Getting Rid of Lice
Using this Tea Tree oil home remedy can help you rid yourself of lice and keep it away from you.
Finding out that your family has contracted head lice is almost more devastating than a life threatening disease. It’s embarrassing and bothersome. It’s difficult to get rid of and it seems that lice have become almost impervious to over the counter medications.
About 6 months ago my oldest son went to a friend’s house and caught head lice. At first we were completely unaware of it. But within two weeks we realized what had happened.
With boys this isn’t so devastating if they don’t mind having their heads shaved down to almost nothing. However, I had very long hair and no matter what I did I couldn’t seem to get rid of the lice. I tried several over the counter cures like RID but none of them got rid of the problem completely. I was going crazy.
My head itched constantly. I would use the products and do all the laundry. I sprayed the whole house. Still it came back. I even used the lice comb and found nothing for days, suddenly there would be an adult lice in the comb within a few days. I was at my wits end. I was so frusterated I even had my husband cut my hair short, which I found out later is useless because they cling to your head at about 1/4 inch from the scalp.
I looked online for home remedies, which always seem to be the only thing that work. I found lots of suggestions but I wanted to be sure. So I took two of the suggestions and combined them. Within one treatment it was all gone and it did not come back. Here is what I did.
You will need white vinigar, Tea Tree Oil, Peppermint essential oil, and shampoo. You may also want to have a lice comb to get all the dead lice out of your hair. And they will be dead.
Now take some white vinigar and soak your hair with it. Once thouroughly soaked cover your head with a plastic bag as if you were wrapping it with a towel. Leave your hair up in this for about 20 minutes. When done, rinse your hair and then use a lice comb, if you bought one, which I advise.
While your hair is still wrapped take the shampoo and conditioner that you will be using and add the following. Take 2 cups of the shampoo and add 20 drops of tea tree oil, 10 drops of peppermint oil, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Then add 10 drops of tea tree oil and 5 drops of peppermint oil to the conditioner, this can be a full bottle but no less than 1/2 a bottle. Shake them both well so that everything is fully blended. The shampoo might be a little runny but that’s ok. Take the remaining shampoo and add another 20 drops of tea tree oil and shake. Save this for later use.
After your vinigar treatment, take the 2 cups of strongly mixed shampoo and the bottle of conditioner that you prepared into the shower. Wash your hair thouroughly with the shampoo and leave it on your hair for about 3 mins if you can. Then rinse and use the conditioner as you normally would. This will kill all the lice on your head.
There have been studies done proving that tea tree oil DOES kill lice. The peppermint oil is for the itching and the damage you HAVE done to your scalp from scratching. The salt also repels lice and simply my extra added way of making sure they go away. You can also add 15 – 25 drop of tea tree oil into a spray bottle filled with water and spray your couch, bed, pillows, curtains, and rugs. This ensures that the lice in your home die. (I didn’t even do all the laundry a second time. What was clean just got sprayed)
From here forward always add 15 – 20 drops of tea tree oil to your full bottles of shampoo and conditioner. The reason for this is because lice to not like tea tree oil and will avoid your head because of it. Tea tree oil is also very good for dry itchy scalps and dandruff so it doesn’t hurt to have it in all your shampoo anyway.
Had I known this trick years ago, I would have used this all during my children’s school years. Tea tree oil has many other amazing uses but this one is definately one of my favorites.
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Kate Everett | Jun 17, 2008 | Reply
Thank you for this treatment! It has saved my home
Brandy Hammonds | Jun 20, 2008 | Reply
THANK YOU.. i looked forever on how much to add to the shampoo an conditioner. i had heard before when i was a kid that tea tree was awesome on killing the buggers….now that im grown and have kids of my own, one of them can home with it…its so horrible and such a hassle..now im going to just keep on useing the oil in there shampoo
unknown | Jul 1, 2008 | Reply
im going try it sounds easy now ty for ur help
cheryl dennison | Jan 14, 2009 | Reply
thank you im going to try it i think my granddaughter got it from school
Lisa Wilkerson | Apr 1, 2009 | Reply
Thanks I hope this works! We have tried everything else. The RID shampoo is useless!
Tracey | Apr 4, 2009 | Reply
I am going to try this today. It seems every time the wind blows, my stepdaughter has it and I am fed up. Yesterday was the worse I have seen.
Van Halen | Apr 12, 2009 | Reply
I cannot understand how thr companies that make Nix and Rid can even stay in business, since they have not updated thier products that thet now very well, have absolutely ZERO EFFECT on the premeterin resistant lice of today. These companies have known this for a good 3 years now, but have not adapted thier products. One thing for certain the lice have adapted to Nix and Rid, and in fact they love it !!! they swim in it, eat it for breakfast, then stop off and grab a meal on your scalp alll at the same time. I have batteled these pest for over 5 months now. I started a routine of 1 day, I soak my head in Listerine 2 times that day and comb out dead lice and nits that same night. The next day, I spray my head down with pure tea tree oil and soak it well. Day 3 I will just comb out the nits (if any) day 4 I do nothing. The n day 5 it is back to the Listerine treatments and I just keep repeating this same cycle. After 2 weeks of this, I am lice free. I highly recommend this routine
Tracy | Apr 15, 2009 | Reply
I’m so happy to hear that this article has helped so many. If I had known years ago about this our family would have suffered so much less with this issue and in the discovery of it I simply had to share it with others.
