The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Kerosene
Posted by Sandy (Il, Usa) on 09/02/2020
★★★★★
Growing up in India, whenever I had lice my mom applied kerosene and it worked well. Kerosene also helps any pain in the leg and knees. I always used to massag my grandma's legs with kerosene. It works.
Mouthwash
Posted by Notyouneek (Tacoma, Wa) on 12/22/2018
★★★★★
I'm a grandma of 3 and have dealt with the lice plague numerous times. I've spent thousands of dollars over the decades on lice treatments. Then I discovered the mouthwash cure. Generic is fine. It works like a charm. I make sure that the eyes are covered, spray full strength amber mouthwash to soak the hair and cover the head with a plastic bag (using a hair tie to secure in the back). After two hours I rinse the hair and hten go through with a high quality metal nitcomb. Bugs are dead and nits are easier to remove. Best most effective treatment I've found!! I've done tons of research on the cons of this treatment and the best they can come up with is that its flammable, the kids might suffocate on the bag, and that the alchol may absorb into the scalp. Some of the perscriptions shampoos can cause brain damage if used too often. No open flames or smoking while treatment is in progress and watch them so they don't try to eat the bag. BE SURE not to let it get into the eyes.
Kerosene
Posted by Nona (British Columbia) on 05/26/2022
The Kerosene was indeed used medicinally in the past for various ailments....so was Turpentine, which I still use today. It works for cleansing the body, food poisoning, and the good ol' seasonal deworming routine. I also mix it it in with coconut oil and it's the goto for skin bites, bee stings, rashes, head lice, etc....the kids ask for it. The biggest problem is finding the pure products as you don't want to purchase from Home Depot. I get Georgia Pine on Amazon....read the reviews...as I'm not alone!
Cedarwood Oil
Posted by Chargir (Cleveland, Ohio) on 01/21/2012
★★★★★
I used cedarwood oil for lice. It is a essential oil that can be bought from most soap making supply companies, I got mine from a local soap and candle supply company. Keep in mind. It must be The real essential oil to work well. The cedarwood oil kills the lice, and dissolves the nit glue easily and also kills the eggs. It is totally non-toxic. I coated my granddaughter's head, left it on for 30 min. (Test a nit egg to make sure it releases easily) Worked like a charm, after fighting for a month with over the counter treatments. This put an end to the cycle.
Cedarwood Oil
Posted by Kelly Elmore (Kingston, Ok) on 08/26/2010
★★★★★
Cedar oil it awesome for lice, bed bugs, fleas and on and on. It's completely natural, smells good and absolutely no side effects, of course unless you're allergic to Cedar oil. It's amazing. I use on the yard, the outside of house, the inside of my house, for fire ants, flies, gnats, mosquitos, in my dogs ears, on my dogs and cats. It's GREAT!!!! No ill effects on anyone or any animal in our home.
Coconut Oil, Tea Tree Oil
Posted by Cyndy (Fayetteville, Arkansas) on 01/09/2009
★★★★★
After staying at a friend's home, while I was out of town, my daughter was infested with head lice. By the time I got home, the infestation was huge. She had scratched/clawed her head until it was bleeding and there was blood and skin matted into her hair. I got home at night and the only products I had on hand to treat were coconut and tea tree oil. I poured the entire contents of the tea tree oil onto her head and worked it through her hair until saturated. Then I got my coconut oil and did the same with it. I wrapped her head in a towel and put her to bed. She slept for several hours. When she awoke I went through her hair with a comb and my fingers pulling out bugs. I pulled out more than 60 head lice before I gave up. Most of them were completely dead and the rest were almost dead. We washed her hair with a strong dish soap and applied a good conditioner. After only that one treatment she was completely bug free. I went through her hair with a comb to remove any nits and they combed out very easily. next time your child is infested, try this first, before the harmful chemicals sold on store shelves.
