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I know lice are a super unpleasant subject, but if you’ve got school-age kids, pin this for future use. Knowing how to get rid of lice with tea tree oil (and conditioner) would have been a lifesaver for me!
As you may remember, last summer, all four of my kids got head lice.
It was, um, not my favorite thing ever.
At first when it happened, I was all, “OH MY GOSH THE SKY IS FALLING! MY CHILDREN HAVE BUGS LIVING ON THEIR HEADS. GIVE ME THE DRUGS.”
So, as my ped directed, the day the infestation was discovered, I bought eleventy-kazillion dollars worth of Nix, treated the kids and Mr. FG and myself, washed everything in the house, put stuffed animals in the freezer, and generally ran myself ragged.
I might have cried too.
(No, I definitely cried.)
The ped said that Nix would kill the bugs, and we’d just be left with nits to pick.
(Haha. I put “just” and nit-picking together in a sentence. There is no “just” about nit-picking!)
But a few days of nit-picking later, straggler bugs remained. They seemed a bit dazed, to be sure (not lightning fast like healthy lice), but still.
Live bugs.
Gah!
So then my ped called in a prescription for Sklice, a new and super effective med that truly does kill not only the lice but the eggs (nits) as well.
This stuff is amazing, but awfully expensive, especially when you have multiple heads to treat.
I applied the Sklice, but kept nit-picking all of my kids for two weeks, just in case the Sklice somehow missed zapping an egg.
This was exhausting, tedious work, and I wished dearly that I could just give all my kids buzz cuts.
(More crying may have happened.)
Anyway, eventually everyone was clear, thanks to the Sklice and my nit-picking.
But then one of my girls got lice again, I think from some friends accidentally passing it around.
This time, I was much more calm.
(Basically, no caps lock is necessary to describe the second infestation version of me.)
I knew I could call the ped and get some Sklice, but since I knew more about how lice worked by then, I felt pretty confident that I could get rid of them without the heavy duty stuff.
So, here’s how to get rid of lice with tea tree oil.
1. Cover hair in conditioner/tea tree oil mixture.
I took cheap conditioner (Suave is fine), mixed a little tea tree oil in, and saturated the wet hair with it.
The idea here is to completely cover every strand of hair with this so that the lice are immobilized.
Use a liberal hand and then some.
2. Comb through hair with a nit comb.
Next, you take your nit comb and comb through all of the hair, small sections at a time, while the conditioner/tea tree oil is still in the hair.
This way you will easily catch any live bugs and remove them from the scalp. They are very, very easy to see against the white conditioner.
An additional benefit is that the conditioner and oil make the nits much more likely to come off onto the nit comb.
(The lice glue their eggs to the hair strands, which is why they are so hard to remove.)
Basically, you just run the comb through a small section, and the comb will pull a bunch of conditioner off the hair.
Scrape the conditioner off into a small bowl (you can wipe it between every sections if you are really devoted. I was not.), check it for bugs/nits, and keep repeating until you have the whole head combed.
3. Rinse and repeat every other day.
Then you can rinse the hair off and repeat the process every other day until you’re consistently seeing no nits in the conditioner.
I ended up with two types of combs, and between these two, the purple one worked way better. I hear that the best thing is a high-quality metal nit comb, but the purple plastic one was definitely the best of these two.
The first time I did this treatment, I snagged all of the live bugs and most of the nits.
The next time, I got more nits and also a nymph, and from then on, I found just a few more nits and no more hatchlings, and then finally, we had a nice string of clean combing sessions.
It IS slightly scary to not be putting any lice-killer on the hair, but I felt less nervous once I realized how well this worked.
See, even if I did miss a nit or two, and those nits hatched, it was going to be quite a simple matter to catch any of them before they reached reproductive age.
Why?
The conditioner/oil immobilizes them and that pretty much guarantees that they’ll get caught in the comb.
Also!
This is SUCH an easy way to tell if any other kids in the house are infested. If you have a fresh infestation, there will be live bugs, and they are super super easy to see when you do the conditioner/comb combo.
The first go-round with lice, I treated everyone in the house blindly without actually knowing if everyone had lice.
( SKY IS FALLING!!!!!!! mode, and all that.)
But the second time around, I did the conditioner/tea tree oil thing on all of the kids and was able to confirm that only one kid actually had lice.
It has now been 9 months since I used this combo on my kid’s lice-infested head, and there has been absolutely no recurrence, so I know this really did work!
Reasons This is Superior to Commercial Treatments
1. It’s cheap.
Nix, Rid, and Sklice are all pretty pricey, and the priciness really adds up if you have a bunch of heads to treat.
But conditioner is only a few dollars, as is tea tree oil, and you can do tons of treatments with just a bottle of each.
2. There’s nothing iffy in it.
Sklice is supposed to be quite safe, and some of the other treatments are a synthetic concoction made to imitate a substance from chysanthemums, so it’s probably not the worst thing in the world.
Still, the directions on Rid and Lice say not to do too many treatments in a row, which gives me pause.
Plus, that stuff is awfully hard on scalps…when we used it on our heads, even those of us with no lice had itchy heads for a good week.
(This will freak you out no end when there are lice in the house.)
I felt much better about putting conditioner and tea tree oil on my child’s head, that’s for sure.
3. It works better than Rid and NIX.
Unfortunately, some lice have become resistant to these classic insecticides, which means you can put all of that on your kiddos’ heads and still be dealing with live bugs like we were.
Once I did the initial comb-through with the conditioner/tea tree oil, though, I got all of the mature bugs in one fell swoop, which is WAY more than I can say for Rid and Nix.
4. It’s WAY easier than dry-hair nit-picking/combing.
Trying to find each nit by hand in a headful of dry hair is so tedious. And nits cling to hair like crazy.
I found it to be far simpler to use the comb in a head of conditioned/oiled hair, and since the oil/conditioner loosens the nits, they come off so much more easily.
Downsides
There are just a few downsides to the conditioner/oil method, but they are not enough to sway me back into the insecticide camp, especially because they are only downsides when comparing my way to Sklice.
1. You have to keep doing this every other day until the head is clear.
This isn’t EXACTLY a downside, because unless you’re using Sklice, which does kill nits, you are supposed to keep nit-picking every day until the nits are all gone.
I did dry nit-combing and picking during our first go-round and I am here to tell you that the conditioner/comb method is way, way, way less frustrating, and I found it to be more effective.
So, given the choice between nit-picking every day and conditioner/tea tree oil combing every other day, I would pick the latter every single time.
2. This method doesn’t kill anything.
I don’t consider this to be a downside, given that some of the insecticides we tried didn’t kill the bugs either!
And unless you have Sklice, the insecticide you use isn’t going to kill the nits anyway (only the live bugs, and that if you’re lucky), so you still have to get them out of the hair somehow.
So, this, “Oh no! I’m not zapping any of the bugs!” thing is really more of a mental block to get over, I think.
__________________________
Well.
I dearly hope that none of you ever need this information, but I’m putting it out there because it really was a lifesaver for me.
I mean, I’m not at all hoping for another lice infestation, but armed with this method, I’m not nearly as terrified as I used to be.
Supplies
Here’s a highly recommended nit comb.
Here’s the Suave conditioner we used, but any inexpensive conditioner should do the trick. Just get a lot of it so that you can generously cover the hair.
Here’s a tea tree oil similar to what we used. You don’t need a super expensive variety.
__________________________
P.S. Sonia would like you to know that she merely modeled for these pictures, and that she does not have lice. 
P.P.S. If you found this post via a google search and your kids currently have lice, ALL OF THE SYMPATHY to you. Hang in there, and give this method a try! It’s gonna be ok.
P.P.P.S. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn’t drive myself nuts by washing/freezing/disinfecting my whole house. The important thing is to get the children’s heads treated. If you do that, you should be good to go.
P.P.P.P.S. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments!
P.P.P.P.P.S. Here’s why you don’t need to panic about super lice.
Melissa says
Thanks for sharing this type of treatment. It’s way better than using all of the harsh chemicals. The second go round, did you wash all the bedding, vacuum, put everything in garbage bags for two weeks, etc?
Kristen says
I did not. The more I read about that, the more it seemed a little pointless. Lice can’t survive long off the head of a person (adult lice or new hatchlings), so focusing on the heads makes much more sense.
Susan Rodman says
Kristen,
Thank you so much for this info! I caught lice from my granddaughter (bless her little heart ) and have gone through two treatments with Rid. My wonderful daughter patiently did my comb through x 2. She just did another one two days ago, and I had some lingerers. I’m going to the store now to buy some Tea Tree oil and conditioner, and will ask her to come over tomorrow and due another combing. Oh yea, getting her a bottle of wine as a thank you, or to drink during treatment!
You think you freaked when your kids got lice….I TOTALLY freaked when my dermatologist told me I had them!! Gross!! Now, I’m just determined to get rid of them. Luckily, hubby is fine.
Thank you again for this post…it was informational and humorous! Blessings to you and your family!
Kristen says
I’m so glad you found my post! I am just so over Rid, Nix, and their ilk. SO ineffective.
Keep at the tea tree oil/conditioner thing, and you’ll be rid of the little bugs for real.
Donna says
And one of the reasons we are faced with “super lice” right now is because the Rid, Nix, etc. are so expensive that patients are not able to use it as directed. It is imperative retreat in about 8 days to kill all the missed nits that have hatched. And then about 5 days after that to get the ones the second treatment missed. And who has the resources to do that much? My child has very long hair and we could only get one treatment out of a bottle at ~$20 each. And that much chemical exposure worries me.
Thanks for a some great info!
Stephanie says
Thank you so much for sharing this i dealt with it for 6 months last year due to the fact my step kids mother’s refused to treat because they didn’t know what they were doing and instead of asking they literally passes it back and forth between households because my hubby had them come here so i could treat them due to their mothers weren’t needless to say it was an absolute nightmare and yes i cried on more than one occasion for weeks at a time i caught it again about 3 days ago and instantly started crying because of the night are i lived for 6 months I’m so glad i found this and am going to do it right now i do have one question tho i have a 2oz bottle of Hollywood tea tree oil and tresseme karitin conditioner how much of the oil do i use it’s a pretty big bottle of conditioner and relatively new so if u could get back with me i hope soon I’d really appreciate it!!!!!!!! Thanks again
Kristen says
I mixed about a teaspoon of oil with 1/2 cup of conditioner in a small bowl and then applied it to the hair. So, I didn’t add tea tree oil to the whole bottle of conditioner…I just made small batches of the mixture every other day.
Hang in there! You can get rid of these, and in pretty short order too as long as you’re consistent with the treatment.
Cynda Strickland says
How much tea tree oil do you mix with the conditioner.
Kristen says
I used maybe a tablespoon per 1/2 cup of conditioner.
Odile says
Thanks so much for this website! You make a convincing argument against the Pharma products. Please put the amounts in your website so people don’t over/underdo the Tea Tree Oil. I was glad to find them in the comments!
Kayla says
I just poured a whole bottle of tea tree oil on my daughters head. Kept it on all day over night and the little buggers were falling right off. She didnt have an infestaction. But i didnt even use conditioner, they were dead on one time bottle lf the tea tree oil.
Jenn says
How many times did you actually have to wash her hair with the oil/conditioner combo?
Kristen says
I did the process every 2-3 days for about two weeks. I could probably have stopped before then, as I stopped seeing any nits or lice while combing, but we did a couple of extra combings just to be SURE the lice were gone.
Jessica says
Hello,
I came across your search after hearing about tea tree oil and Lice, Well I am 36 3 kids ranging from 11 months to 6years, and we have just caught Lice for the very first time. Luckily only me and my oldest daughter have it, my husband and son have been sleeping in our daughters room and me and the girls are in my room so they don’t get it, and like you I am sure I cried ok I did,. I went crazy throwing pillows out, washing my house from top to bottom, bagging everything I could not wash, wearing caps on our heads all day, using the treatment stuff I got at the store, I have bought tea tree shampoo and conditioner and today I am going on the hunt for the oil, can you make it into a spray to leave on the hair all day?
Kristen says
I don’t know that leaving it on the hair would be super effective at getting rid of the lice. When you do the treatment, some tea tree oil definitely does linger on the hair…but the main benefit to this treatment is that you can easily comb out the hatched bugs, and the conditioner and oil help to loosen the unhatched eggs.
Hang in there! You CAN get rid of lice, and it won’t last forever, as long as you are consistent with the conditioner and combing until you see no bugs or nits.
