Lice are basically my worst nightmare come true/the source of my most vitriolic hatred. The first time my girls got them was right before my sister’s wedding. They had been itching their heads for days, and I thought that it was just their shampoo. I was my sister’s mother in law (who is wise in the ways of head parasites) who discovered them and showed me that my girls had a MAJOR infestation of lice. I pretty much needed a Valium after that.
We treated them and spent the next 48 hours doing comb out’s and vaccuming and/or boiling every atom in our home. After about 6 weeks (yes, you read that right) we eradicated them from our heads and house. (Did I mention that I got them too? Yep, my loving husband stayed up till 2 am one night doing a comb out of my hair.) Of all the lice treatments I used, I liked this one the best. It worked better than over the counter lice treatments and better than the prescription treatment.
A Slacker Mom does not like to vacuum/boil every atom in her home everyday. I’m not sure there’s a type of mom who does. That’s why I decided that it has to be easier to prevent lice then to treat them. I offer this lice repellent recipe with this disclaimer: This has worked for me. It is not scientifically proven, nor will it ever be. Unless something is a patentable drug, it will not get funding for testing and therefore will never have the backing of science. Science is a whore that is sold to the highest bidder. Wow, this disclaimer got seriously out of hand. Where is that old bottle of Valium? *end disclaimer*
Lice repellent spray/detangler/leave in conditioner:
You will need a new 12 oz. plastic or aluminium spray bottle…
Into the spray bottle add:
2 tbsp conditioner of your choice (or just give the conditioner bottle 2 big squeezes…this isn’t science, remember?)
10 drops clove essential oil
Warm water to fill the bottle
Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Use the spray after washing hair, and daily when combing. Bonus: It smells delicious. We haven’t had lice once since using this repellent even though I get a least one notice a week from the girls school that lice has been found on the head of one of their classmates. Lice are rampant in many places, especially warm places like Arizona. One of the reasons that lice are rampant is that people are ashamed to admit their kids have lice, send them to school anyway, and then continue to infest others. We’ve got to come out of the shadows ladies! All kids can get lice. Lice actually prefer clean hair. It has nothing to do with being poor or dirty!
AWESOME advice!! Thankfully we haven’t had personal experience with this, but I a director of AWANA Cubbies at our church and it did just go through last month. One family had a bear of a time getting rid of it. I’m a HUGE fan of essential oils… I will be making some of this! And telling others! So glad we could meet and share a lunch at Relevant!
I love the smell of cloves! Who know it could help prevent lice! Now if you could figure out a solution for pet fleas; I’m still trying to figure out what will get them out of my garage. Apparently fleas love a warm climate and they keep getting immune to the meds we buy for the cats. Grrrrr.
great to hear from you Sarah, and great to eat lunch with you at Relevant!