How To Get Rid of Lice On the Cheap, Without Using Pesticides

You can get rid of head lice with common ingredients that are inexpensive, easily obtained or already in your cupboard or medicine cabinet. I will teach you what I worked for me. My children have come home with head-lice several times since they first started school, and each time there has been a sense of panic and defeat. I initially used expensive lice shampoo to take care of the issue, but treating all the heads in the household was an expensive task that required several bottles of toxic goo that did not always work. Lice treatment was a crisis of budget and conscience. I wanted it gone, but I did not want to put pesticide on my children. Extensive research made me freak out that I was creating superbugs while putting my family at risk of chemical reactions and illness.

You will need:

Nit combs. You can find these at the grocery store or pharmacy. There are some very expensive ones, and while they might be wonderful I got by with the two that came in my first lice treatment kit. They are available separately.

Lysterine (or store brand equivalent) Get the big bottle, any flavor will work.

Large jug of white vinegar

Tea tree oil (This is always available on-line, but has become much easier to find at pharmacies, heath food stores and drug stores.)

Coconut oil or a conditioner with coconut in it

A towel and a washcloth for each person being treated.

Plastic grocery bag, plastic wrap or a shower cap

A blowdryer

Step 1: Rinse the head with Lysterine to kill anything alive. Squeeze out the liquid and pile the hair on top of the head. Wrap the hair in a shower cap, plastic grocery bag or plastic wrap and let it sir for an hour. The washcloth is for keeping any liquid from running into the eyes. You will end up with a minty fresh head full of dead bugs. Comb them out. Celebrate your victory, you are almost halfway there.

Step 2: Rinse the hair with vinegar to loosen the nit glue, Cover the hair for another hour, It smells like the knee pads at Magic Mountain, but it will release the nits from the hair shaft so you can comb them out. Make sure to rinse the comb after every stroke, paying special attention to the areas around the neck and behind the ears. The closer the nit is to the scalp the more likely it is to still contain live beasties, since they need the warmth to hatch.

Step 3: Add a teaspoon of tea tree oil to a bottle of your regular shampoo and wash the hair as usual. The tea tree oil acts as a preventative, which you will want to consider if your child got lice from a place they will be going back to, like school. It makes them less of a target the next time.

Step 4: Add about two teaspoons of coconut oil to your regular conditioner and shake it very well to incorporate it through the whole bottle. Condition as normal and rinse it out. No one has to go to bed with goop head. Lice don't like coconut oil either and this is another layer of defense against the next attack.

Step 5: Blow dry completely on highest setting as lice hate heat too. See how we are working to create a head that lice don't want to hang out on? Take THAT lice!

Step 6: Soak all brushes, combs and anything else used in the process in a bowl of boiling hot water with tea tree oil added to it, then blow the items dry with your hair dryer set on the highest setting.

Step 7: Wash all bedding in hot water and dry on high heat. Vacuum the mattress. Any stuffed animals that have been on the bed should be placed in a trash bag and sealed up for at least four days. The bugs need a live host and should die within three days, but after all this, why take chances? Pillows should be put in the drier on high for an hour. If they can't be dried seal them in a bag.

Step 8: Vacuum furniture and car seats. I left my vacuum in the garage for a few days before I brought it back into the house. Whatever happened in the vacuum stayed in the vacuum, though I did wonder what apocalyptic louse story might be going on on the canister as they grew ever more sluggish and confused amidst the cat hair, bread crumbs and Polly Pocket shoes. Too bad for them.

Step 9: Relax. The worst is over. Everyone's hair looks fabulous, the beds are fresh and your house and kids are bug free. Tell your kids you love them and read them a book. Sleep well.

You will want to continue to check your children for the next 10 days to make sure you got everything. Lice can be a terrible thing to deal with, but if you take these steps you can get rid of them without spending a fortune. I encourage you to tell the school if your children come home with lice, as well as any other parents whose children come in regular contact with yours, so they can also take appropriate actions. It might be an uncomfortable thing to admit, but it happens to the best of us. There need be no shame, lice especially love clean hair. Talking about it will help to make sure the cycle stops. Tell other parents what you have learned, or share this article with them so they can also take care of head lice effectively and inexpensively.