Jessica says
I don’t get it. I use tea tree oil shampoo and the last time my kids got lice I didn’t get it.but this time I used an off brand and I got it.and once a week I was putting it in kids hair too. I am wondering if the off brand doesn’t work as well and I was down to using only the conditioner.
Kristen says
Yeah, I don’t think tea tree oil is necessarily a 100% effective deterrent to lice.
But if you use the tea tree oil/conditioner combo and faithfully comb every few days, you WILL get rid of the lice. You just have to be faithful with it.
Hope you’re lice-free soon!
Amanda says
thank you so much for this information i have been dealing with my children having head lice for the past 4 months i have a family of 6 so it has definitely been an expensive journey and i just cant seem to get rid of it. Ive done everything and was pretty much going broke over these treatments. My son was sent home yesterday from preschool with a tea tree oil spray which worked wonders but the drug stores didnt seem to carry tea tree oil only the insecticides which have been nothing but a waste. Thanks to your info I can go a cheaper route to treat my other children for the millionth time. I laughed as I read because I have been going crazy with lice, I have cried and I thought about buzz cuts for everyone lol
Amelia says
I think getting a hand held vacuum and daily vacuuming the couch and bed is a good idea and changing frequent sheets more so than washing all unused clothing and packing up toys (now dolls with hair you might want to put away for a week or two) The handheld will pull any nits off of the bedding and couch. I am trying that along with the tea tree shampoo I bought to go along with the conditioner. I took a small spray bottle filled it with water and lightly spritzed the couches with the shampoo mixture (the actual tea tree oil you use for this method should be sufficient as well I only had the actually premixed shampoo and conditioner I got at target for 6.99 each) after vacuuming and re-vacuuming. Can’t hurt I heard lice also don’t like the smell of the tea tree and mint. This particular shampoo and conditioner combo has tea tree, peppermint, and witch hazel. I really just can’t afford the spray and like you said the harsh chemicals don’t seem to be too sufficient 24/7. I work in dermatology most likely where I picked it up from or daycare.We recommending vacuuming and routine hot water bedding washing with scabies with no other pesticides needed for bedding; they only treat it orally or topically or both for severe cases routine BEDDING is washing in the scabies department is key as well as the vacuuming and no skin to skin contact like head to head contact with lice. so I’m sure this should be more than sufficient for the lice. Also if you have a mint allergy or irritation this specific shampoo combo may not be good for you some people have rare mint allergies; however I’d take that over having hair fall out and break or thin from excessive nyx/rid treatments. Even if they are not needed I do think lice can be traumatizing especially like you said the first time and sometimes I’ve seen people over treat too and that is not good for the scalp either as you mentioned. Plus I’m a freak and this seems like a good maintainer routine to keep up with to prevent future reoccurrences especially if you have daycare aged toddlers. Thanks for the post I will be sure to try/recommend this method seems like it’s very great especially with toddlers they are so sensitive and susceptible to everything.
Corrie R says
Best. Post. Ever. I’ve been there – last winter, in fact. My girl has super gorgeous corkscrew curls, so it was a nightmare. I also understand that tea tree oil is a natural lice deterrent, so I mixed some tea tree oil into a bottle of cheap shampoo, and the kids are getting a once a week preventive treatment as soon as the new school year starts.
Kristen says
Ah, so you know that panicky feeling. Ugh.
Valerie says
Just this morning my Shirley Temple haired girl was diagnosed.
Kristen says
Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that! Much sympathy to you.
LB says
The oil kills the nits as well if you wanna use it directly. It shrinks them to nothing. I saw it.myself. I put a hair with a nit/egg into the bottle cap filled with tree oil and watched in awe as it shrunk and died off. Pretty amazing. Something that helps track them though tricky for some, is once the oil touches the nit or lice itself, they’ll bubble up, literally a bubble forms indicating success lol. Tea tree oil is amazing. Thanks for relating on the crying and panicking….definitely cried for a day.
WilliamB says
Sonia cracks me up! FYI it’s getting harder to tell those two apart sometimes.
Do you know why tea tree oil specifically? Would another oil work?
Kristen says
I don’t know exactly. I think it’s supposed to be a deterrent to the lice.
The addition of the oil helps to make the conditioner super slippery, which definitely helps the combing process. Plain conditioner doesn’t work nearly as well.
redwing swamp says
Tea Tree Oil is simply off putting to ALL parasitic type critters that like humans & house / farm animals & pets.
Soldiers at ALL 14 bases I was assigned to used it on their “field boots” (boots used only when in the field) and on the top of their socks and on the bdu pants where it went into the boots, also waist bands, cuffs, helmets, gloves and often lbe gear.
Not only does it keep ticks, fleas, scabies, mosquitos, chiggers and the like off them, it also repels spiders, wasps, bees, ants etc – you know the make me miserable or ill type critters too.
Its not 100% effective all the time but it is about 95% effective 95% of the time. Not bad odds when EVERY single thing that can bite, suck, inject, sting or cause minor irritation to other humans causes me to go to the ER or ICU EVERY time I forget to use Tea Tree Oil when outside.
I read years ago that if a skin condition can be cleared up or cured that Tea Tree Oil can do it IF you apply it 2 times a day or more pending problem and do it faithfully until condition is gone PLUS 10-21 more days (pending condition) to make sure its gone.
Dont want to stop it early on ring worm & have over again….some ring worms dont show up until you’ve already had it for 47 days….GROSS
But you get my point…..
There’s supposed to be another oil that’s just like Tea Tree Oil but stronger…wish I could remember its name. If I run across it again I’ll post it.
Diana says
NEEM oil- is that what your trying to remember the name of? but it smells horrible
Denise Blundon says
It’s lavender that helps along with tea tree oil.
Mandy E Yates says
Do you put this on wet or dry hair? My hot water heater caught fire yesterday and we have no hot water at the moment. Can I rinse in sink? Can’t stand a cold shower. But hating this lice even more!!
Kristen says
Oh my…so many hard things at once! I did this on damp hair, but you could definitely just get it wet in the sink. No need for a freezing shower!
Erin says
Yes you can use rosemary oil and lavender oil along with tree tea oil
tessilyn says
According to livestrong.com, you can also use eucalyptus, lavender, geranium, rosemary and thyme though there are some contraindications. One site, I believe it was healthline.com, staff that high doses of tea tree oil can be harmful to the liver, so don’t apply whole bottle. I read several drops to a teaspoon. Also, healthline.com stated that rosemary may possibly increase risk of seizures if there is a history of epilepsy. And tea tree oil is toxic of ingested, so keep out of reach of lil ones. One of those also said of there are a lot of bites and sores, chamomile will soothe the scalp. Good luck. I’m working on the same problem. My daughter told me about tea tree oil. I’m going to use it in a couple of days cuz we just treated everyone with a homeopathic spray called Lice Free which definitely killed adults. It’s supposed to kill the nits too, but it’s too early to report on that. It was expensive but was easy; one bottle covered me and my daughter’s long hair and smelled like licorice. Combing was optional with comb included, but I chose to comb.
Ann says
Did the Licefreee end up working?
Tanya says
It actually did for us. I slightly picked through but being pregnant with an already bad back I couldn’t sit in one position for that long. When we used the Nix before the licefree they seemed to multiply. Lice free killed on contact. I did a second treatment a week after initial treatment just to be on safe side but the initial treatment worked 100%. I swear by this stuff. We only had lice that one time…..my older daughter is 7 and in school. This is the ONLY time we had it and has not returned. I only slightly kinda combed through or nit picked.
Megg says
i work with school-age kids and though I’ve never had lice in my life (knock on wood!) I do put a few drops of tea tree oil in my shampoo bottle, as preventative measure. So far no issues!
Kristen says
Yeah, I never had them either, and I thought my kids would escape, since we homeschool (the odds are lower!) But no such luck.
At least Mr. FG and I didn’t get them. I was especially worried about me getting them because I’d have a hard time doing my own head!
Liesl says
Question – what do you do with the lice and nits once they’re out of the hair? How do you kill them?
Kristen says
I just washed the whole conditioner mess down the drain. They’re immobilized in the conditioner (they can’t move when wet), so there’s no worry about them moving around while the combing is being finished.
kansasmom says
I rinse my comb in good hot water. Seems to kill them off and clears the comb so you can see what you’re getting each time
Teri says
I work in a peds office we always tell them to put tea tree oil in shampoo to prevent lice from ever reoccurring. Seems to work really well.
Lana says
How much tea tree oil do you suggest using in a bottle? For treatment and preventative measures.
Andrea says
I used a product (kit) call Fairy Tales. LOVED IT. Worked so good and was easy to use. Then use Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Oil Shampoo and Consitioner. All Non Toxic and you can purchase all three of these products at Ulta. Also did a couple of AC VINEGAR washes every 2 days. Lice was gone within a week and a half.
Kris says
Where do you purchase tea tree oil? So far I’ve never had to deal with lice, but we parents all know it could happen at any time. My friend’s kids have had lice twice–I can’t remember the specifics, but I think she did an overnight oil treatment to get rid of them after her lack of success with chemically based treatments. GREAT info and I appreciate your openness in posting what worked and didn’t work for you.
Kristen says
I believe Mr. FG picked up our bottle at Target. I know Walmart and some grocery stores also carry it, usually in the vitamins section.
It’s available online as well, although that’s obviously not great if you need it in a big hurry!
Holly says
The Walmart in my town actually has it right with the lice shampoos.
amber says
Something I did when my oldest daughter had lice was straighten her hair a hot iron hair straightener. I had used the Nix twice but I felt like there were eggs still glued to her hair. So for about three days afterwards I ran a straightener in her hair. I think the heat killed the unhatched lice.
Kristen says
Oh yeah, I’m positive there were still eggs in her hair. Nix doesn’t remove the eggs, AND it doesn’t kill them either.
At this point, I kind of feel like Nix is a useless waste of money. It did almost nothing for us.
Amy says
People should see lice as being as common as the common cold. My kids never had them and I never had them, but my siblings did. My mom used olive oil and a bag on our head. It baked the little buggers. Yes you read that right. I had very short hair and never actually got them, but if anyone got them in our house we all got treated. This seems a lot better.
Kristen says
Yeah, I’ve read of other methods that involved coating the hair with Cetaphil and then blow-drying (or doing something similar with mayonnaise), but this is much simpler, quicker, and it works just fine.
And if you do the comb-through on everyone in the house, you can quickly and easily discern who has lice and who doesn’t, and then you know where to focus your energy. So much better than treating everyone blindly like I did the first time.
Emily in MN says
Sad to say, we’ve had head lice in our household more than a few times when my kids were younger. It seems the younger grades are more likely to get it than the older grades (kids are now in middle and high school and we haven’t had an infestation for a few years). Anyway, we’ve tried it all- olive oil, tea tree oil, neer oil, mayo, ect. I have to say the Cetaphil worked like a charm for us. I would just buy the Target brand-apply it to dry hair, comb it out and blow dry. I would repeat the process about every 4 days for a couple of weeks. But really, the best way to deal with it is to get rid of the nits and I find going through the hair strand by strand with my fingernails was the best way to tackle that problem. It’s a pain but I would do this at least once a day, every day for about two weeks with my girls. I usually wouldn’t see anything after the first few days, but given the life cycle of a louse, I didn’t want to take any chances.
Kristen says
Yes, I’ve heard this is more common with younger kids. So maybe, just maybe, this is our one and only go-round with the little buggers, as my kids are getting older!
I did a lot of the fingernail picking of the nits, but ugh, that is so tedious. I was super impressed with how well the nits came out with this method, though. The oil/conditioner combo really seems to loosen them up, so they come out with just the nit comb (no fingernails necessary!)
Jennifer says
A few drops of tea tree oil in there regular shampoo is great a preventative measure. Basically adding a little tea tree oil to their hair every time the wash
also keeping hair short ( I have boys so that’s easy) and using gel or hair products.
Karen says
I read somewhere on Google News this past week that some of the most popular lice remedies contain ingredients that, it stated, are carcinogenic. Sorry I don’t have a link to share. If that is truly the case, your idea sounds much safer as well as cheaper, easier, and more effective. We had to do the Nix treatment several years ago. Gave me the heebie-jeebies!
AmyK says
One of my daughters picked up lice a few years ago – naturally she’s my girl with waist length, thick, curly hair (the other has very fine, straight hair like me).
I panicked and called a service who sent a woman to my house to fix it. It wasn’t cheap, but I learned a lot since our technician was studying for her master’s in entomology. The method she used was just conditioner and a comb. An hour later she gave us a certificate of lice-free-ness.
