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.
Eucalyptus Oil
Posted by Samantha (Adelaide, Sa, Australia) on 11/22/2011
★★★★★
Whenver we have lice, my daughter and I treat ourelves with 2tbsp of olive oil, 1 tsp of eucalytpus, 1/4 tsp of tea tree oil and a squirt of shampoo. Mix all together and slather on hair. Wait 30 mins. (We put a disposable shower cap over our heads). The oil suffocates the lice and the eucalyptus and tea tree oil damage their exoskelelons.
Our hair ends up soft and shiny. You need to repeat 1 week and 2 weeks later to completely break the reproductive cycle because it doesn't kill all the eggs.
Now if someone could come up with an oil that washes out more easily the formula would be perfect!
Mayonnaise
Posted by Iowama (Pella, Iowa/usa) on 06/29/2011
★★★★☆
Thank you for your forum on headlice. My granddaughter's headlice have resisted both the an OTC and an RX treatment, but they succumbed to mayonaise. I applied it as per a you-tube video, using plastic wrap and having her wear it for several hours. I did as complete a wash and rinse as a 2 year old will allow, but the hair still looked a little dirty. I found the nits slid off more easily than with the 2 previous treatment tries. I repeated 2 days later and am continuing to check for nits. Great results!
Cetaphil
Posted by Racer (Hampton, Tn) on 11/15/2010
★★★★★
Cetaphil rubbed into hair and blow dried until hair is dry, kills lice. Put it on hair, then a shower cap and leave on all night. Wash out and comb through. 15 drops tea tree oil in any bottle of shampoo or conditioner used twice a week should keep the lice away as long as the lice comb is used all the time to get bugs out of the hair.
Cedarwood Oil
Posted by Elle (Uk) on 11/03/2017
How do you use cedar oil? do you use w/ a carrier oil? how many drops? and then do we rub on the scalp? and leave it on for how long? and then shampoo it?
Neem Oil
Posted by John (Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia) on 02/11/2012
★★★★★
Yeah, neem oil is definitely really good..... Many Asians know about this and is a standard treatment in parts of India.. Neem is a hardwood tree that grows faster than other hardwoods, very oily. The oil can also be used in tootpaste. It is not known to be risky for humans but will attack parasites, bacteria and fungi.
Vinegar
Posted by Tina (Dayton, Oh) on 10/03/2009
★★★★★
I got rid of my daughter's lice a few years ago by pouring vinegar over her head in the bath tub and letting her sit there with it on for about 10 minutes, then rinsed. Did this for about 4 or 5 days while also removing as many as I could with a lice comb and getting every egg out I could find. But the vinegar does really kill them. You could see dead ones floating in the water. vaccuming and cleaning as much as possible is necessary as well.
Rubbing Alcohol, Olive Oil
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.
Olive Oil, Dish Soap, Vinegar, Tea Tree and Neem Oils
Posted by Joy1234 (Ravenna, Ohio) on 09/21/2011
★★★★★
I tried the Olive Oil, and White Vinegar remendy and IT WORKED!!!! My daughter is in first grade and she has been getting head lice from other students at school since Kindergarten it got to the point where we were spending $100.00 a month on medicine and laundry to get rid of the head lice, we even bug bombed the house several times and she was still getting it. I started to Google how to get rid of head lice naturally and found this site. I can't believe we actually found something that works.
Olive Oil, Dish Soap, Vinegar, Tea Tree and Neem Oils
Posted by Brittany B (Spring Lake, Mi) on 08/21/2012
★★★★★
This really did work! Thank you for the tips. My daughter came home from Preschool last week and we did the Nix and Rid treatments three times and it would not take care of it. Not to mention all of that is so expensive! You could even see the live lice it killed from the oil and the nits that the come didn't get came out so easily. Amazing! Thanks again!
Olive Oil, Tea Tree Oil
Posted by Grace (Nassau, Bahamas) on 07/29/2009
★★★★★
I used the traditional lice shampoo the minute my son began itching. I combed after and didn't see more than a few nits and no lice. About 5 days later I could see live lice, so I decided to use a home remedy since we couldn't apply our second dose of shampoo until day 7. I mixed 1/2 cup olive oil with 2 TBSP tea tree oil, massaged liberally into his hair and waited one hour. Next I combed dozens of dead lice from his hair, which tooked about 90 minutes. The next day I repeated the olive oil application and got only about a dozen dead lice. I can't comment on the nits b/c I cant see any. Hopefully it means that the lice were in the nymph stage and not mature enough to lay new eggs.
Mineral Oil and Vinegar
Posted by Charlotte (Federal Way, WA) on 11/16/2007
★★★★★
I have had long hair since I was a teenager and worked for 6 and 1/2 years as a residential counselor with young children. I would freak out every time any of the kids got lice and would immediately use that horrible shampoo from the drug store to try to keep from getting it. That stuff is totally toxic, kills my hair, gives awful dandruff, etc. One day, I was reading a parenting magazine to get ideas for arts + craft projects and noticed an article on lice treatment. Several months later my little sister (who was living with me at the time) came home with lice, and it was bad. I could see them jumping off her head and her hair was also long! I remembered the recipe, used it, and will swear by it from now on.