Mayonnaise
Posted by Haley (Ann Arbor, Michigan) on 12/15/2008
★★★★★
I got lice after taking care of my friends sisters children, and she failed to inform me her little girl had lice. A week later my scalp was so ITCHY! I heard from my friends mother who lives on a farm to apply MAYONNAISE to your hair! So I went to the refrigerator, grabbed the already opened jar of MAYONNAISE, dipped my hand into the pungent condiment, and applied it to my scalp. I soaked my hair and if you've ever dyed your hair you'll know how to apply it. Do the scalp first and work to the ends, make sure to saturate your hair and if you have a hair net wear that. I kept it in for about ten minutes and washed it out. The lice were dead!
A year later my little sister got lice, and we used the same remedy. Except hers came back because with the split visitation her father didn't wash the bedding at she contracted the bug again. But it works! Using it a second time for her did the trick! Best of luck!
Kerosene
Posted by Ana (New Zealand) on 05/11/2024
★★★★★
Persistent lice is very hard to get rid of and some over-the-shelf products don't actually work. I remembered the elderly people talking about using kerosene for hair lice. I googled it and it said to use white kerosene (lamp oil). I filled up a spray bottle with white kerosene and sprayed my hair, being careful not to get any in my eyes. I left it on for 2 hours, then put on eye googles so none got into my eyes in the shower. I used shampoo to wash it off. Then I used a fine-tooth lice comb to remove lice. This worked more effectively than anything else. I started on Friday night and by Monday morning, I was free of lice. Thanks kerosene!
Vaseline
Posted by GertJr (Madison) on 06/08/2021
Back in the day, moms would slather mayonnaise on the children's hair if they had lice. The oiliness smothered the lice as well as kind of 'sticking' them so they couldn't jump off onto someone else. It worked. (They also covered hair with kerosene to kill lice, but that's not a great idea. And they would shave heads if it was bad.)
Selsun Blue, Vinegar, Essential Oils
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.
Neem Oil
Posted by Stuman (Oceanside, Ca) on 12/30/2016
★★★★★
About 15 years ago my daughter had lice. We first tried combing my daughter's hair for days - it worked but the lice and nits were still popping up. We didn't want to use Rid with Piperonyl butoxide (4%) and Pyrethrum extract.
We read about undiluted Neem oil and it worked great with one application. Cover the entire affected area with the undiluted neem and leave it in the hair for 15 minutes or longer. Shampoo the oil out of the hair. The undiluted oil smells nutty, my daughter found it offensive. It will take time and several washes to remove the odor.
15 years ago there weren't many vendors selling neem oil. Now there are many health products with neem. Some say neem shampoo will prevent re-infestation after the undiluted treatment.
Multiple Remedies
Posted by Nante (Germany) on 09/27/2014
★★★★★
Want to get rid of lice in once? It requires a lot of work but pays off.
1. Wash your hair with tea tree shampoo or if you have none add tea tree oil to shampoo
2. Put as much coconut oil in your hair as you can fathom. wait 2 hours
3. Comb, comb, comb with a fine lice/flea comb (i used my pets flea comb after disinfecting). This is really important. divide your hair up in partitions to make sure you have had each section. After each stroke dip the comb in hot water with vinegar and brush with an old toothbrush. Keep combing until the comb is clean.
4. Wash again with tea tree. use also vinegar with your wash to kill eggs.
5. Apply new coconut oil and leave it in for two days. keep combing every day.
6. Sleep with a shower cap. put a towel on your pillow that your replace every day.
7. Meanwhile: take out all of your bedlinnens, all coats, scarfs and clothes you have been wearing. Put them in separate closed bags. Spray vinegar in the bags. Wash them as soon as you can. keep them closed and in quarantaine until you are ready to wash.
8. Add baking soda and/or vinegar to your laundry to kill lice & eggs.
9. Wear clean clothes every day for 3-5 days depending on the severity of your infestation. add the dirty clothes to the separate, closed bags. keep the laundry separate for a week.
10. Steam clean your home, mattrasses, pillows, blankets, laundry basket and clean your whole house thoroughly. don't forget the wardrobe, cloth hangers! Replace the vacuum bag. if you don't have a steam cleaner use vinegar everywhere and let it soak for a while.