Kristen says
Isn’t that how it goes? I have three kids with thick hair and one with thin, and of course when the reinfestation happened, it wasn’t on the thin-haired kiddo!
Michelle says
How much tea tree oil did you put in the conditioner bottle?
Kristen says
I didn’t put it in the conditioner bottle…I just squeeze some conditioner into a little bowl (probably 1/2 cup of conditioner) and then added about 1 teaspoon of tea tree oil. I didn’t really measure it! But the tea tree oil is pretty potent stuff…a little seems to go a long way.
Traci says
Tea Tree Oil is the best treatment for lice and also for almost any skin fungus as well. We had to treat my daughters repeatedly for lice during grammar school. After doing research I found that the drug store remedies contain Lindane which is a toxic pesticide. I was horrified to think I had been poisoning my kids and went in search of a natural treatment. After that I started mixing tea tree oil with shampoo and treating their hair once a month and whenever the girls went to summer camp as a preventative from bringing unwanted little buggers home.
Kristen says
I think Lindane is actually a prescription-only lice treatment. Nix uses permethrin, and I’m not sure what’s in Rid.
Still, tea tree oil and conditioner seem like a safer bet to me, especially because these other treatments don’t even work well (Except for Sklice).
Deidre says
My son had lice a few years ago as well. Like you, I freaked out. Bought Nix. Treated everything in the house and all of us. The nasty things still lived, because, like you said, Nix is not very reliable anymore. A friend recommended a company that sent a retired nurse out. She used a conditioner and detangler and literally picked every nit and live one out. I had to follow through with the combing for two weeks to guarantee a nit hadn’t escaped the combing. I learned A LOT about lice then. Their life span, that they prefer clean hair (what?!), etc. The service was also about to be charged as a health care expense! We used our FSA and it counted toward our deductible. If we were to get them again, now I know what to do myself at home.
Kristen says
The conditioner is so great because it makes the bugs unable to move. A dry louse is ridiculously fast…pretty much impossible to catch. So tiny and so quick. But once you put the conditioner on, they just sit there, waiting to be combed out. Way better!
Kim C says
Yep, my homeschooled daughter got them from a friend that slept over. The mother called to tell me that her daughter had them and when I checked my daughter’s ultra thick and long hair, I found lice! YUK!!! I freaked out too! Then read about the commercial head lice treatments and the dangers of them.I read enough on http://www.HeadLice.org to scare me from ever using the treatments on my daughter. Here is what I did and it worked like a charm. She hated it because she smelled like pickles for awhile, but it was cheap, easy and never saw another one.
I bought a cheap spray bottle from the dollar store and a bottle of apple cider vinegar. I heated the vinegar and put it in the spray bottle. covered my daughter’s shoulders with a towel, popped in a family approved movie and started drenching her hair with the vinegar. I massaged it in and when it was totally covered in vinegar to the point where the towel was wet (I changed towels a couple of times) I knew I was ready for the next step. I piled her hair on her head then wrapped it with plastic wrap until it was totally covered and secure. Then I put a fresh towel in the dryer and wrapped that around her plastic wrapped head. We watched movies and ate snacks for a couple of hours. Yes, 2 hours! Then I used took the towel off and put the hair dryer on the plastic wrap. Then removed the plastic wrap, massaged some conditioner into her hair and started with the nit comb. For about two hours I combed her hair. I kept a disposable cup of warm vinegar and swished the comb in the vinegar to keep cleaning it. After I had gone over her hair 2 times with the comb, I re-sprayed her hair with warm vinegar, re-applied conditioner and combed through it all again. This was an all day job, I’m not going to lie, but it 100% worked! Every other day for the next week I washed and conditioned her hair to check for more lice and never found another one! The vinegar kills the lice and it helps the nits to release from the hair shaft. Hopefully we’ll never need it again, but it works. I do keep tea tree oil around the house for other things and use it often. I love the idea of adding it to shampoo! Thanks for the tip!
Ann says
This tea tree oil and conditioner method works perfectly! On the advice of our doctor, I also added a handful of kosher salt into the mixture.
I now add tea tree oil to my kids’ shampoo. I squeeze some out of the new bottle, pour in a few tablespoons and shake it up. This seems to work well as a preventative.
Our doctor also recommended regular blow drying.
angie says
Just wondering what the salt did?
Jessica says
Thanks for this post! Great ideas!
I hate the idea of using strong chemicals on my daughter. I did buy a brand called “Fairy Tales” treatment, shampoo, conditioner and detangler – it has a natural component rather than chemicals and it worked well. I liked it pretty good too, but I think you could remake it by adding the oil to regular hair care.
laura says
There’s a very nice shampoo available at most drug stores & Wal-Mart called Lice Shield. It’s a shampoo that has tea-tree oil in it (seems wonderful!) It kills everything at once and can be used in advance as a deterrent. Funny how I never just considered adding tea-tree oil to regular, ordinary shampoo. Live & Learn!
cindy c says
when my kids were in elementary school, tea tree oil was a recommended lice repellent. i always had some on hand and added some to every bottle of shampoo and conditioner that we used. it must have worked because the only time one of my kids ever got lice was when i ran out of tea tree oil. needless to say, the next week after that, i bought another bottle and made sure i never ran out again.
shannonc says
so glad you discovered Melaleuca oil. There are so many more uses for it. I used it recently for a bee sting and it took away the burn, it is good for acne and cold sores, tooth issues and skin issues like itching and excema. I buy shampoo with it in it for my husband. He has dry scalp and has no flaking issues. Better than head and shoulders. It is in my toothpaste, lotion and I diffuse it in the air when my kids are feeling sick. It is wonderful stuff! Great for lice as you can see. I found a cheaper way to purchase it since I use it in everything and it saves me time and money by shopping online. You can order it online thru Melaleuca.com.. I can get you a membership online. It has totally changed our lives and the way we shop. I have been a happy customer for 10 yrs myself. I know you would love it and it is so frugal too.
Randi says
I kinda felt a little queasy( and a shiver went up my arm) reading this post. I can still remember as a kid having lice and those treatments. When my niece ( with super curly hair) had lice, her parents gave her a buzz cut, I guess thats one way to deal with it.
Kristen says
Ohhh, I was so tempted. I did cut a few inches off of Lisey’s super long hair to make the nit-picking a little easier.
Jennifer says
My kids had lice a few years ago and I shelled out $500 to have professionals de-louse and nit pick. What a waste of money because I still had to comb their hair for nits each night for two weeks. Of course, like you, I now feel like to completely understand how to handle the situation and it can be done so inexpensively. The problem is the initial panic we have the first time our kids get lice.
Kristen says
Yes. I wish I could have skipped over that initial panic state because then I’d have saved myself a lot of money!
Heather says
Do u know if it would be ok to use a live removing shampoo” I ordered it online” then tomorrow do the tea tree oil conditioners, or would that be to soon to use the conditioner mixture
Kristen says
I think the tea tree oil/conditioner can get used whenever you want…it shouldn’t interfere with any other treatment.
Lori says
We had what felt like a never-ending (although it was probably about 6 weeks or so) lice infestation a few years ago, and it does go from initially feeling like the most daunting thing in the entire world to kind of “Eh, we can deal.”
One thing I wanted to mention is that I’ve read that a few drops of tea tree oil in your regular shampoo and conditioner can work as a deterrent. I don’t know if this is true or not. However, out of an abundance of caution, I put a few drops into all of our shampoo and conditioner the rest of that school year (as well as into the spray bottle of water and conditioner I used on the girls’ hair in the morning to detangle it), and my kids stayed lice-free even though a few of their friends got lice again. So, there may be something to it.
Betsy says
After reading this post, I came across an oil blend that might be helpful. It’s called Lice Away by Plant Therapy. I have never used this blend, but I have used other Plant Therapy products. This oil blend claims to kill both the lice and their eggs. It has Tea Tree Oil in it, combined with a couple other oils. It would have to be ordered online though.
Monamae says
FYI. This oil is now called Get Em’ Gone.
Anna says
Rosemary oil is great lice repellent ! Add it to leave in conditioner or dangler.
Allison says
I remember when I was maybe 7 my mom found a single louse on the outside of my hair which of course was thick and waist length. The rest of the day I was confined to the kitchen floor while my toys and bedding were washed or tied in bags. It’s a good thing I was more into books than stuffed animals like my sister. I do remember that tedious combing process and it does make my head itch to think about it.
Mary says
I can’t imagine where I got head lice, although I suspect a recent hotel stay. Anyway, this website is invaluable to me! After I priced Sklice ($250) and a few others (that of course my insurance will not pay for), I bought a bottle of Tea Tree Oil at Walmart ($8.50) and plan to use the conditioner/comb method daily.
I remember my kids (and the entire class, I think) got head lice about 45 years ago… What an ordeal to get rid of the infestation. At least I had two boys with short hair. Now I am 72 years old and have long hair… Oh well. I sure don’t want to put pesticides on my head, as for a senior person it’s probably not advisable anyway.
So off I go to try to conditioner with combing method. Thanks to all who wrote their helpful posts.
Kristen says
Oh, I am so sorry to hear that you have the little buggers. The tea tree oil/conditioner method worked GREAT for us, and yes, it’s so so so much cheaper than Sklice.
Hope your head is all clear soon!
Nikki says
This didn’t work for us. When my child had lice, we tried the Nix, the RX shampoo, this method and a product called Lice Free Spray. The only thing that worked first try was the Lice Free. It’s chemical free and it killed both the bugs and the nits, and both washed out in the shower. I did go through her hair once more after she washed, and only found a couple nits to pull out.
Mari says
Lice Free informertial?
Anne says
Thank you so much! This was the MOST helpful site on the subject. I’ve been doing it all on the poor heads of my two kids and myself for hours. But now I’m going to simplify, use your method and hopefully my son will be allowed back to school on Monday. Anne.
Kristen says
Oh, you poor mama! Much sympathy coming your way.
I felt so, so, much better once I figured out this method. Like, suddenly lice weren’t this scary, impossible thing anymore.
Hoping for clear heads for you soon!
seairaha says
I used the sklice today. Does anyone know if for sure it kills the eggs?
It instantly killed any living bugs as I could tell as soon as the lotion was put in my kids hair.
Kristen says
As far as I know, it does indeed kill the eggs. It’s one of the few things that promises that…they say you don’t even need to nit-pick after using it.
(I did, though, because lice apparently make me neurotic.)
Ruth says
HUGE thanks for sharing this! When you first posted it I thought, “Wow, I should keep this in mind for a few years down the road once my kid is in school.” This week my not-even-2-years-old daughter and I got lice! (Cue the “you’ve got to be kidding me” freak out and tears.) I used the insecticide on my head and it didn’t kill them, so then I went right to your method since I got the supplies to use on my daughter anyways. We will be sticking with the conditioner and tea tree oil now. And I appreciate the tip people left about adding it to shampoo for a preventive measure. Thanks again!
Kristen says
Oh dear. I’m so sorry that you guys got lice, but I’m super glad that my post is helping you out.
And yes…lice just make you cry, don’t they? So much sympathy coming your way.
kerri says
My daughter came home from a friends house with fleas..yes fleas ugh I was wondering were she they came from then I remembered seeing flea bombs on her friends counter ..!!I tried baking soda treatment and combed her hair out .it seemed to work. I also used conditioner also and combed that seemed to work for a while too .but then they were back so apple cider vinegar treatment came next …this has seemed to work .I also washed everything we owned vacuumed every nook and cranny .treated our dog too .I went out and bought some tea tree oil and put some in her shampoo ..I’m going to treat her with the conditioner and oil idea and comb all her hair just to make sure that I have Gotten every one of those buggers ..thank you for you for your help..I read that tea tree oil works on fleas too .but do not use it on your pets …it’s poison to them …thank you
Aardvark says
I Nixed and combed like a demon last week and thought I was good. Then my daughter got a rejection when we went for hair cuts. She was very embarrassed. I tried the tee tree oil. It works. As a note, in an emergency, Listerine also loosens nits.
Mary says
Can you use the tea tree oil after you’ve done the rid? I did the rid yesterday and really want to try something safer but didn’t know if mixing them was a good idea.
Kristen says
My gut feeling is that the tea tree oil shouldn’t cause any problems with the Rid. I wouldn’t want to use Nix right after Rid (so much stress on the scalp) but if anything, the tea tree oil/conditioner combo should help the scalp feel better.