By the way, this was written about a year ago and we have not had issue since because I consistanly add tea tree oil to all my shampoos and conditioners as a deterent and I also spray our home with a solution of tee tree oil and water to kill germs.
Christy | Apr 26, 2009 | Reply
I have had them for years… I have tryed EVERYTHING, Shaving Cream, hot oil treatment, every over the counter thing they have. And nothing works. I cant use one of the combs. I have VERY VERY thick hair and all they do is break the first time it touches my hair. I am to the point where I would rather be dead then have them anymore. I havent been able to feel like a person these past (almost 8 years) I cant have anyone close to me, I cant be in a crowd, I dont do anything to where someone is behind me. Im always in fear that someone will find out by looking at me. I really need help. NOTHING is working. Tonight I will try the Tea Tree oil and I also hear cocnut oil too. If this doesnt work… Im done!!
Tracy Seekins | Apr 29, 2009 | Reply
This is a response to Christy. I sure hope you get to see this.
I understand your frustration and your pain with this. I also understand your hair issues. Use the vinegar treatment first, it will soften up the hair and make it easier to comb. If you have to buy a brush or comb JUST for this and before using the lice comb brush or comb it out with the vinegar still in it as best you can. Then, again if needed, use the lice comb in small 1/4 inch strokes near the base of the hair, at the scalp. That’s where these little buggers live.
After this continue with the treatment as described. With your hair issues you might have to do this a couple of times during the week to be sure you got it all. Then wash your hair with the shampoo with tea tree oil in it regularly to keep the little buggers away. You might even add a little bit of salt to your regular shampoo to be extra sure. They don’t like these two things and will avoid them.
I’m sorry for your struggle with this and I sure hope this treatment helps. Whether it works or not we’d all love to hear back from you. If this doesn’t work for you I’d be very suprised but I will help you find another solution if need be.
Johnny Dildo | May 15, 2009 | Reply
I got so frustrated with head lice, and got tired of spending tons of money at a rip-off dermatologist and buying 5% premetherin at the pharmacy, I have also tried Ivermectin, and all the over the counter stuff. Nothing works. So I just went all ouit on this pest. I went to home depot and bought me a large batch of pure malathion from the gardening center. I soaked my head with it real good and left it on over night. I did it 3 times a week for 2 weeks. I finally got rid of the lice, but my hair fell out also. Try it, this really does work
Michelle | Jun 25, 2009 | Reply
My 6 year old daughter got lice. I think from sharing summer t-ball helmets with teammates. We ran out and bought the Rid and used it twice with in 4 days. It didn’t seem to do anything. There were nits everywhere and live ones daily. Then I read your site and had to laugh that I had everything in the house. White vinegar and salt house hold staples. My neighbor gave me some tea tree shampoo. Immediately after reading this I went to work. I poured the white vinegar on her head till it was soaked. Then wrapped a plastic bag around her head and clipped it tight for 20 minutes. Rinsed her head and used a lice comb and combed her hair out. The nits were falling out already. Finally, I washed her hair with the shampoo and let it sit for 3 minutes. Washed the shampoo out and combed with the lice comb again. The nits were still coming out. The next day I made the shampoo and condition mixed with tea tree oil and used it. Combing with the lice brush afterwards. The third day I used the shampoo and conditioner again and combed with the lice brush. Today, I checked her head and I can’t find a single nit. I will use the shampoo again tomarrow. It is nice to see an end to the tunnel. She was getting so discouraged. We could not believe how fast this worked. Thank you for sharing.
Tracy Seekins | Sep 12, 2009 | Reply
A bit more information that I have recently come across. Just things to keep in mind if you need a little extra help.
Many publications list several essential oils suitable for treating head lice. Of these, Veal (1996) used laboratory tests to assess their effectiveness in killing both eggs and live lice. She arrives at the following: Oregano, aniseed and cinnamon leaf – kills 100% of adults and eggs. Tea tree – 83% eggs, 93% adults.
Veal also states that the active ingredient in the essential oils used are mostly the phenols, ketones, oxides or aldehydes, so oils high in these chemicals will be the most effective. These would include Bergamot, Spearmint, Niaouli, Petitgrain, Pennyroyal, Ravenscara, Benzoin, Caraway seed, Roman chamomile, Eucalyptus (citriodora and smithii), Clary sage, Jasmine, West and East Indian lemongrass, and Spanish marjoram.
The most effective method of application was using a high concentration of essential oil in alcohol (alcohol makes the insect skins more permeable to the insecticide properties of the essential oil solution).
E.g.: 50 mls alcohol (vodka) to 10 drops essential oil rubbed into the scalp/hair, then left overnight.
The solution can then be washed off with shampoo, after which 2 mls of the original mix is added to a rinse solution of 50 ml vinegar and 50 ml water.
The treatment should be repeated after 7 days and fine combing between treatments is essential.
Tea tree oil can be used on children as young as one year old.
Many of the essential oils listed above should not be used on children. It is important to check safety data before using any essential oil.
Oregano oil and red thyme oil should not be used at all. All essential oils, including tea tree should only be used by children on an “as needed” basis, and must be properly diluted.