse conditioner out as normal. If you found lots of nits then repeat this process next night other wise leave it a couple of days then repeat. This treatment works every time and takes around 30 min depending on thickness and length of hair. Good luck

Replied by Jenny
(Sydney, Australiahi)
04/05/2012
★★★★★

Hi. I agree re the conditioner but would add another step. I put as much conditioner on as possible, covered it with a shower cap and left it for 30 minutes (I did for an hour plus), then combed through. I would also recommend doing it for several days in a row and put clean pillow cases on for sleeping each night. Good luck!


Tea Tree Oil
Posted by alisha (mineral wells, wv) on 09/04/2007
★★★★★

we are a family of 5 and if one of the kids bring home head lice, its costly and not effective. this works. cover scalp in tea tree oil, let sit 10-20 min. covered if possible. it takes only 1 treatment and it works.cost around 5.00 for the whole family. tip is to put some oil in a spray bottle & some water and spray on. can also add small amt to shampoo to use as prevention.


Tea Tree Oil
Posted by Lisa (Cheyene, Wyoming) on 06/09/2007
★★★★★

My daughter used to get lice when she was younger from kids at school. because she had the dish water blonde long hair they seemed to be atracted to, I would spend hours getting them and the eggs out. I used tea tree oil with her shampoo at first once a week, then once a month, then every so often. She never got another outbreak again. ( be sure to just use a couple drops it is very over powering. Hope this helps someone else



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