Amy says
I’m so glad I stumbled across this page. I discovered lice on my boys 4 days ago and it’s been my focus all week. Reading the comments has been therapeutic! I did panic when I found them because my work colleague had been telling me horror stories of not being able to rid her three girls of the suckers. I decided to shave my boys heads…my husband did his, too, even though we didn’t see anything on him, mainly to make the boys feel better. Even after shaving with a #1 clipper, I made the boys and my husband sleep with olive oil on their scalps with a wrap to suffocate any stragglers. My husband looked through my hair and didn’t see anything, but I did my own olive oil treatment and added tea tree oil to mine…slept with it over night and kept it in my hair through the morning. I am 95% sure I saw a (very slow moving) live lice plunked on top of my oiled hair, and I almost freaked but I convinced myself it wasn’t fully alive and not much of a threat. I rinsed our heads with tea tree oil shampoo, went to target thinking I should go ahead and cave in and get some Rid, as the pediatrician had recommended (even though the boys were bald??). I ended up not using it on any of us, just not feeling right about it…and giving the boys a second oil treatment that night. I learned the importance of nit picking during the course of my obsessive research, so I kept the combs from the open kits to use on my hair. Upon a third search of my hair, I found some nits about an 1 1/2 inches down my hair shaft in the front of my hairline. No more live ones. For the past three nights, I have been oiling my hair at night with olive and almond oil and tea tree oil, combing it out, sleeping with the concoction in my hair,
combing it again in morning before washing with tea tree oil shampoo. I’ve been leaving leave-in conditioner in my hair during the day. My question is, how much longer should I keep doing this? I don’t see anything when I comb it out, but maybe I’m not looking hard enough.
Kristen says
I’m so sorry you all got lice! Much sympathy.
If your husband and sons shaved their heads, you don’t need to do a THING more for them. Lice have to have hair to hide in and lay their eggs on, so if there’s no hair, there are no lice. That part of your family is good to go!
For you…lice eggs can take 1-2 weeks to hatch, so if you are still not seeing any bugs 2 weeks from the last time you saw a live one, you should be free and clear.
You shouldn’t need to do the combing every night. I just did it every couple of days, and that worked fine.
(Baby lice can’t reproduce until 7-10 days after they’re hatched, so even IF there’s one left right now and it does hatch, catching it in a few days is more than sufficient.)
Amy says
Thank you sooooo much for your response. Kudos to you and what your are doing to help others.
Ande says
You know what I’ve done for my girls and for me (cuz I’m always afraid I’ll get them)
I take SMALL sections of hair and flat iron the hair
The extreme heat (I think) frys the eggs.
But u have to do super thin/small sections to make sure the metal plates on the flat iron actually touch the eggs
Dave says
I’m so glad I found your site and the great advice and support you’ve provided. We just finished a Nix treatment last night on both our kids (and freaked out and treated the two of us as well). Needless to say, after 8 loads of laundry, this evening we still found a bunch of adults, nymphs and nits in both kids hair after an hour of fine combing. I will be heading to the pharmacy tomorrow to purchase the necessary supplies and try an alternate method. Just to be clear, do you apply the conditioner/tea tree oil mixture to dry hair, or do you wet it and towel dry it first?
Kristen says
You can do it either way…I think it’s easiest if the hair is a little bit damp. If it’s too sopping wet, you’ll have a drippy mess on your hands, but if it’s super dry, it’s hard to work the conditioner all through.
So, wet the hair, towel dry it well, and then do the conditioner/tea tree oil thing.
This should get rid of all the nymphs and adults right off the bat, and if you stick with it every couple of days for a week or two, you should get rid of all the nits too. It’s a fair amount of work, but it actually IS effective, which is more than I can say for Rid/Nix and their ilk.
Plus, this treatment won’t make your head itchy. We had SUCH itchy heads after we used the Nix…it was awful.
Hang in there…you can kick these little buggers!
LB says
Ok, so I’m just wondering…if you do not see the actual bugs, can you have nits? I do not know for sure what I am looking for when it comes to lice, and haven’t found any live bugs that I’m aware of, but when I have combed it I’ve seen little yellow sack-like things! Thanks for your help!
Kristen says
The bugs, when they’re alive and well, are VERY VERY hard to see. They are lightning fast…you think you see one and then when you go to look closer, it’s gone.
The best way to check if you have lice is to add the conditioner and tea tree oil to damp hair and then comb through the hair. The oil and conditioner will completely immobilize any live lice in the hair, so if you’ve got live bugs on your hands, you will for sure be able to find them. They’ll come right out with the comb.
And the oil and conditioner will also make it much easier to comb out the nits.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
LB says
Well I actually did the tea tree/conditioner treatment twice and did not find bugs that I am aware of. When I did the treatment last I used a flea comb from a pet store, so that should have brought them out I would think? Thanks again… I really liked your post!
Kristen says
Yes, if you had live bugs, then you would surely have seen them then. There’s no way they can hide when they’re immobilized by the conditioner.
If you’re still concerned, I’d do the conditioner/oil comb again in a week or so. By then, any nits would have hatched and you’d be able to see them when you comb.
Jb says
I did the conditioner and tea tree treatment and found no bugs. To my disappointment I found some little brown bug (not sure if its a louse) on my bathroom counter nearly 24 hours later! Is it possible I missed the bug when did the treatment yesterday? How long do they survive off the head? And as I said, not sure if it actually is a louse!!! Is this confusing???
Kristen says
Hmm. It could be a random, unrelated bug. Try googling photos of a louse to see if it looks the same. Also, Lice are quite tiny (about the size of a sesame seed), so if it wasn’t that small, it likely was not a louse.
Adult lice die within 1-2 days of falling off of a person’s head.
It’s vaguely possible that you missed a live louse in your hair, but not super likely. And it would be sort of unusual for there to be just one bug in your hair, as lice have to mate and reproduce to survive.
If you’re wanting to be totally sure you don’t have any bugs on your head, wait a day or two and do the careful combing with conditioner again and that should set your mind at ease.
KM says
Hi!
I just found out that a child at my daughter’s babysitter has nits. Her head was checked at school and nothing was seen, but I’m freaked out…panic mode…any tips??
Kristen says
Aww, I understand the freaking out! If she’s been checked by a skilled person and nothing was found, you’re probably ok. And if the child at the babysitter’s has been treated, then hopefully your daughter won’t get infected.
If you are wanting to reassure yourself, you could do the conditioner/comb method I outlined here, because if there are any bugs in your daughter’s hair, you’ll find them for sure this way (the conditioner immobilizes them and they can’t hide!)
Tara says
Hey, I’m a 17-year-old girl and my sister gave me lice. I discovered this today that I had lice, and my mom said I have a TON of eggs. Dad bought some Nix, I used a box and it had gotten rid of the few live bugs. However, the eggs were still on my head (says my mom). My friend is giving me tea tree oil tomorrow, and I’m wondering if it’ll work if I put it in a spray bottle diluted with water. I cut 3-4 inches off my hair — it’s shoulder length now — and I don’t quite relish cutting any more off. I have to pick through the nits myself; my mother doesn’t want to touch my head. Any advice for the tea tree/any quick remedy other than oil+conditioner?
Kristen says
Hi there! The eggs will not come off just by using a treatment…they’re basically each glued to a strand of your hair.
The best way I found to get them off is to use a combo of tea tree oil and conditioner, and then comb through small sections of the hair, going from root to end, using a nit comb (you should have one from your Nix package, right?). The tea tree oil and conditioner help to loosen the glue so that when you comb thru using the nit comb, the eggs will come off more easily.
And good idea to cut off some of the hair…that makes it a lot easier to comb from root to tip!
Keep doing the tea tree oil/conditioner treatment every few days until you see no nits when you comb. Consistently doing this will make sure you catch ANY live bugs or any new lice that have hatched, and if you keep doing that, then no bugs can live long enough to lay new eggs on your hair.
I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Jamie says
Can you please advise what combing technique you used, how you parted the hair and if you applied the conditioner with tree oil before parting the hair or on the each parted portion at the time of combing? Thank you in advance for your reply. It is much appreciated.
Kristen says
Sure! I just kind of glop the conditioner/oil mixture onto the damp hair, working it in as you would if you were applying conditioner in the shower. Be generous with the application…the more you add and the more you work it in, the easier it will be to comb through the hair.
I didn’t have a particular method I used for parting and combing. I just worked around the head in a systematic way, combing through small portions at a time. If you’re dealing with a long, thick head of hair, it’s helpful to clip up portions you’re not working on, so you can easily get to the bottom sections of hair, by the ears and nape of the neck.
(From what I read and observed in my own kids, lice especially love to lay eggs in those two areas, so it’s critical to get those parts of the hair combed well.)
I hope that helps! Feel free to ask more questions if there’s something you’re still wondering about.
Shannon says
So, I read your blog post about a 2 months ago on the tail end of our lice situation, where all 5 children and myself got it. It was very much THE SKY IS FALLING, and as I have told my friends, head lice brought out a pretty pitiful side of me (like I wanted to just lay in the closet and cry for days and pray them away). I stored everything you shared away in the dreadful chance we might get it again.
Well, guess what? My children brought lice home again. We had a couple glorious months of no combing and checking but that all came crashing down when a friend texted that a few boys in my son’s class had lice. Ugh. I wish I could say I was as calm as you were the second go-round. I wasn’t. Tears and prayers and calling my husband in a panic. I came back to your post, and it really did calm me down. Thank you for that. I had been combing through dry hair for a couple hours and have decided to stop and do the wet comb and tea tree oil (we had been using that as a preventative but not consistently) and some deep breathing. Thanks for sharing your experience. I trust another mother’s experience more than anything else.
Kristen says
Oh goodness. I’m really sorry that you’re dealing with this again! I completely get the lying-in-the-closet-crying feeling.
The great thing about the tea tree oil/conditioner wet comb thing is that you can quickly sort out which kid has lice and which doesn’t. That was such a huge value to me in the second go-round. A comb through of all my kids speedily showed me that I only had one infected kid, and that was much less overwhelming!
Tessie Brooks says
So glad to have found your blog. New Year’s Eve I discovered my daughter had a lot of live bugs and a ton of nits. We did the Lice Free Spray and that seemed to kill all the live bugs. I have been nit picking her hair every since for an average of 7 hours a day for 4 days. I have read how important it is to get rid of the nits. This seems like a MUCH easier process that I will be trying. I am thinking she got them at the beginning of school (4 months ago) and she thought she had dandruff bad because of seeing flakes when she scratched. The school said it had been contacted about it but could not notify parents because of the federal FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) law which is stupid. I will be using tea tree oil in my shampoo and conditioner as a precautionary measure to keep from getting re-infested. Can you please advise me on how many drops you think I should use in each? Thanks
Kristen says
I’m not sure how much to add to the shampoo…maybe do some googling to see what people say?
It IS super important to get rid of the nits, but the great thing about the method I use is that the nits come out soo easily when you comb through the hair. The conditioner and the tea tree oil really help them to slide off the hair, and it’s just so much less frustrating than picking nits by hand.
Hang in there! All my sympathies go out to you.
Ann says
Thank you for the information. My daughter came down with the most awful case of head lice. She had just gotten back from a 4 day road trip, so at first I thought she picked something up from a hotel. The night she got home (a Sunday evening) I ran and bought Rid and used it on both of us. I also called her older sister who had been along on the trip and told her to do the same. I was shocked at what started coming out of my daughter’s hair when we rinsed the Rid. I had never seen such a bad case. Then when we were just detangling with a wide tooth comb, their were bugs falling everywhere. After determining she had a very bad case, I called the pediatrician’s office the next day. The nurse recommended Sklice. She said it was up to us, but that instead of waiting the 7 to 10 days to repeat Rid, she suggested we could just go ahead and use Sklice. We were able to print an online coupon for a discount, but it still cost me $65.00. Not sure why, since we do have insurance as well. I have the Sklice, but am debating about using it immediately. When I did the Rid treatment on myself, I found 1 louse in nymph stage. Needless to say, I feel like I can feel something crawling on my head as I type this. Hope it is my imagination, but after seeing what was in my youngest daughter’s hair, I am not so sure! With the stage of her infestation, I now feel she must have had it already before the road trip. I mean, she had unhatched nits, empty nits, nymphs and big bugs! She has a ton of fine, long curly hair. I am going to try your method along with the pesticides. Wish me luck!!
Kristen says
Yeah, if she had that many lice in her hair, then she’s probably had them for a while. It takes some weeks for them to multiply to that extent.