It consisted of first saturating the hair with mineral oil and vinegar (4-to-1 mix). Leave it in an hour, then lightly rinse it. Do not shampoo or try to remove all of the mineral oil yet. Instead, put on a shower cap overnight. Rinse out after 24 hours and utilize a vinegar rinse again while using a fine comb to remove as many nits as possible. This is a miracle cure for long-haired folks. I believe they said it works because the oil suffocates the bugs and the vinegar dissolves/loosens the glue that holds the nits on. Hope this helps somebody!
Neem Oil
Posted by Diane (San Francisco, CA) on 10/06/2007
★★★★★
I have used neem oil very successfully to prevent head lice. My daughter caught them at school. I used an over-the-counter insecticide to kill the lice that were on her head. Then I used the special comb included with the insecticide to remove as many of the eggs as possible. Then I applied neem oil (heated until it was liquid) to her scalp, generously, then massaged her scalp to make sure the oil covered her scalp completely. After this treatment, she had no more lice. The other kids in her class continued to get lice, but she never got lice again. I understand that neem oil kills the eggs and also makes it difficult or impossible for the living lice to drink blood from the veins in the scalp, so they die without laying more eggs.
Neem Oil
Posted by Cindy (Pflugerville, Tx) on 05/21/2009
Neem oil is toxic though. Your little girl didn't get a headache or anything?
EC: Neem has been used in India and Bangladesh for centuries!
"Neem oil has an extensive history of human use in India and surrounding regions for a variety of therapeutic purposes. Puri (1999) has given an account of traditional uses and therapeutic indications and pharmacological studies of this oil, in his book on neem."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neem_oil
Neem Oil
Posted by Stuman (Oceanside, Ca) on 12/30/2016
I noticed your post is seven years old and things have changed. Yes, wiki does mention neem may be toxic to pregnant women and children when consumed. However, for topical applications there are many over the counter soaps and shampoos available. On a side note the OTC toothpaste do not have neem oil. It is neem leaf and or neem bark.
Vinegar
Posted by Amanda (Tampa, FL) on 05/09/2007
★★★★★
I got lice a few days ago and began to panic. I had decided it would be smart to look on the internet and see what it said to do. I had tried those CVS brands of lice shampoo and they didn't seem to work. I read about vinegar and thought i would try it. It works well and all pharmacists say that it is a splendid way to get rid of the lice. I also wanted to add in that while using vinegar or whichever treatment you chose and leaving it in your hair for a while try wrapping saran wrap tightly around your head and it is an easy way to keep your hair up and out of your way while letting the treatment work.
Olive Oil
Posted by Ann G. (Tampa, Florida) on 04/23/2007
★★★★★
In Florida head lice are almost a certainty if your children are in public school.
Beware of head sets in the media centers and sharing MP3 headsets...it's just like sharing your comb.
After getting the head lice that wouldn't die, the kind that are resistant to the OTC stuff they tell you to buy, I found out that the cure of the desperate was petroleum jelly. Yes, that certainly did work however, it is just awful to try and get out of your hair! The next time the kids brought lice home from school, we tried olive oil. Generously douse the hair with it...work it in and put a shower cap on their head and leave it on as long as you can stand it, sleep in it if you can. The next morning, shampoo it all out, go over their hair with a nit picker comb and you are done with the lice. Check back every day or so to make sure none of the eggs are still in the hair. The oil simply suffocates the bugs. I have never had to reapply the olive oil. Added benefit, the olive oil leaves their hair really soft and shiny. While the hair is being treated of course, wash all the bedding in HOT water and spray the lice spray on the bed. Pack all their stuffed animals and pillows that can't be washed in a trash bag, tie it up tight and put it out in the garage for about two weeks to kill off the lice. They can't live without biting and they die of starvation!
EC: And if we might add -- people should always avoid using shared headsets, especially the ones found at the music stores that let you sample CDs before buying them.
Vinegar
Posted by Candice (Victorville, U.S.A) on 03/20/2007
★★★★★
Hello. I just wanted to let you guys know of a remedy that worked for me as a child. I had super thick hair and unfortunetly got head lice IT WAS LIKE THE PLAGUE! I went to the doctor and got the perscription TWICE but like Ted said, I simply didnt work! So after spending my summer vaction battling these nasty bugs my grandma told my mom to try distilled vinegar to rinse (wash my hair) leave it on for a tiny bit while in the bath/shower. Then conditon with a coconut conditioner thick so that you can comb out the eggs afterward. After you treat your hair with Vinegar you will see MANY dead lice rinse out. Its really gross! This is the only thing that worked for my family after spending nearly a 1,000 dollars on over the counter and perscription medications. My mom also never had to treat my little brothers hair because she simply baby oiled his hair and he never got lice! So I suggest using oil, vinegar (as a rinse) and a good conditioner. Also lice hate tea tree oil so you can dillute some in a spray bottle with water and use it to spray on head rests in cars, bedding, anything that your hair comes in contact with. *Dont use if you have cats though* Be sure to also clean bedding, clothing, etc. throughly! This is the most important!!! Make sure to iron mattress' daily and if your tired of washing your bedding and clothing daily then throw them in the dryer while you clean the house for at least 30 minutes to kill the eggs! Good luck!
