Listerine Used to Fight Lice

The eucalyptol and menthol found in Listerine are a great deterant for head lice. As The only nonprofit head lice treatment facility in the country we see hundreds of cases of head lice each week. No Product kills the nits and nothing makes the nits fall out of the hair. There is no substitute for knowing what you are looking for, Taking the time to do the treatment right, and checking closest contacts. We like to say "If you don't have time to do it right the first time, you must have time to do it again." I commend the parent for not wanting to overexpose her child to pesticidal products. Over treating only adds to resistance issues. Here at Lice Solutions we only treat when waranted and we only use safe non toxic products. For more info about Lice Solutions please visit www.licesolutions.org Web and phone support available for people outside the range of our treatment facilities in West Palm Beach, FL and Nashville, TN.

I have used this remedy on myself and my daughter. It works. The insecticides are some nasty stuff to be putting on our loved ones scalp. Listerine is much gentler and doesn't expose them to harsh chemicals.

Strong vinegar softens the glue that holds the nits to the hair shaft. Blow drying the hair also is a huge deterrent to head lice.

Learned from experience.

I have a child who is extremely prone to head lice. If she gets within fifty feet of it, I swear they run over to her! We have tried lice shampoos that she says hurt. We tried the mayonnaise treatment, which works if you do it a few times, but is very hard to get back out of her hair.

I put listerine all over her hair and when I combed it out everything was dead. It's four days later and still no sign of active lice. From now on I plan to rinse her hair twice a week and see if we can't prevent the little buggers.

I am a hair stylist and this comes in handy for another option to my clients to get rid of those pest. I will be telling all my young moms about this site and what I learned by coming to it. I even printed off several copies to give to my co-workers.

Respectfully, MJB

My daughter has gotten lice 2x. Both times I used
RID first. It did absolutely nothing. Then I used listerine followed by vinegar. It works so well.
After I rinsed it out and combed through her hair and found a bunch of dead lice. The vinegar is supposed to loosen the nits, and I was combing through the nits were falling out.

I LOVE the LISTERINE method. My two children had lice. I tried and repeated Nix twice. With Nix I was still combing out crawling lice. The 'residual' of the Nix is supposed to eventually kill them all, but I never saw that actually happen. I followed all the instructions. I washed every piece of clothing in hot water, vacuumed up a storm, quarantined soft toys, and replaced linen daily. I combed, and combed, and combed for hours, for weeks, and still they came back. I was exhausted. Eventually, out of desperation, I tried Listerine. I soaked all our hair in Original Listerine, applied shower caps, and waited two hours. With Listerine, all I ever combed out were little corpses. Any lice I saw were dead!

I repeated the process once a week for about 6 weeks. That’s probably more than needed, but I wasn't taking any chances. I wanted to make sure I got anything that survived, hatched, or re-infested. Eventually I stopped combing because frankly I figured dead lice wash right out. When I was using the Listerine I was careful about the linen, but I did not obsess over the house. I focused on heads. FYI - I did not spray the Listerine. I poured it on or used a color applicator bottle (like if you color your roots), so we wouldn’t breath the mist. I switched to tea tree oil and coconut shampoos, and now keep all our combs in Barbicide like at the hair salon.

We are finally lice free. I highly recommend the Listerine method. I will never go back to Nix. If you have read this far, you are probably battling lice yourself, and I know how you feel . . . . Focus on heads. Use Listerine. Repeat the treatment. Recheck hair often. Be diligent. Hang in there. Hope this helps. Good Luck!

I'm 13 weeks pregnant and just discovered yesterday that I had caught lice from my niece. Very embarrassing to get lice at 30 when you don't even have your own kids! Rid and similar products were out of the question and I was seriously thinking that I was going to have to spend the next 6 months infested with lice because I couldn't use any chemicals.

I tried the olive oil and shower cap thing last night but it didn't really work so I set out to find another home remedy. When I stumbled upon the Listerine remedy, I didn't think it would work, but I had some already and figured it wouldn't hurt to try. I can't believe how well it worked! Why isn't this common knowledge? It was cheap, easy, and safe! My whole family has spent tons of money on chemicals and other crazy remedies when the whole time the solution was in the bathroom!

What a lifesaver this was! I will definitely spread the word so that others can save money and a big hassle.

I'm trying this Listerine remedy tonight... but what happens afterwards? How long do I wait before I can start treating my hair normally again (using regular shampoos, conditioners, gels, etc.)?

Just tried this today. I found head lice on my daughter last Sunday after dinner and ran to the store to buy conventional treatments (RID). After spraying and vacuuming the house, washing everything, treating my daughter, and spending 2 hours combing LIVE lice and nits out of her hair, I treated myself and belatedly realized I'd had an allergic reaction to pyrethrins as a teen (30 years ago!). I knew I couldn't use the RID again; my mom told me she'd heard of using Listerine and advised me to check out your site.