Sklice is crazy expensive, even if you have insurance. We paid a lot for ours, and I know it was at least partially covered.
Sklice is suppose to kill even the nits, but you could keep doing the tea tree oil/combing thing every few days just to make sure you get them all out of her hair. And hopefully the oil and conditioner will make her curly hair a little easier to comb through.
Lots of sympathy for you!
(Oh, and yes, knowing there are lice in your house TOTALLY makes your head itch. And treatments like Rid and Nix also make your scalp itchy.)
Chyanne says
I am so reluctant to have found this article. I’m a college student, so I’m essentially broke, and I’ve already purchased 4 RID packages (2 each attempt because of how thick and long my hair is!) and an end to the madness just seems out of reach. I live on my own and combing out my own hair is a nightmare. Plus, who has the time! My hair is super thick and hallway down my back. I’m praying that this will work. I’m considering getting a drastic hair cut just to make the process a little easier, but I’m afraid of a hairdresser seeing nits. This whole thing gives me such anxiety! I’m so lost as to what to do!
Kristen says
Luckily, I didn’t end up getting lice when my kids did, but this is definitely the method I’d use on myself if I ever get them.
I cut several inches off of my one daughter’s long, thick hair, just because it’s far easier to use a nit comb on shorter hair.
Do you have a friend who could lop a few inches off of your hair with a good pair of scissors? You could always go get a proper haircut when your lice are all gone, and this would at least make your life easier in the meantime. Do you have any friends who could help you comb through your hair?
Ann says
So I filled the Sklice script, but have not used it yet. My daughter (who is 14) has decided to hold off, at least until it is the retreat time (7 to 10 days) as instructed by Rid. It is making me nervous, because she had a pretty severe case. I went to Whole Foods today and bought the 100% Tea Tree Oil and an Avalon Organics Tea Tree Shampoo. I opened the bottle of oil in the car, just to see what it smelled like. Yikes!! Now I see why it repels the lice. What a strong smell. I only opened it briefly. Now my concern is if I do use it on my daughter’s hair, it will leave such a strong odor. It is not unpleasant, just strong. The worst was that my older daughter showed up today with no warning. She did not know about our invasion. I broke the news to her before she even set foot in the house. I had spoken to my 14 year old this morning and we had agreed that I would have to warn the older sister if she came over. I thought I would do so over the phone, but did not have the chance. She was upset. She has two little boys, age 1 and 3. I don’t blame her. That was the worst of it. I hope we will not be one of those families that takes forever to get rid of the darn stuff. Good luck to everyone out there and thanks again for this very informative site. It helps to be able to talk about it, since there is such a stigma attached. If I knew everyone would not react badly, I would forewarn everyone. I think that is a large part of the problem, no one wants it known that they have lice! Yet, it can happen to anyone. I think I might try the tea tree oil, but will very likely break down and do the Sklice at the end of it all. Well, let’s hope that will be the end……will keep everyone posted. I think where I may have slipped up is in the washing of clothes after the road trip. Things got jumbled together. A coat was placed on a bed………did not want to put some things in the dryer. That will probably be my downfall!
Kristen says
Yes. There’s SUCH a stigma about it, which is precisely why I wrote this post and why I blogged about it in the midst of our lice infestation. Talking more openly about it will remove the stigma.
You use just a little bit of tea tree oil in the conditioner, so the smell is there, but it’s not crazy strong. And after you comb, you can just rinse the hair out afterward…no need to leave it in. So the smell will not be wafting off of her hair everywhere!
Ann says
Ok. We have both done the tea tree oil thing. My daughter and myself. I used a teaspoon to a bowl size amount of conditioner. I think I would use less next time around. That is some strong stuff. At one point I had my daughter lower her head to get to the back of her hair and she said she couldn’t breathe well! Strong enough, that my husband came from the living room to see what was up and said we should open a window. I have read a few bad things about tea tree oil. Breath growth in pubescent boys?? Hope I have not done the wrong thing. After I used it the other day on myself the smell seemed to fade after a while. Good news was I saw no sign of bugs in my daughter’s hair. Bad news: her hair is so fine and there is so much of it, I am sure there are nits attached still. Definitely would use less oil in the mix next time. I think it is strong enough to do the trick.
Lacey says
We are currently battling head lice with my oldest son. The treatment at the store worked some but didn’t get all the bugs. I did the tea tree oil and conditioner and it’s working like a charm! I’m hoping to get this kicked to the curb soon because I’m so stressed about it. I know I probably shouldn’t be but I have super bad anxiety and any little problem worries me! Thanks for the article!
Kristen says
Don’t feel guilty for feeling stressed. I’m a pretty low-anxiety person, and when my four kids had lice, I was a wreck!
debbie says
I,ve got a 25 ounce bottle of conditioner……and also my shampoo is the same size……my question is……how many drops of tea tree oil do I put in ……….and is it safe to put it in my shampoo also…..and I also need to make a spray for my furniture…….my spray bottle is about 22 ounces………so how many drops of oil do I use in the bottle of water…….and thank you………so very much…….for posting ……about this very embarrassing problem…….
Kristen says
I didn’t mix mine in the bottle. I just mixed a teaspoon or so with about a half cup of conditioner in a little bowl and applied that to the hair before combing. Hope that helps!
Mo says
Thank you for your site. Literally a year ago my youngest came down with lice. I treated her and I thought that was the end of it until I noticed my oldest start scratching around bedtime and all of a sudden my head started feeling itchy. $350 later after going to a salon that exclusively deals with lice removal I ran across some information about tea tree oil and wished I would have seen it before. Let’s fast forward a year later and once again my youngest has lice. I googled tea tree oil and your blog came up. Your method works! This time my youngest is the only one that has it. Luckily my oldest daughter and I don’t, but we all did the treatment and I’ve put the oil in both our shampoo and conditioner. I even added it to the no tangle spray. I’m REALLY hopeful this will be the end! Thanks for sharing!
Kristen says
Oh man, I’m sorry you’re having to deal with lice twice! That’s so hard.
Keep on conditioning and combing every few days with your youngest, and when you stop seeing any nits in the nit comb, you should be good to go.
Ann says
Just to follow up. We did Sklice today. I had enough left over from my daughter’s tube to do my hair too! Hope I put enough on her. Just figured we need to treat at the same time! That done, I washed our pillowcases in hot water and thru in dryer. Did all her bed, not mine though. Hope my slacking does not get us in trouble. Just a reminder to everyone. Pour hot water over your hairbrushes and combs. My daughter has a big round brush for curling. I swear to you, on about the third time pouring boiling water on the darn brush, a bug fell out of it!! I ws shocked. Good luck everyone. Also just to explain, this was our followup after using Rid 7 days ago. A little hard to know if we did the right thing or not. I would have followed up with Rid, but was told by pediatricians nurse that Rid does not work well. The idea of following up is due to eggs hatching 7 days after first treatment. Supposedly then killing the young lice before they can lay eggs. Not sure if what was in our eggs had hatched yet or not. So confusing. I did see a few bugs, maybe three or four when I rinsed my daughter’s hair of the Sklice. Did not see anything when I rinsed my head. She was the one with the big infestation. I just pray this is not a school infestation.
Kristen says
I hope this takes care of the problem once and for all for you!
I think your bed should be fine. Treating the head/hair is the most important thing.
And yes, I agree 100% with your nurse. Nix/Rid seem fairly useless in my experience…a waste of time and money, and they make your head itch, even if you don’t have lice!
Melissa says
I discovered over the weekend that both of my children have lice, the younger of the two being the worse. So of course I ran out and bought the chemical treatment and treated both of them. I came across this site today looking for something that was not as harsh on their skin (my daughter has sensitive skin as well).
I did the oil and conditioner and got just nits out of my son and nits and one nymph out of my daughter. I am hoping we are on the road to not having these things anymore.
Would you suggest foregoing the 2nd chemical treatment that the kit recommemds and continue with just the oil and conditioner?
Kristen says
Honestly, I feel like the Rid/Nix treatments are so useless, it’s not even worth bothering with the second treatment. I had way, way, WAY more success using the conditioner/tea tree oil combo than I did with Rid or Nix.
If it were me, I’d just keep going with the conditioner/oil combo every few days until you’re not seeing any nits, and then you should be good to go.
Hang in there, and much sympathy to you!
Angie says
I heard if you continue to use a shampoo or condioner with tea tree oil in it that will prevent getting lice in the first place. Is this true or just a mith
Kristen says
I haven’t read any studies on it, so I’m not sure. I mean, it wouldn’t hurt to try that if you’d like…tea tree oil isn’t going to hurt you, and it can help with problems like dandruff.
Heather says
Yes! I read that the tree tea oil acts as a repellent and of course helps with dandruff!
Colleen says
So relieved I found this info. On the second go round with my 15 yr old daughter. Did the Nix Saturday. Will do this method tonight!! She has long and very thick hair!! Will keep you posted!!!
Susan says
Going through this now. We did the Sklice and now the combing — one question I have is getting the nits/eggs out of my child’s hair. I can see them in there, but the comb doesn’t seem to do a good job of getting them out. I think the Sklice killed them, but if there are any “live” ones still in her hair, how do I get them out? The tea tree oil/conditioner + lice comb just doesn’t seem to work. I use the same purple comb you have, and the teeth of the comb seem too wide apart. I also have a metal “Terminator” comb, which has the same issue.
Thanks for posting this on your blog!! I’m definitely using tea tree oil from now on in all our shampoo.
Kristen says
Hmm. Maybe your kiddo has really thin strands of hair? That’s the only reason I can think of for the combs not getting the nits out.
The Sklice should kill even the unhatched eggs, but I picked anyway, just in case. I didn’t trust it!
It is possible to get nits out manually, but it is tedious. You look through the hair, section by section, and when you find a nit, you grasp the strand of hair with the nit between two fingernails and steadily pull it until you’re at the end of the hair.
On the other hand: you can choose to just keep combing with conditioner and tea tree oil, and that way you will catch any nits that hatch. Your comb might not take the nits out, but it will surely catch any nymphs.
Kim says
I’ve been fighting the lice battle with my 6 year old for the past 2 months off and on. I even paid $100 to have them professionally removed. I use tea tree oil in a spray bottle on her hair everyday and tonight my head itched and found a bug in my hair! I immediately checked my daughter’s waist – length wavy hair and found the mother load! I’m beyond words upset! What I did find is tea tree oil, not diluted kills lice. I put that sucker on a Qtip and dropped tea tree oil directly on it, it was dead a couple minutes later. The flat iron and blow dryer method is a myth. I put a live one in the sink, held a blow dryer on high on it about 2 inches away for about 20 seconds, and it was still kicking. Also, obviously spraying it diluted on her hair every morning does not work. Maybe it wears off before the day is over?Tomorrow the ped is getting a call for Sklice. The school nurse informed me many parents just don’t care and try to send their kids to school with lice. So a message to these parents. If your child has lice DO NOT SEND THEM TO SCHOOL! Parents like me and many others curse you when we find lice on our child’s head, all because you are lazy or plain just don’t care! This turned into a rant, I apologize. I’m just so frustrated right now.
Kristen says
I’m so sorry you’re having to deal with this again!
Sklice does work really well, so hopefully your daughter will be lice-free shorty.
Kryssy says
Thank you so much for your post! You have definitely put me at ease. My daughter, son, and I are experiencing this. I just performed our 2nd nix treatment on yesterday, but I wish I had found your post sooner. I feel so bad about putting Nix in my babies hair. Can I use the conditioner and tea tree oil method a day after the nix treatment has been given? I just want them gone. When I found the live bug in her hair yesterday I honestly broke down crying. Thanks for all your help.
Kristen says
Yep, you can use the conditioner and tea tree oil at any point after you use Nix.
Much sympathy to you! I broke down and had a big ugly cry at one point in the middle of dealing with four lice-infested heads. And the fact that Nix works so poorly is enough to make you cry too!
Maya N. says
Hi Christen, just found out yesterday both my 9 year old daughter and my 17 year old daughter had lice nits. I felt like my world was upside down because I was flooded with memories of my own experience with lice in my early childhood until the age of 17. I treated m younger Dtr with Nix and comed out some nits which considering was not much and then decided to check on my oldest daughter to see if she had any, she says oh no I wash my hair every day and flat iron it every day but I guess flat ironing killed all her nits, although she had her whole was full of it, does that mean she had or has lice? I just called PED for a SKLICE prescription and hope it works. We both lost sleep last night and I was crying so much until it drained me. Do you suggest she uses tea tree oil with shampoo and conditioner every day, she has oily hair and washes her hair daily. Also my oldest daughter coaches gymnastics and my youngest daughter attends gymnastics. I am wondering if they both picked it up there. When Giles do tumbles their hair usually touches the floor. Have you ever heard of that? Would you also suggest I wash my 9 year olds hair 3 times per week or daily with tea tree and shampoo
Desperate mom
Thanks
Kristen says
Hey there! Much sympathy to you. It’s such an unsettling experience when your kids get lice.
