How To Get Rid of Head Lice and Nits - Easily and Cheaply

When I first noticed little dots in my five year old daughter's hair, at first I thought they were dandruff, and wasn't concerned. However, when they didn't disappear with washing, I decided to check with the school. They confirmed that my daughter was yet another victim of head lice in her school class.

Like any mother, I was horrified, and immediately sought advice from everywhere I could. Just the thought will probably have you literally scratching your head!

After assimilating all the information (in the space of about an hour!), here is what I decided to do, and I'm happy to say that the head lice have not returned, and no-one else in the family has been infected.

This method cost me a fraction of the amount of regular medical treatments, and I didn't need to put harsh chemicals into my daughter's hair.

What you will need:

1. A nit comb, or strong, very fine toothed comb, metal if possible (cost approx. $12)
2. A bottle of white vinegar (cost approx. $1)
3. A bottle of cheap white hair conditioner (cost approx. $1)

I wrapped my daughter in a towel, got her to put her hair over the bathroom basin, and then soaked her hair in white vinegar. I made sure that it really was saturated, including the scalp. I didn't rinse it out - just tied her hair up and out of the way. My daughter then put on her swimming goggles (vinegar has a very sharp odour), and sat outside in the fresh air for half an hour.

After half an hour, I sat outside with her and parted her hair into small sections, each secured with a clip. ( I did this outside because I didn't want to risk putting any live eggs into the house.) Using the nit comb, I then worked on each section, combing out the eggs, until there were none visible in the section. I rubbed a generous amount of conditioner into each section as I finished, and then clipped it again, and started on the next section. This was time consuming, but worth it.

Once I had finished, I left the conditioner in my daughter's hair for a further fifteen minutes, and then she took a shower and rinsed it all out.

Just to be safe, all members of our family also did the vinegar rinse and left it for half an hour before rinsing out. We then put a generous amount of conditioner through our hair and left it for another hour before rinsing again. A pleasant side effect is that it left the whole family with beautifully pure, clean hair.

The theory behind this method of treatment is that the vinegar loosens the nits so they are easier to remove and also gets rid of impurities on the hair so that new eggs will not stick easily, while the conditioner smothers any living lice and kills them.

I have been diligently checking everyone's hair every day ever since, and we appear to be clear.

If I had found any sign of nits, I would have immediately removed them with the comb, and then thoroughly covered the hair and scalp with conditioner and left it for as long as possible (overnight if I could) before washing out.

I am no expert on headlice, but I am happy to report that this method has worked for me. It's cheap, avoids harsh chemicals, and it is comparatively easy!