I combed through her hair repeatedly during the week and picked out a few more live ones, then treated her today with the Listerine and a shower cap (2 hours). I then combed through her hair, re-spraying with Listerine as I went (she covered her face with a towel). The only critters I found were DEAD.

I have washed linens and vacuumed all the furniture again, but my plan is to continue to check her head a couple times a week, use Listerine after her cream rinse, and re-treat with Listerine if I see any new ones. It is safe, inexpensive, and it actually WORKS.

2 weeks later, and no sign of recurrence in my long-haired daughter after the initial Listerine treatment and combing... 8 other kids in her class have been diagnosed, but she has not been reinfected. I continue to spray her hair with Listerine and comb through after every shampoo.

Do you rinse the Listerine out afterwards?

Can you use the generic form of listerine?

Yes, the generic is fine, but you should use the plain kind since I heard the flavored ones have sugar in your hair that makes it sticky, but if you don't care about that, it doesn't matter, and most importantly, it REALLY works! I did it to my daughter's hair this morning, and the bugs were DEAD, then followed by vinegar and they came right off, then I followed up with coconut conditioner and left it in her hair all day to dry, and will only rinse it tomorrow morning, and now I'm sitting here with Listerine in MY head. Only downside is I'm feeling a little lightheaded because of the fumes from the Listerine and my scalp is burning a little from scratching all the sores in my head, but it will be worth it I know in the long run.

Good luck!

Listerine is a great solution. It used to be listed on the label 10 to 15 years back. I don't know if they took it off for marketing or FDA reasons.

I have battled lice more than once and I am TIRED. I called my ped and they recommended Vaseline, which I did and then my girls looked like they had shellacked heads even after 10 washings with Dawn dish detergent.

Finally my Mother-in-law read that coating the hair with baby oil and then washing with dawn would get the Vaseline out, and you know what, it worked. They went to school on Monday with normal hair. I have been spraying their hair with Listerine but tonight I feel itchy so I am going to do the Listerine treatment to myself and see what happens.

My girls seem fine 9 days later but we'll see. I've been checking and found nothing at all since the Vaseline, but I am not sure we're clear. I'm scared, I want to be done!

Listerine works! I poured it on my daughter's thick hair and let it sit with a plastic cap for two hrs. THEN put on the vinegar. THEN combed out. Gone! I also purchased some coconut suave shampoo and use that daily. I am also going to use Denorex as a precaution as I read somewhere they do not like tar as well.

RID kit does not work. Used it according to directions, did the bag the toys away and spray the bed, even bought new pillows, but after 2 weeks of RID treatment my son was still infested - BUT - one treatment of the Listerine (soaked and combed through hair thoroughly and then capped head for a couple of hours at night then followed by a vinegar rinse and comb through, next day - following week - head CLEAN. No sign, no nits, it seems to work.

yea but..... it itches like heck!!!!!!

LISTERINE WORKS!!! My daughter had so much head lice and huge ones at that! And it fried them up. This product is safer and more effective than lice shampoos with pesticides, which are dangerous for children to use over and over. Those prescription meds that doctors give our children are potentially harmful and could lead to seizures. Listerine method works. Leave in hair for two hours and rinse. Use vinegar to comb out nits. Best of luck!

Purchased RID for my son whom I found lice on yesterday evening. After using the RID I still found moving lice on his head !! I kept him home today and I'm going out to get some Listerine !! Thanks

I got lice for the first time ever a couple weeks ago. I was itching and I was checked and didn't see any lice but as soon as I realized it was lice, I tried rid and they were still alive. My dad read about Listerine online and soaked my head in a shower cap for 2 hours. I am writing this the day after I did Listerine and I feel soooo good. All the lice were dead, I'm not itchy and I slept like a baby!

I rinsed the Listerine out and washed my hair afterwords with my usual shampoo and conditioner. I haven't got anymore lice. Remember to keep combing, it's really important. My bff had lice and she just combed her hair every night with out doing any treatments and she got rid of them too.

For a week I had an itchy head and on day 3 I decided it was probably lice even though no one believed me (I did the listerine/vinegar treatment) I didn't notice anything on the comb, I didn't use the good nit comb then though. Yesterday I officially found out I have lice (I don't even have a clue who I got it from!) so I bought Rid, I was able to get some with it, it killed the baby ones, but I found 2 adult ones and they looked like they were still alive for the most part and I couldn't find any nits so obviously it didn't totally work.

I'm going to try the Listerine approach again with a better comb.