I suppose you could pick up lice on a gymnastics floor…but you’d have to pick up a male and a female louse in order to get infested, so you’re more likely to get lice from close head to head contact from teammates, I’d think.
Sklice works great. If you’d like to get the nits out, just in case the Sklice doesn’t kill them all, I’d nit comb their hair every few days with the tea tree oil/conditioner combo. Every day isn’t necessary and that’ll drive you nuts anyway!
If your older daughter’s hair is full of nits, then yep, she’s probably got a current infestation going on. It’s not super likely that the flat iron killed every nit, so there are probably some that managed to hatch and reproduce.
The Sklice should help a lot, though, and if you use the nit comb with the oil/conditioner every few days, they should be all cleared up fairly soon.
Deby says
Kristen I like maya, cried and lost sleep all night. My 9 year old just was diagnosed over the weekend for the first time. We too had a professional come out cause I was as well scarred after having it as a child
Needless to say she says it’s gone but I will follow up with your suggested treatment for sure and can’t thank you enough for settling my nerves. I hadn’t been able to eat since Sunday night cause my stomach was in knots. The professional said it was mild and we must have caught it early. Thank god no one else has it but will be preventive and treat us all. I can’t thank you enough for talking us first timers off the ledge! Do you think it’s worth it at this point to call me pediatrician for a perception of Sklice ontop of this tea tree oil treatment, given we had the professional here?
Kristen says
I seriously doubt Sklice is necessary after professional de-lousing, especially if you plan to use a tea tree oil/conditioner treatment on top of that.
Hang in there!
Liz says
Thank you so much. We needed this for our daughter this year. The Nix we used gave me a headache, so I knew it couldn’t be without any side effects for her. This is a much improved process. I am sending this on to my sister too.
Kristen says
I’m so glad that it was helpful for you. I thought this method beat Nix hands down. It’s effective, it’s natural, and it doesn’t make your head itchy.
Yuliya says
this is kind of funny, because when both of my kids got lice for the first time few years back I went through several Nix treatments and washing everything and it was very expensive, but the worse part that after the treatment I would still find live lice. Then I used olive oil mixed with tea tree oil, wrapped the head in the plastic and after that all the lice were dead, so I just had to comb the nits out at that point and we were done. I just cant remember how long I kept the mixture on the hair.
Helen says
I used this method today, but first I washed my daughter’s hair with Dr.Bronner’s tea tree Castile soap. When we rinsed it out you could see all the little bugs going down the drain. This made the combing stage much easier because I was left with just nuts to comb.
Brit says
I’m glad I’m not the only one who panicked! After a late night bath I was brushing my 6 year olds hair and thought I saw something. I immediately thought back to earlier in the evening when she mentioned her neck and around her ear itched (she has eczema so I had not thought much about it, I just did the cortisone cream to sooth her skin.) I continued to look through her hair and found only a few bugs but no big white patches like you see in pictures on the internet. After she headed to bed I told my husband I was going to head to town, he thought I was nuts but I wanted to get it taken care of first thing in the morning. 2 stores later I completely over bought lice shampoos/ kits and also grabbed tea tree oil to use as a prevention. I found your article searching for how much tea tree oil to use as a prevention. So, so, so glad I found this! I am going to use your method as the chemicals make me nervous and she has such sensitive skin! My head has not stopped itching since I saw the bugs in my daughters hair. Luckily, my husband and oldest son have buzz cuts, my 6 month old has a little longer hair but I’m hoping he will be ok. If I do find anything on him can I do this method with him as well? I feel so much calmer after reading this and all of the comments. Now if I could just get my crazy mom brain to shut off maybe I’ll be asleep before 3 am
Anyways end of my rant, thank you again! Have a wonderful day!
Kristen says
Your six month old is probably just fine…his hair is fine and thin still, right? So you’d easily be able to see any bugs and nits in his hair. And if his hair is thin and fine, you’d be able to just manually pull any nits off his head. If you want to use the tea tree oil/conditioner, just double check with his ped to make sure it’s ok.
The itching you get while thinking about lice is terrible, right? Been there, done that!
Hang in there…you’ll get through this.
Tammy says
I just discovered my 8yr old has lice last night. I have some tea tree oil and Suave Conditioner. Do I shampoo her head first-then do the conditioner/oil? Also, I’ve heard I should put a cap on her head and have her sit with it in for 10-12hrs before rinsing it out to suffocate the lice. How long did you leave the conditioner/oil on your daughter’s head?
Kristen says
Aww, much sympathy to you!
I did not shampoo the hair first, although you certainly can if you want.
I did not leave the conditioner/oil mixture on the hair. You could, but I don’t think it would make a difference. Here’s why: if you comb through your daughter’s hair while it’s heavily coated with conditioner and oil, the nymphs and adult lice will be unable to move, and you will easily be able to remove them through the combing process.
So, after your first combing session, you will likely have removed everything but the unhatched nits. Leaving the conditioner/oil on won’t do anything to get rid of those, so it seems a bit pointless.
I mean, it’s not going to hurt anything if you do leave it on, but it’s also probably not going to accomplish anything.
As long as you do the conditioner/oil + combing thing every few days for a week or two, you should be good to do. You’ll definitely catch anything that hatches (because the conditioner immobilizes them due to the heaviness of it) and you’ll also be systematically removing the nits during the combing process.
Keep doing the conditioner/combing until you’ve had a good number of sessions where you haven’t seen any nymphs or nits.
Hang in there!
Laurianne Nelson says
Hi
I am grateful to your article -. Thank You, Please tell me, can I blow dny my hair When We treated with tea tree oil, will it damage my hair.
Some internet sites said that heat, also kills then nits.
Thank You
Kristen says
I’m not sure about blow drying with tea tree oil in your hair. But if you do the combing with the oil and conditioner, you won’t have to worry about killing the nits with the blow dryer because you’ll be combing them out.
Amanda says
Last night my 3 year son said he had a bump on his head and i remembered he bumped his head earlier in the day so i looked at his head, he had a small scab i picked off and then saw a small white bug.. i FREAKED! I didnt want to panic him and if you have a 3 year old you know if you tell them any thing its like telling the news reporter. So i ran to target and got nix. Took the comb and combed his head all night while he slept . He woke up and i bribed him with ice cream to do a “hair mask” with mommy. We choose not to use the nix but to try olive oil we both worr it for 3 hours then rinsed, shampoo, and used vinegar. Im still worried i dont have them all, i found nits on me after treatment but im worried they arent all gone, i have almost waist length curly hair. Im about to do the tea tree and condition on myself and my son, should we leave it sit for a bit? How long?
Kristen says
Hey there-
One oil/combing treatment will usually not get rid of all the nits. It will get rid of all the live bugs, as they’ll be immobilized and will come out when you comb. But it takes a number of oil/combing treatments to get all the nits combed out, because they are basically glued to the hair strands.
You can leave the oil/conditioner combo on your head for a while, but it won’t do a whole lot to change things. The nits are the main difficulty, and you have to do a careful job of combing multiple times to get those out. Very little will actually kill the nits…the idea is that you need to comb them out before they hatch.
(Although if you miss some and they hatch, you will be able to easily comb them out during oil/conditioner combing sessions, as the heavy oil/conditioner combo makes them unable to move).
So, stick with the conditioner/oil/combing routine every couple of days until you are consistently seeing no nits in your combing sessions and you should be good to go.
Lacey Moore says
When you do thr conditioner and tea tree oil treament , do you wash your hair after you do the combing.. my daughter has been battling this since December. Nothing has worked .. alcohol did kill them but didn’t get all the nits
Kristen says
Yes, we rinsed their hair after combing, but you can certainly leave it in overnight if you want to err on the safe side.
I’m so sorry your daughter has had lice since December. Much sympathy to you!
Very little will actually kill the nits; you have to comb them out and dispose of them. If you follow the method I outlined here and do the conditioner/combing thing every few days until you see NO nits coming out while you comb, then you should be in good shape.
Sarah Lamb says
So last night I was go ogling will I ever be able to get rid of lice in pure desperation and up you popped! I visit your blog often so I wonder how I never saw this originally.
So some genius at my son’s Elementry school thought it would be awesome to let all of the kids use county provided bikes and helmets the last month of school. And so after two weeks of him being itchy, (to his shoulders, thick curly headed) I just by chance saw one. Ajor freaking out because I’m 36 and had never had them. Until now. He gave them to me, and his 3 year old brother. So we thought after 2 licefree treatments we were all good, and DH who works at a school told me not to waste time combing nits, after I’d done it one night for 2 hours, because the stuff he wanted to use said we didn’t have too, and etc, and and my DH said he’d be checking heads, but evidently he wasnt, or he just would peer at the top of a head and they came back worse. So he insisted we use Nix. And they were still moving around. And he was annoyed he had to comb my hair. So after finding this last night, I did the conditioner and tea tree oil on the boys, and got a lot of nits out. Going to do it again in 2 days, until the all clear. I begged DH to do me as well. I’m desperate to get rid of these. It’s horrible, and embarrassing and just plain icky. But its so reassuring to see others have had it, that it does sometimes take work to make them go away, but eventually they should. Those horror stories of years with lice freak me out.
Allison says
Thank you for the frugal suggestion for dealing with lice!
I combed my daughter’s dry hair, caught one bug, then we did a 10-minute head soak with apple cider vinegar, then rinsed it out, and then glopped on a mixture of coconut oil and tea tree oil, added a shower cap, and then let it sit for about 5 hours. I went ahead and treated my head, too, since I can’t get a good look at it. I had seen only one bug in her hair to start with, and after the soak, nabbed two additional dead ones. The nits slid out quite easily with the oils on the hair shaft. We will simplify the process per your suggestions, Kristen, and just flop on the mixture then immediately comb through, and will keep up the combing every 2-3 days until a couple of weeks after we see the last bug or nit.
In addition to combing with the conditioner/oil, my daughter and I are wearing head scarves when we know we will be in close proximity or hugging people to help keep the lice from jumping over to someone else’s head. The scarves get washed in hot water and dried each evening. It feels like a responsible thing to do until we know the buggers are gone.
Also, we used the “steam sanitary” setting on our steam dryer to heat/steam the four plushie dolls she snuggles with these days.
Cindy says
It may sound silly but you can also first wash your hair with flea shampoo, it tells you on the bottle it kills lice as well, then follow up with the conditioner/oil combing. And flea shampoo is not expensive, for patents to use on their children once a week during the school year for prevention!
Jaclyn says
I’ve read that you can prevent lice by adding tea tree oil to shampoo and/or conditioner or spray tea tree oil( diluted with water) into hair daily.
Nancy says
Is tea tree oil safe to use on my 3 yr old daughters head/hair? She doesn’t quite sit real well, but unfortunately I came here from a Google Search because we have recently become to having it. My kids cousin come back from his mothers family side and brought it to us. Sigh. I personally washed my hair in tea tree oil last night and my husband and I nit combed my hair. Also, I read somewhere that you aren’t supposed to use tea tree oil on boys? Is this true? Any help would be greatly appreciated, all I have done is cry. It is so embarrassing and discouraging.
Kristen says
Hang in there! Lice happens to people from all walks of life, and it’s more common than you think.
I’ve never heard that tea tree oil can’t be used on boys. I used the tea tree oil/conditioner method on all four of my kids (three girls and one boy) and they are all just fine.
(Ok, just googled, and it sounds like maaaaybe tea tree oil can cause problems for boys when it’s used regularly on its own. But this usage is going to be very temporary, mixed with conditioner, and it’s getting rinsed out. My son had no issues at all.)
Also, I’ve never read anything about it not being able to be used on a 3 year old’s hair. Especially when you mix it in with the conditioner, I think it should be fine, and certainly at least as safe as the insecticide treatments, such as Rid.
Nancy says
Thanks so much for responding. I have read earlier on in your reply of how much you used and will be using it tonight. Sadly I have freaked out and am literally finishing washing every stitch of clothing/bedding/towels in my house. Sigh! That probably was a bit over board to do. Is it truly necessarily to have to wash everything? Sadly I am having to treat mine and my daughter’s hair. Husband and son shaved their heads per husbands suggestion.