I know this is a lot but it will get you rid of the lice in ONCE!
Cetaphil
Posted by Alice (San Juan, Tx) on 07/17/2013
★★★★★
So, the kids went to the arcade and brought home a dose of head lice. We tried the cetaphil face lotion--apply liberally, put on shower cap, sleep. When you get up in the morning, rinse it out. All dead. NIts came out really easy. I think we're done, except for a week or so of checking just in case. Good to know just before school starts and it makes the rounds.
Multiple Remedies
Posted by Punky Ramone (Quezon City, Philippines) on 09/20/2012
★★★★★
Im 42 years old american been living all over the pacific and asia including philippines from 2004-2005. Since my wife is filipina. Left went to saipan then to u.s. 2008 back and forth between u.s and philippines til 2011 where we started business until july 2012 we never had problem with head lice. We still dont know where we got it but being a devoloping country could have been anywhere. This I do know 1st and formost get out all the bugs and nits u see using a very fine comb and a white tshirt on the floor. The ones that come out that are moving give them a good squezze u will here them pop. Then burn the tshirt. Second use tea trea oil mixed with shampoo. Comb again next day take a day off. Then use eucalyptus oil. Dont dilute at least the eucalyptus oil we have in philippines leave on 30 minutes wash out with shampoo. Repeat 3-4 times and get used to the smell of eucalyptus coz u can wash the oil out ur hairs not oily but the smell stays nothing u can do deal with it. Besides its not a bad smell alternate tea tree and eucalyptus every other day for 2 weeks. Lice gone but if you dont remove all the bedsheets and pilow cases all this treatment is pointless. Best to get your bedsheets to a commercial dryer and set it as high as possible after washing in clorox if they are not colored if colored wash in borax then dry on highest setting and vacuum everything hope this help
Kerosene
Posted by Tom (Boynton Beach, Florida) on 06/20/2018
I live in a 55+ community. An old WW2 vet (in his 90's) told me that when he was in Germany after the war, him and his friends would make homemade booze and that they added a touch of diesel fuel into the final product for TASTE!
Enzyme Shampoo
Posted by Sarah (Seattle, Wa) on 06/30/2012
★★★★★
The only remedy I will ever use again for lice is enzyme shampoo. It is harmless to you and deadly to lice. It doesn't smell bad and is gentle enough to use on a baby. It doesn't dry out your scalp. You can use it daily if you need to, use it on anything that can get wet. I ordered it on line, but maybe it can be found in a health store.
Multiple Remedies
Posted by Kathy (Lv, Nv) on 06/21/2012
★★★★★
When my niece bought home lice I was crazy!!! After trying so many things I finally went to walgreens and bought an electric zapper type headlice killer. I don't remember the name but you just comb it through dry hair and when the teeth come in contact with the lice they get electrocuted and die. Very easy... I combed her hair twice a day and mine as well.... Took off all of her bed linen but left one pillow with case and 1 blanket and I put them in the dryer on high every day for 30 minutes for two weeks straight. I also vaccumed her bed every morning when she got up. And she could only sit on a kitchen chair not the couch... I didn't want them crawling around the whole house. It takes alot of time... and I vaccumed my car often too...
Tea Tree Oil
Posted by Jenny (Sydney, Australiahi) on 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!
Denorex Shampoo
Posted by Anonymous (Fl, Usa) on 05/01/2011
★★★★★
Try Denorex Coal Tar 2.5% shampoo. Moisten hair (but not to the point of saturation), put the shampoo first at the base of neck where the hair starts and also concentrate on the hair around the ears. Leave it on for 30 minutes with a towel on your head. It will BURN and be somewhat uncomfortable for that 30 minutes, but when you see all those dead bugs in the water, you will be glad you tried it. I think, as another poster said, the shampoo "cooks" the lice and nits. Also, before treatment I visibly had nits on my hair line and the day after treatment, they were gone. Apparently, the shampoo works well with lice. You have to repeat the treatment every day for a week to make sure you're OK and you also have to be diligent about cleaning your clothes and environment.