My boys got it from my nephew 2 weeks ago used the over the counter products and nothing..! They seemed to have killed the mature ones but after 2 treatments with the RID we found some really tiny ones LIVE ONES!!! So I looked up for home remedies and we used the Listerine last night at 2am my head itches but I have very long and thick hair so I know for a fact I have them and my whole family as well 5 of us..! It seemed to work, we also used vinegar, olive oil and dawn all together as shampoo to rinse out the Listerine and we combed out more dead ones and some nits as well...

I heard that rosemary also does the trick put a couple of branches under bedding and lice hate the smell..!

I will continue to do the treatment this week and hope to have gotten rid of this nasty bugs...!

I discovered the lice last night at 11 pm. My husband went online and looked up home remedies. He read about Listerine, ran to the store and we poured it on my head, put on a shower cap, waited 2 hours and prayed. The next day I did it again and no more lice!!! This is a miracle remedy and I thank all the people who wrote about it so I could benefit.

I am 28 years old and my mother who is 52 has been using Listerine on all of our heads since we were little. She said it would prevent the lice from being able to attach themselves to our hair. I thought it was an old wives tale, but continued to treat my hair every 6 months as a habit even after I moved out and got married. While pregnant with my first child I had to stay over a friends house because I was placed on complete bed rest and no stairs.

Her daughter came back from visiting family in Dallas with a head full of lice so bad you didn't have to search. You could really see them. Shortly after my friend, her husband, and all 3 of her children were infected. I am proud to stay I stayed in the house the whole time and even 5 more months after and not even so much as a nit in my head. Thanks mom for the crazy old wives tale. P.S. now that my kids are in school they get the treatment every 6 mos too. All you do is pour it onto their hair after bath let's say on a Friday night. Don't wash it out. Let it stay in there hair for 24 hours, and then wash out.

Wondering if anyone has ever used Listerine in the washing machine to kill any lice that might be on clothes that can't be washed in hot water? I know that vinegar makes a great fabric softener, but it appears from what I'm reading here that it is the Listerine that does the killing. Would love to hear anyone's experience with this.
Thanks.

Thanks, I am going to try this, after no luck with rid treatments! I have 3 daughters plus myself with lice and I feel like I am fighting a battle that can not be won!!! I hope this works.

I have done the RID treatments used cetaphil, soaked my head in olive oil, dyed my hair, combed my hair with lice combs until my head hurt and I just don't feel like I am getting anywhere! This is horrible! I am trying the Listerine now, sure hope this works. I will keep you updated.

my granddaughter had lice I used Listerine and let it sit 4 2hrs then rinsed with vinegar, put suave in and combed. lice is gone and deader than a door knob IT WORKS!!

I have had trouble with head lice for so long now, and store bought remedies have not worked, such as RID or NIX. But now I am trying the Listerine treatment as soon as I finish this :)

I will post my results after I get done! I am so excited to finally get rid of them. If it really does work, I will be so surprised. I have had problem with these lice for so long!

My daughter has had head lice for going on 4 months now with no luck in the over the counter remedies so far. I read last night about Listerine and bought some on my way home from work today, hoping tomorrow will be our last infested day at this house! Plan on treating regularly as well as tomorrow... if this really prevents them from getting reinfested its definitely worth the few bucks I spent tonight!

I am trying the Listerine now and it feels like an icy burn on my scalp. I really hope this works for all that I've been through with these nasty bugs!

Can anyone who has used this please tell me if it really worked?? I see all these people saying they will let us know but never do. Thanks

I have had head lice since third grade all the way through freshman year! The only thing that works is Listerine. Also, don't use those combs from the boxes, buy one from a salon. They REALLY work! Like someone else said, use the original one (yellow one) if you don't want sticky hair.

IT Does Work!!! This is the 2nd time of using Listerine.. I am in a shower cap as I type. My boys like to bring it home from school, and just like the others I tried the name brand lice treatments and the lice were still running so I came online and found this remedy. I keep Listerine, shower caps, and the metal lice comb nearby. You can save money by buying a flea comb out of the pet aisle..lol

Can't wait for this 2 hours to be over with though, I hate the mouth wash running down my face as I wait.

We discovered this morning that my daughter had lice in her long thick hair, a LOT of lice and nits. After the Listerine treatment all the lice were dead and the gazillion nits got combed out. It really did work! I am not, however, pleased with the lice comb bought at the pharmacy. The teeth in the comb were spaced too far apart. I had to pull the nits out by hand. Anyone know where to find a GOOD lice comb? We even tried our dogs' flea comb. :)

I've been battling the lice war for about 7 weeks with my mom. We tried the RID product.... 5 TIMES. It always kept coming back & it's not necessarily the bugs were having trouble with, the problem is getting out EVERY single nit so that they don't reproduce and hatch more on my head. I tried the Listerine procedure tonight and I'm already noticing a LOT less itching. The problem is, I've always had a dry scalp. Therefore, I have small flakes on my head. My mother and I find it EXTREMELY difficult to identify which is which unless we go through and pick every little white thing in my head out. Can someone help me?
Thank you!

