Summer vacation is over and the kiddos are back in school to start another great school year! Unfortunately, during the school year, they may come home sick with a cold, the flu, or even strep throat. There is something else that they can possibly come home with…head lice.
Head Lice | Home Remedies You You Can Do At Home
It is very common and 100% treatable! There are various brands of over the counter lice shampoo that can treat it but, they do contain chemicals. No worries! Head lice can also be treated naturally! In this article, I will share 9 effective, all natural home remedies to treat and get rid of head lice.
Let’s take a look at the home remedies I’ll be covering:
- Tea Tree Oil
- Baby Oil
- Diatomaceous Earth (Food Grade)
- Garlic
- Sesame Seed Oil
- Olive Oil
- Listerine Mouthwash
- Mayonnaise
- alt, Vinegar, and Coconut Oil
Let’s get started!
1. Tea Tree Oil
Tea tree essential oil is an effective natural insecticide, making it an effective treatment for head lice.
Remedy:
- Combine 1 teaspoon of tea tree essential oil, 3 tablespoons of coconut oil, and 1 ounce of natural shampoo.
- Gently apply this mixture through your hair.
- Cover your hair with a shower cap and leave on for 30 minutes.
- Remove shower cap and rinse well with hot water.
- After you rinse, comb through hair with a lice comb to remove the dead lice.
**Never apply tea tree oil directly onto your scalp.
2. Baby Oil
Baby oil is known to suffocate head lice, making it an effective treatment for head lice.
Remedy:
- Apply baby oil to your hair.
- Once applied, using a lice comb, comb through your hair to allow the lice to fall from your hair.
- Next, wash your hair with liquid laundry detergent and hot water. (You can also use regular blue dawn dishwashing liquid)
- At bedtime, apply white vinegar to your hair and cover with a shower cap.
- Leave overnight.
- The next morning, wash your hair with regular shampoo and apply conditioner.
Repeat this process for 3-4 consecutive days for best results.
3. Diatomaceous Earth (Food Grade)
It is important that you use food grade diatomaceous earth for this remedy. DE is great for killing insects. DE dries out the outer layer of head lice (and other insects) which dehydrates their bodies, ultimately killing them.
Remedy:
**Be sure that the DE only gets on their hair and scalp. Protecting their neck and shoulder with an old towel or t-shirt helps to keep the DE where it needs to be – on their hair and scalp only. Also, covering your mouth and the child’s mouth with a bandanna during this treatment prevents any dust particles from getting into your mouths.
- Apply food grade DE to hair.
- Gently massage the food grade DE into the hair (you may want to wear plastic gloves during this part)
- Let this sit on the scalp overnight. You may want to loosely cover the scalp with a towel during the night.
- Shampoo the next morning.
- After shampooing, comb hair using a lice comb.
This process can be done once a week for 3 weeks if needed.
4. Garlic
The strong odor of garlic suffocates head lice, eventually killing them.
- Smash (grind) 8-10 cloves of garlic until a paste forms.
- Combine this paste with 2-3 teaspoons of fresh lime juice.
- Apply the mixture generously to the scalp.
- Leave for 30 minutes.
- Next, rinse hair with hot water.
5. Sesame Seed Oil
Sesame seed oil possesses antifungal, antibacterial, and insecticidal properties and when combined with other effective essential oils, it becomes an extremely effective treatment for head lice.
Remedy:
- Combine ¼ cup of sesame seed oil, ⅛ cup of neem oil, ½ teaspoon of eucalyptus oil, ½ teaspoon of rosemary oil, 1 teaspoon of tea tree oil, and 10 drops of lavender oil.
- Rinse hair with apple cider vinegar.
- Allow hair to dry completely.
- Next, apply the essential oil mixture to hair and scalp.
- Cover with a shower cap and leave on overnight.
- In the morning, remove the shower cap and comb thoroughly with a lice comb.
- Next, shampoo hair as normal.
This remedy can be repeated once a day for up to 2 weeks, as needed.
6. Olive Oil
Olive oil will smother head lice, ultimately killing them.
Remedy:
- At bed time, generously apply olive oil to your hair.
- Cover hair with a shower cap and leave overnight.
- In the morning, comb out the dead lice with a lice comb.
- Next, wash your hair with a natural shampoo, preferably a shampoo containing tea tree oil for best results.
Repeat remedy as needed.
7. Listerine Mouthwash
Listerine mouthwash is an antiseptic solution which means it’s great for killing oral germs. It can also kill head lice!
Remedy:
- Soak your hair and scalp with Listerine mouthwash and cover with a shower cap.
- Leave on for 20 minutes.
- Next, rinse thoroughly with warm water.
- After rinsing, comb through your hair with a lice comb to remove dead lice.
**Not recommended for colored, highlighted, or permed hair.
8. Mayonnaise
The heavy oil content of mayonnaise suffocates head lice, ultimately killing them.
Remedy:
- Apply a generous amount of regular mayonnaise to your hair and scalp.
- Cover hair with a shower cap and leave on overnight.
- In the morning, shampoo your hair.
- Next, after shampooing, comb through hair to remove the dead lice.
This remedy can be done daily for up to 1 week.
9. Salt, Vinegar, and Coconut Oil
This combination will dehydrate head lice, ultimately kill them.
Remedy:
- Combine ¼ cup of Himalayan salt and ¼ cup of warm apple cider vinegar, making sure that the salt completely dissolves.
- Spray this mixture onto hair and scalp until completely wet.
- Allow your hair to dry completely then add a coating of coconut oil to your hair and scalp.
- Cover hair with a shower cap and leave on for 8 hours (or overnight).
- Next, wash your hair with a natural shampoo.
- Comb through your hair with a lice comb to remove any dead lice.
To avoid extreme dehydration of your hair, it is recommended to only do this remedy no more than once a week.
PowerHealthYT shows a video on removing lice with a simple, safe and natural remedy:
Do you have a home remedy for head lice that you would like to share? Share with us in the comment section below.
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Lala Land says
I’ve not used any of the remedies listed, although they are great ideas. About 18 years ago my twins got head lice and I tried the Nix or one of those remedies. It worked the first time I used it, but the next time (about five years later), it failed to kill the lice. I tried to think of anything that would kill lice without killing my kids, and I came up with petroleum jelly. It worked great, even loosening the nits so they were easier to comb out than with the shampoo. It took hours, but I got out every nit. I figured if hand cleaner worked on auto grease, it should work on the petroleum jelly, and I was right – it dissolved the jelly. I don’t know if it was the cleaner or the jelly or the combo, but my daughter’s hair was very soft (it was usually like wiry straw). I finished with a regular shampoo, and we had no more problems. My sister used mayonnaise, and it worked, but she refused to send her daughters to school because she wasn’t going to send her kids anywhere “smelling like a salad” lol. I’ll definitely try one of the other remedies if my grandson who lives with me gets lice (God forbid).