Kristen says
I think the washing everything in the house is pretty overrated. Treating people’s heads is what really makes a difference…if you’re consistent with that, you’ll get rid of the lice.
Shaving heads is an awesome solution if family members are up for it! Easy and effective.
Bugging out says
I am so grateful to you for sharing your experience as well as solution. At almost 45 years old, I have never had lice. My 8 year old is on a second infestation (caught it from a new housekeeper !! He was 6 y/o when he contracted head lice the first time. We had just moved from California to another country. My son’s cousin (pre-teen) contracted head lice from a sleepover. She had been treated but none of the sevants or her guardians warned us she still had lice (and original source of lice–her BFF–continued to sleepover regularly). We lived in the same house for several months before I found out– my son got lice!
First, the stigma…dealing with it openly would be so helpful. People feeling ashamed to warn others because they’re embarrassed leads to cases like my son’s and worse, persistent infestations like his cousin’s.
I am not ashamed this second round–i read somewhere that lice prefer clean hair (is it so they can “glue” their nits onto the hair shaft?) I will be using your method this round. I do use a conditioning hair oil on myself that also contains tea-tree oil–which could explain why I have never had lice. I am scratching my head quite a bit lately, though, as I read up on lice.
Second, knowledge can only improve our battle. Getting past the stigma and courageous parents like you sharing and demystifying the experience creating an open, non-judgemental dialogue helps all.
As of today, i have read your post and every comment following. I do not typically post comments but after learning so much from your post and the comments that followed , i wanted to share my experience too even on the slim chance it would help anyone else.
1) My husband read on Yahoo that the U. S. Currently has lice infestations on the uprise with many cases resistant to the current medical treatments. (I’m so glad I learned about Sklice and the homeopathic treatments from your post).
2) I had no idea (until my own got lice) that the female louse only needs to mate ONCE in order to keep laying eggs! It’s so amazing and disgusting that she pockets the sperm from one “rendezvouz” and uses it repeatedly to lay 5-10 nits per day! To battle a creature like this we all need to keep open minds and open dialogue so we are better prepared than she.
3) tea tree oil mixed with other oils in a small spray bottle is a great scalp and hair conditioner and I have now learned from your post/comments a lice preventive treatment. I have used sunflower oil, argan oil, rosemary oil (strong smell), jojoba oil or a combo with just a few drops of tea tree oil.
I like to mix it in small spray bottle more often because it makes me feel better thinking the oil mix is fresher and hence more effective (this is not backed by any research, just in my mind).
Thank you so much for your post! You have no idea what a great help your information is to me. I am a germ-o-phobe by nature so telling you I went cuckoo the first time I saw nits would be an understatement. I definitely went overboard sanitizing and decontaminating everything the first time. After reading your post i am much calmer, empowered and even realize what a waste of resources and effort my first bout with head lice was. Now I can focus my energy on being rid of them for good! Thank you so much!!!
Kristen says
I’m not even a germophobe and I had a freakout the first time! Ha. Lice are just a bit terrifying.
I’m super glad that my post was helpful to you.
Nancy says
Sigh. This is my first rodeo with my youngest having it. I cried no doubt. Sadly, I have wasted countless of hours and energy on cleaning and washing every stitch of clothing and bedding. Talk about exhausting to say the least. If I ever have to deal with it again, which I can only hope not, I will be sure to be a bit more calmer after reading your post. It has not been easy being able to treat my 3 yr old’s head whenever she doesn’t want to sit still for it and she just cries, breaks my heart into pieces. We acquired it from my kids’ cousin who spent time with his mother and her family recently and had stayed the night/weekend at my house. Won’t be doing that anytime soon! I want to thank you, many others and the original poster of all the helpful information!
LeahG says
A question I had is… Do you keep your kids home from school and all activities while you are doing the daily comb and check?
Kristen says
That’ll depend on your school’s policy. A lot of schools seem to have a no live bugs policy, and once you’ve done the first comb-through, you should have removed all the live bugs.
Rita Elliott says
Did you say you can mix tea tree oil with water & spray the furniture as in couches & maybe beds with it? It won’t harm the furniture?
My poor granddaughter keeps getting lice. She stays with us often. I feel so bad for her & her parents. I want to also help them with this problem. Can you please tell me how much oil & water for the mixture?
Any other ideas with this treatment would help too!
Thank you,
Rita
Kristen says
I’ve never treated furniture with it. Treating a child’s head is the most important thing. Lice can’t survive very long off of a person’s head, so furniture and such isn’t a huge problem. It’s getting the bugs off of her head that’s the big issue.
Kyle says
Thanks for sharing My daughters doctor will not write us a script for the pharma stuff and we are at a loss of how to handle this my daughter caught it in school, and the school tried to finger her as the focal point now here we are four months later still combating it we have two girls and a woman in the house My son and I just shave it if we itch, but now its gotten so out of hand we arent even sure if we are symptomatic or psychsymatic, My daughter has knits right now but no live sightings doing the conditioner treatement on her now, is there any specific time period to leave it in for? Its overwhelming thanks for sharing your knowledge
Kristen says
You don’t need to leave the conditioner in for long…the point of it is to smother the bugs, so that you can comb them out, and also to loosen the nits, so you can comb them out.
Just keep doing the conditioner/oil treatment every few days, and once you’ve had several combing sessions where no nits come out, you should be good to go.
The important thing is to keep consistently doing the combing every few days so that you nab any newly hatched nymphs before they can grow up and reproduce.
Hang in there! You can get rid of this.
Casey says
In theory, couldn’t someone just sleep with oil in the hair for 7-10 days to kill any live bugs – including those new ones that hatch? Would there be any need to nit comb at all? I’m worried that my husband won’t be thorough in combing my hair and / or I won’t be effective in doing it myself. Do you think the oil would be enough?
Kristen says
I think the oil would eventually be absorbed by your hair and skin, and then wouldn’t be effective in suffocating the lice.
You are definitely going to want to faithfully comb the hair to get rid of the nits. I wish there was a simpler way, but combing is SUPER important.
Casey says
I think you are probably right Kristen. I’ve been reading that they need to be very saturated to be immobilized.
I am happy to report that we tried your method exactly as written and it worked! I did my own head and after the second combing I found only one creature. The third time I found nothing at all on three of us. Ya!! I guess I did add in a vinegar rinse to help with itching but otherwise we just used a big bottle of Suave and tea tree. Thanks so much for posting this!! The week before school this has been a true life saver.
Kristen says
Yay!! You might want to keep doing a combing 3 days from now, and then another 3 days from then, just to be SURE they are all gone.
Heather says
I also read that you can put it in your hair and sleep with a shower cap on and then comb your hair out the next morning! Help kill them over night!
Heather says
Hi! I read somewhere that you can also mix tea tree oil with water in a spray bottle and you can spray your sheets, couches, etc instead of having to get rid of them or wash them over and over again. Have you done this?? Also I think I am going to put the tea tree oil in my shampoo and conditioner, because I heard it acts as a repellent if I ever come into contact again with them! UGH my step daughter came home with lice and gave it to me. I tried NIX as well and NADA!
Kristen says
I don’t think that’s probably necessary, although it won’t hurt anything. Most lice are spread with head-to-head contact, so if you are treating the heads in your house, then you are likely good to go, although you certainly could wash easy things like pillowcases and sheets.
But really, the energy should be focused on ridding the heads of lice…that’s the most important thing.
Sarahh says
God bless you for this article! We are dealing with our first experience with lice this week. The family members have it. It is much less terrifying because of your article. Thank you for your honest sharing.
Kristen says
I’m so glad it was helpful. I know how overwhelmed I felt when we got lice, and I don’t want anyone else to feel that way!
Heather says
Hi, so I did your treatment suggestion last night!! Pretty simple but boyyyyyy did the house smell like tea tree oil HA! I didn’t mind it but my husband did lol. I am in my early 30s and like an overgrown baby I totally had my mother come over and do my hair. Yup don’t trust the man to do this kind of job! She didn’t find any bugs, she thought she found a couple of nits but wasn’t sure if it was the conditioner clumped in my hair.
Before I started this process, 2 months ago my 16 yr old step daughter came home and we discovered lice in her hair. I was the one that did the treatment (NIX) on her and tried to be so careful but apparently I wasn’t that careful, although I didn’t know it at the time. Anyways, turns out she never did the follow up treatment so I did it one more time and to my surprise (insert sarcasm) she didn’t do the follow up. So of course I got it :(. I did a treatment (NIX) on my hair, BY MYSELF, and followed up and did everything it asked me to do. As time went on I kept scratching and then recently, a couple of times at work, I would find little brownish bugs (3 to be exact) that looked like adult based on Google images. I’m assuming that fell out of my hair, because they were dead, not alive, not moving. Not sure what that meant!
Back to last night, the treatment was simple, quick and pain free! Like I have responded before, I also have been spraying things down around the house with the tea tree oil/water mixture since I keep reading that the tree tea oil acts as a repellent as well as added tea tree oil to all of our shampoo & conditioners! The head lice may have won the battle for the last 2 months but I will win the WAR!!
Kristen says
Haha, I had a friend come check my head instead of having Mr. FG do it. His close-up vision isn’t that great so I didn’t trust him!
Nix and Rid are often useless against lice because a lot of lice have developed a resistance to it. I think you’ll have much better results with the method in this post. Just keep at it until you see no nits/bugs as you comb the conditioner and tea tree oil out.
Cassi says
Do you remember which kit the purple comb came out of? I’m going to try this method but wasn’t sure if I could buy the comb separately or have to buy a kit to get it?
Kristen says
The comb came in the Rid kit we had, but I think that most kits come with a comb. You can also buy a comb separately on Amazon, although that won’t be quite as quick, obviously!
Donnette says
I start with an electric nit comb, Then use head and shoulders conditioner to smother any lice not caught by the comb. Covering the hair thickly and letting it sit wrapped in a towel for at least 30 minutes. Then rinse it out of the hair, following with a vinegar rinse. Then picking through the hair with a regular nit comb. (That’s what I do for the head.) of course, you also need to treat the bed and stuffed animals, brushes, etc.
TariC says
Thank you for this. I made it 9 yrs with kids (plus about 8 working in middle schools) without lice. Both my children now have them and I am going to lose my mind. We homeschool for pity’s sake and are able to avoid a lot of things. Between our friends that have endured an infestation and your post, I feel slightly better.
Kristen says
Yup, I thought this was something we’d avoid due to homeschooling!
But alas, it was not to be.
Hang in there…you are not alone, and you CAN get rid of the lice.
Lisa says
After fighting the good fight by faithfully spraying and combing through a tea tree oil/peppermint/lavender concoction every morning since we were informed of an outbreak in one of the kindergarten classes ~2 weeks ago, our household has succumbed to lice…again.
Last year’s outbreak resulted in 2 treatments of Rid (which did not work) & THREE visits from a prifessional
Lisa says
Can you imagine what nit-picking is like for a child with autism? I’ll give you a hint: last year I spent $600 to have a professional nit-picker come to our home after 2 failed Rid remediation attempts–this is what defeat looks like.
We realized today that our family had finally succumbed to the great kindergarten outbreak of 2016 (just in time for the holidays too). So tonight we did the Rid treatment, which basically resulted in 2 hours of pure torture for all parties involved. Afterwards, I took to google because I just had to believe there was a better way–and then I found your recipe!
I’ve ordered my oil and I am anxious to try the conditioner method as it sounds like it would be far less painful & much more effective. So thank, thank you, thank you for blogging about your experience! I will try to post an update of our outcome. In the meantime, pray for us.
Kristen says
Oh man, I’m so sorry that you’re dealing with this during the holidays. Not that there’s ever a great time to have lice…but this is especially bad.
And yes…Rid did pretty much nothing for us and I feel like it was a big waste of money.
I hope the conditioner/oil method is a breath of fresh air for you. You just have to hang in there and be consistent with it every few days until you see no nits and no bugs. It’ll be hard during the holidays, but you gotta be faithful with the combing if you want to be rid of the lice. You can do this!
Kirsten Stauffer says
I wish I would have found this earlier! I order Clear Lice off of Amazon as well, expensive but from what I hear worth it (and natural) so I’m going to use the shampoo and your conditioner and oil treatment after! Double whammy…. because we had lice mid November and it’s back today
I’ve been using Fairy Tales preventative spray I think I’ve poisoned them a little but the damage is done. Here’s to a fun Friday night … thanks for the info and recipe !!
