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Your home will need to be carefully cleaned and disinfected in order to rid the premises of head lice. Head lice can fall off the head and hair and survive for up to 3 days without a human host. Head lice can hide and survive in clothing, such as the hood of a coat, a hat, a scarf, in bedding, mattresses, carpets, pillows, stuffed animals, and plush toys like teddy bears. A louse can also be lurking in a couch corner waiting to crawl over and reattach itself to the hair of a human host or could be hiding in a carpet that an infested child just rolled around on. We hate to say it but head lice can be anywhere an infested person has been so that is why it is necessary to disinfect your home properly from top to bottom.
DOWNLOAD A PDF on How to Disinfect Your Home
 Remove the sheets carefully from the bed by rolling them into a ball and placing in a plastic bag.... Do this to all beds of all people affected. You do not want to spread the lice around anymore so keep in a sealed plastic bag until they can be placed directly in the washing machine. Wash on hot.
Remove the pillows, duvet, quilt, blankets etc. and place in plastic bag. Carefully take out the items and place in a dryer on high heat for 45 minutes. Keep all the items that do not fit in a sealed plastic bag until the others are finished and these can be placed in the dryer.
Vacuum the mattress in its entirety and pay special attention to the seams and creases, especially the area where the head has been.
Spray the mattress and the bed frame with LiceLogic Household Lice Protection Spray.
Vacuum the floor and carpets in the bedrooms and throughout the entire house.
Mop all floors with a mixture of white vinegar and hot water. (Add one-cup vinegar per bucket of hot water.)
Place any clothing such as coats, scarves, mittens, wool sweaters that may have been worn while child or person has been infested into sealed plastic bags and have them laundered-whether machine washed or dry-cleaned. Your child could become re-infested by wearing the same coat and items the next day so it really needs to be cleaned. It is better to err on the side of caution so when in doubt launder it either way.
Vacuum all plush furniture well-remove the cushions, vacuum both sides, underneath cushions, armrests, etc. if the cushions have removable covers and they can be washed it is advisable to do so. If not then vacuum thoroughly and spray with LiceLogic Household Lice Protection Spray, which will destroy any stray lice on contact.
Wipe down all other furniture such as leather and vinyl couches, chairs, etc. with a damp warm cloth.
Vacuum car seat and stroller ad wipe down plastic parts with a warm damp cloth.
Wipe down the seats in your car with a damp, warm cloth. Pay special attention to the headrests. If possible vacuum all seats in the car.
Collect any clothing, including coats, scarves, sweaters etc. that have been hanging next to, or stored next to possible infested clothing. Example: if your child’s coat hangs on a hook next to other coats (including yours) then they all will need to be placed in sealed plastic bags until they can be cleaned. Head lice crawl from coat to coat and that is one of the reasons why they spread so quickly in classrooms. Pay special attention to scarves and hats as well.
Collect all the plush toys in your home. Place in plastic bags and seal them up. Make sure they are airtight and then place in a closet or storage space for three weeks. (You can also machine wash and dry them on high heat if your prefer.) Head lice will not be able to survive more than 24-48 hours without a human host, and their eggs can only survive up to 4 days before they hatch and will need to find a human host.
Collect all hairbrushes, and combs, including hair accessories, elastics, headbands etc. Soak them in a mixture of hot water and LiceLogic Head Lice Treatment Shampoo for four hours. Clean thoroughly by removing any hair and debris.
Wipe down all surfaces that these items made contact with.
Lastly, use common sense when disinfecting your home and if there are areas you feel need additional cleaning then do so. An example would be your children’s play room.
Our LiceLogic Household Lice Protection Spray is safe to use on any surface, will not leave a toxic residue, does not stain, and has no toxic fumes, and can be used daily.
This is a general guideline for disinfecting your home and it will help reduce the risk of your household members becoming re-infested with head lice again. DOWNLOAD A PDF on How to Disinfect Your Home.
Important:
Do not use any toxic chemicals during any of these steps as they could harm your family. There are products still sold in pharmacies and stores that are sold as “lice killing” and “nit killing” sprays for your furniture, beds, and carpets. There are also “lice killing” shampoos laden with pesticides sold in stores throughout the United States that may harm your family members and you. For more information click on Jesse’s story.
Most pesticide based lice treatment products are no longer very effective since head lice have built up an immunity to them.
It is important to note that the most important step to removing head lice and their nits from heads and homes is the labor-intensive manual removal of them. Pesticide-free, aromatherapeutic, non-toxic products are available from LiceLogic for both lice treatment and lice prevention purposes
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