As a parent you may encounter lice in your life. Head lice are small parasites (little insects) that live within the hair and feed on the child’s blood. Lice can jump from person to person very quickly and they can also be spread if one child uses the same hairbrush/comb as the person that is contaminated.
Lice produce eggs very quickly and it can be quite difficult to eradicate them within a few days. Here are some great home remedies which will help to get rid of the nasty little creatures!:
1. Baby Oil, washing powder and white vinegar
i. Apply a large amount of baby oil to your child’s hair and comb it thoroughly to take out as many lice as you can.
ii. Wash your child’s hair with washing powder.
iii. Before bedtime, apply some white vinegar to your child’s head and cover it with a shower cap and leave it in overnight.
iv. In the morning, wash your child’s hair with your regular shampoo and conditioner.
v. Repeat the process for around 3/4 days to eliminate the lice.
2. Olive oil
Olive oil is great because it is a thick oil and it smothers and kills the lice.
i. Apply a thick layer (throughout) of olive oil to your child’s hair. Cover it with a shower cap and leave it in overnight.
ii. In the morning, wash your child’s hair with shampoo (herbal tea tree is the best) and add conditioner. Comb your child’s hair thoroughly with a nit comb while the conditioner is in so you remove the lice and the eggs.
iii. Repeat this for as many days as need be, until the lice go.
3. Garlic and lime juice
Garlic as we know has a super strong smell. This smell can suffocate the lice and kill them.
i. Take around 10 garlic cloves and grind into a paste. Add 4 teaspoons of lime juice and add to the paste.
ii. Apply the paste to your child’s hair and leave it in for an hour.
iii. After an hour, wash your child’s hair and thoroughly comb through it with a nit come to remove all the dead lice.
iv. You can repeat this every 4-5 days until they go.
4. Vaseline
i. Smother your child’s hair with vaseline and cover with a shower cap. Leave it in for the night.
ii. The next morning, apply baby oil to the hair to remove the vaseline.
iii. Comb thoroughly with a nit comb to remove the lice and then wash the hair as normal.
iv. Repeat for several nights.
5. Salt and Vinegar
i. Mix a quarter cup or salt with a quarter cup of vinegar. Mix it well and apply it to your child’s hair and leave it for around 2-3 hours.
ii. Wash your child’s hair as normal and comb through thoroughly.
iii. You can repeat this every other day until the lice go.
6. Tea Tree Oil
This is a natural insecticide and therefore a great remedy for killing lice.
i. Mix together one teaspoon of tea tree oil with 3 tablespoons of coconut/olive oil and add your normal shampoo.
ii. Apply the mix all over your child’s hair (not directly to the scalp as the tea tree can burn it), cover with a shower cap and leave it for an hour.
iii. Wash the hair as normal, combing thoroughly to remove any lice.
iv. You can do this every few days until all the lice are killed.