K says
Thank god for this article. I just found lice in my hair- no idea how I got it considering I’m 19 and live by myself. I’m about to go buy everything necessary and attempt to do this on my hair tonight. Any tips for doing it by yourself, without someone to help nit-pick/ comb?
Kristen says
Oh man, that’s rough. Do you have a friend who can help you?
If not, then just take small sections and use the comb on your own hair, making sure to clean the conditioner/oil mixture off the comb with each pass.
Good luck to you!
Jennifer says
Found this on a google searches. Ex have6 kids in the house and have been treating reinfestations for 4 months or more. Just when we think we’re clear,either our granddaughter has it again or one at home does. It’s going through the school system like crazy. Bout the tea tree oil and put it in there shampoo, but now I think I’ll try the condition treatment tonight.
Thanks
Deb says
I am 60 and raising my 3 grandsons who are 3 8 and 10. We have been fighting this on the 3 year old since Christmas. I am overwhelmed. We have used rid 3 times. And I just found another live bug on him tonight we have used Cetaphil but now are going to use tea oil in shampoo and conditioner. Do I still need to do the concentrated combination of tea oil and conditioner also. I work 4 nights a week and am totally overwhelmed
Kristen says
Aww, I’m so sorry! Lice are super discouraging to deal with.
Would your boys be open to a buzzed haircut? If you gave them all super short haircuts, you’d be finished with your lice problem in a jiffy. Lice have to have a place to hide and a buzzed head provides no hiding places.
If you decide not to buzz their heads, then yes, you should do the conditioner/combing method. Putting tea tree oil in the shampoo will not be enough, sadly. You have to coat the hair to immobilize the bugs and then comb them out, along with the eggs.
Do the conditioner/tea tree oil treatment plus combing every 2-3 days until you see no bugs and no nits during several consecutive combing sessions. Then you should be good to go.
Oh, and even if you decide not to cut your boys’ hair super short, getting rid of some of the length will be helpful. The less hair you’re dealing with, the easier it is to do the combing.
I hope this helps!
Kelsey says
I want to give you all my money right now. lol!! Im 100% the Mom that has already cried twice tonight and only made it through 1/4 of ONE HEAD of the dry nit picking and I still have 2 heads to go. Mine included. And I have mixed race babies with a TON of thick kinky curly hair. I comb their hair maybe once a month. And now I have to do it daily….THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for documenting your entire process and for all the great info. I feel soooo much better already. You’re a life saver!!! <3 <3 <3
Kristen says
So much sympathy to you! Hang in there. <3
brandy says
IM SO SO GLAD I SCENE YOUR POST…MY 3 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER HAS HAD THEM FOR A MONTH AFTER TREATMENT AFTER TREATMENT NOTING WORK BESIDES ME PULLING MY OWN HAIR OUT AND COULDNT GET THE NIT COMB THRU HER HAIR SHE HAS L O NG LONG HAIR I LITERALLY JUST TRIED THIS ITS IS AMAZING MINEY SAFEING SHE DIDNT CRY AND I GOT NITS OUT WOW THIS REALLY WORKS U R A LIFESAVER WOW I HOPE NEVER HAVE TO GO THOURGH THIS AGAIN BUT I WILL WAYS DO THIS MEATHOD …THANK U SO MUCH…..
Kristen says
I am so happy that my post helped you. Yay!
TK says
My daughter has been out of school for a week now because they have a no nit policy. I’m trying the tea tree oil now, but the pharmacist suggested water mixed with it. If that doesn’t work, I’ll be doing the conditioner. Thankfully, the nurse at school hasn’t seen a live bug, however she can’t go back to class until all the nits are gone. I’ve been manually picking them out and each time I think I got them, I see one thousand more!
Kristen says
The conditioner/oil combo REALLY helps to loosen the nits when you’re doing the combing. I highly recommend giving it a try!
Traci says
Thank you for the reassurance that this will work I’ve been dealing with this for almost a year and just haven’t been able to get rid of it just the second I think it’s gone if not one of my kids the grandbabies come up with it so it’s been a never ending cycle and it is about to drive me insane lol but I heard about the tea tree oil and bought a bottle because I myself and my daughter have extremely thick and long hair I sit on mine and my daughter’s is almost as long so I’m getting ready to try this remedy and keep my fingers crossed but I wanted to thank you for the reassurance just the same thanks again
Cathi says
I want to say THANK YOU!!! I have 6 daughters…ages 6,7,7,8,12,&13…ALL OF THEM HAD LOVE! I used Nix & Rid…(didn’t have good results). After reading your article I figured I’d try it and IT WORKED!!! I am SOOO glad I no longer have to waste money anymore! THANK YOU!
nikki says
how much tea tree oil did you put in that coditioner bottle?
Kristen says
I didn’t actually mix up a big batch. Each time I wanted to treat my kids, I mixed up a small bowl of conditioner/tea tree oil. I’d say it was about a teaspoon for 1/2 cup of conditioner.
Kristine Songhurst says
Dear Kristen,
Thank you for this article. Your sense of humor and vulnerability is comforting to me. I discovered lice on myself and my daughter 7 days ago and I’ve been battling with these buggers and all the emotions that go with it. I treated her with the Robi Comb and tea tree oil shampoo. My husband did the Robi Comb on my head, plus I did Rid on myself. Both my husband and mother-in-law have been checking my head for nits, but I’m still so itchy and freaked out. Yesterday, my daughter’s head was nit free and I’m hoping that we are in the clear. Instead of following up with the Rid treatment on myself, I’m going to try your conditioner/oil combination. The Rid is freaking me out. Since I can’t see my own head, and I still feel itchy, I am not comforted until I feel back to normal. Your article is the best one I’ve read about lice online, and I’ve read many. Thank you!!!
Kristen says
Yay! I’m so very glad it was helpful to you. Hang in there!
kansasmom says
My kidfo has brought them home on more than one occasion. I found that using an old fashioned baby comb (fine tooth side) on her fine hair actually works better than the not combs.
Vanessa says
My daughter caught lice from school. Treated her, washed everything, then, another damn bug was found in her hair. What makes me angry is the fact that I can’t tell if it’s because it didnt get it all out or because others at school at unaware and aren’t being treated. They won’t inform parents if there is a case of lice going around. , which to me is unacceptable. So we did nix ultra. Which was 17 alone just for the shampoo. On top of me staying home from work last week spending the ENTIRE day picking her hair and the last 2 nights of me picking her hair I’m pretty upset. I’ll be doing this for a very long time hoping we never get this again. Super disappointed in nix and her school in general. Half of my laundry is still down in the basement waiting to get washed. So upset but grateful for the advice !
Kristen says
That is just SO hard. I’m really sorry you’re going through this!
If I were in your situation, I’d probably do the oil/conditioner comb through once every couple of weeks, just to check and see what the state of things is. It’s a super cheap and fast way to find any bugs…if there are live bugs in the hair, you ARE going to find them once you douse the hair in conditioner and oil.
Hang in there, mama! I know it’s super stressful.
Tracy-Lee Woodman says
Oh dear Kristen
I discovered nits and lice in my two daughters hair on sunday. ive been dry nit picking for 5 hours every day since sunday. Its like the great depression came over me. needless to say, this is my first time. i completely lost my appetite. and cried endlessly. i washed EVERYTHING in my house, scatter cushions and all! i immediately ran off to the shop and bought a once off treatment that did not work, i washed their hair with dog flea and tick shampoo, i through flea and tick powder in their hair and on ALL the pillows, matresses everywhere! but today! today! i am going to condition it. thank you so much for sharing this!
Kristen says
Aww, I completely understand. I was there too!
It’s going to be ok, I promise. You’ll get thru this, and the conditioner/tea tree combing method is a LIFESAVER especially after you’ve done a bunch of other stuff that hasn’t worked.
Hang in there!
Leann Buskirk says
Thank you for this post! (Jesus is my #1 hope, but you were certainly my second hope this morning!!)
We went ahead and got the Splice rx, but I will be completing your technique for the next 50 days, anyway. (Maybe not 50 days…) Thanks, too, for your transparency! You put into words what all lice mom’s are feeling!
Leann
Mari says
Thank you for sharing this valuable information. I’m so glad I came across this site. I just want to add that the SKlice medication Ivermectin that cost so much money if you get prescribed you can find it cheap in any farmer supplies store ($3 dollars a tube!). as a horse treatment.You have to use caution thought as with any drug you can’t just overdose same way you can’t just dump a whole pot of tea trea oil on your head.
CK says
Thank you so much for sharing your experience, I have just discovered lice on both my school age children and losing sleep over it. I have done your conditioner and tea tree oil treatment for both of them tonight.
But my question is how can you tell you have combed out the nits? Each time I comb through, I examine the conditioner left on the comb and whilst the lice is easy to spot as they are brown against the white conditioner, the nits are the same colour (white) as the conditioner and I’m not sure if I am combing them out or not!
Kristen says
In my experience, the nits are slightly darker than the conditioner, so it’s not impossible to see them. It’s obviously harder than seeing the hatched bugs, but it is possible.
If it cheers you up at all, consider this: even if you miss some nits, as long as you keep combing every few days, you will catch any newly hatched live bugs before they are mature enough to lay new eggs. This will stop the cycle, and then it’s just a matter of making sure that you get rid of any of the hatched bugs, as no new nits will be laid. That comforted me a lot!
Barbara says
Thank you
Torie says
God bless you! My reaction to my real life 3yr old Repunzel (hair litlerly down to her booty) was shut the front door…..our lives are over and this is the END! A little dramatic I get but neither myself or my husband had dealt with this so it was a whole lot of freaking out at the beginning! We are into day 5 of our first treatment with Rid. It seemed to work pretty good with the live but you are so right “nit-pickkng” is REAL life and no fun! So glad i found this as I will be trying this method and appricate the pep talk on dealing with it!
Sarah Goode Traum says
Thank you for this post. I’d read it when you originally posted it and filed it away in my brain. My two girls (3 and 7)!have managed to avoid lice so far (even through several scares in day care), until last night. But I remembered your method (and had all the supplies already), so I did the girls’ hair last night. And mine in the shower this morning (I’m a single mom). I’ve only seen live bugs on any of us (even me!!!!), so I’m hoping that it was caught early on in the process. I’m thankful that I had this method in my back pocket so there was limited freaking out and panic on my part last night.
Kristen says
Oh, I’m really glad you remembered this post was here! That was my hope in writing it…that I’d be able to help other parents avoid freak-out mode.
Keep doing the conditioner/combing every few days for a while, just to be totally sure you’ve got them all taken care of. Those eggs are easy to miss, and if you keep doing the treatment every few days, you will catch any bugs that happen to hatch, and you’ll be catching them long before they’re able to reproduce.
Good luck!
mary says
I also heard that mayonaise works. It smothers the lice and they die because they cannot breathe.
When my child was at school, I boiled all the pillowcases every day in order to kill them.
Another alternative is to microwave them – that also kills anything living.
Susan says
When I taught school in the early 70s. My students got lice. We were reading and one teacher had a little girl on her lap and saw lice walking up the part in her hair. We sent someone to drugstore, lined all the kids up and washed their hair in the schools kitchen sink! Would never be allowed to do that there days. My team teacher gathered all the dress up clothes, including a bunch of antique ladies hat’s and burnt them in a trash barrel out back. Later that evening i was shopping in a classy little boutique in the east side qhen a friend and i started to imagine crawling things on our heads. I broke down in tears and the manager came over and examined my scalp. I was clean. He was so sweet to do that
Kristen says
Just thinking about lice will make your head itch!
Melissa says
So just found out tonight my oldest daughter has lice. I found this post some time ago and book marked it “just in case”. I am so thankful I did. So just to be clear, is it a teaspoon or tablespoon of tea tree oil in a 1/2 cup of conditioner? Wish me luck – checking my younger daughter in the morning. She was already asleep when we found it in my oldest daughters hair. I don’t think I have it…….but time will tell.
Kristen says
I’m so sorry to hear that you are dealing with lice. So much sympathy!
A teaspoon in a half cup of conditioner should definitely be enough.
Hang in there! If you faithfully use this method every couple of days, you should be cleared up pretty soon.
Melissa says
Thank you. Only my oldest daughter has it…..and me
But I am confident with this treatment, all will be gone soon!! Thank you!!
Kristen says
Ugh! So sorry to hear that you have them. All the best to you guys. <3