Like everyone else on this website, my family and I have been battling lice for the last four weeks now. I even cut my daughter's and my hair, which sucks because we always donate our hair... not this year!

So, I just found lice in my 2yr old's hair AGAIN, as I was putting her to bed tonight. I did the whole "special" shampoo thing in all our hairs for the fourth week in a row and now I'm at my wits end... how much laundry do I have to do every single night, before this nightmare ends???? I even found head lice in my daughter's bff hair two weeks ago, obviously she caught it from us.

I have Listerine in my hair as we speak, unfortunately it's the blue bottle, as that's all I had, and I wanted to get started on this phenomenon right away! I just wish I read about the Listerine trick before I shampooed all our long, thick hair, tediously combed through them and put the kids to bed. I guess I'll have to try this in their hair tomorrow. Hope this trick works, cause if it does, I'm going to do this monthly!

Listerine treatment worked, but my daughter's permed hair became very dry. I didn't leave in for the 2 hours. It was only about 30 minutes and it killed them all. Who came to the conclusion that we needed two hours of Listerine? Is there some scientific reason for that? Should I retreat for the full two hours... I don't think her hair could take it.

I'm only finding nits and I've been removing them one at a time. Most of them actually turned a dead white color, but I have found some brown nits. I am also using coconut shampoo, and three flowers hair treatment. I have spent hours combing through her hair and I keep finding those nits.

My husband didn't have any in his hair, my son had only nits, and I had nits and 1 dead mature louse. I have to do my own hair so that might not be so accurate.

I've been having the kids read to me while I comb through their hair and it has been kind of nice spending hours of one on one time with each child. It's horrible that it took lice to make it happen.

If we do the Listerine treatment every 3 days for a month, will we eventually get rid of all of the lice that may be missed when picking out nits? We're on our second round of Listerine because I must have missed a few nits last time.

PEOPLE'S PHARMACY RESPONSE: IN THEORY, IT SHOULDN'T TAKE AN ENTIRE MONTH; PERHAPS THREE OR FOUR ROUNDS WILL TAKE CARE OF IT.

I have been dealing with lice for a little over a month now on my girls. I used RID, NIX and mayonnaise and washed EVERYTHING in my house. Within a few days they were back. I used Liserine last night, checked them again this morning and then are CLEAN!!!! I could just cry, this could actually be over!!! I will definitely continue to use the Listerine weekly! Thank you for this website and all the comments!

After weeks and weeks of trying different products to try and get rid of these nasty bugs I read today about the Listerine and Vinegar treatment, our 1st 2 hours is nearly up and time to wash out the Listerine then put in the Vinegar for 1 hour. I am really hoping that this works this time or we will have 2 females who will have shaved heads in the house, something I really don't want to do but am at wits end as to how to get rid of them. Thanks for all the stories and fingers crossed it works for like it has for everyone else.

You can find a lice comb at Sally Beauty Supply, in the store or online for about $4. It is a metal one with a handle. Much different from the ones in the lice shampoo package. The teeth on the metal one are much closer together. I am sitting here with Listerine on my head as I write. Hopefully it will work!

I'm so glad I found this site. My youngest daughter has brought home lice from school 4 or 5 times in the last couple of months. We treat with the shampoos, wash everything, spray etc and get rid of them. We also do the weekly follow up. Only to have her come home again with them over and over, recently we've been finding live ones even after using the shampoo.

So far none of the other kids have them but finally yesterday my head started itching and so did DD's again. Oh no, I immediately treated with shampoo only to find little live ones last night. I have very long thick hair and it takes a full bottle to treat it, so $10 on a bottle of shampoo that isn't working gets costly. Not to mention I can't keep putting poison on DD's hair every week or two.

I've noticed the lice have gotten resistant and aren't dying, the big ones are but the little ones aren't. I even found one in her hair after treatment, put it on a paper towel and sprayed it directly with the bedding spray and a couple of hours later it was still alive.

I started looking online for alternatives and kept seeing Listerine come up. Today I went and bought 2 large bottles of the off brand original (exact ingredients as Listerine) and I have it on my hair with a shower cap as I type. I used a big metal bowl under my hair when I poured the Listerine on so I could use the extra that ran off to soak the longer lengths and ends. After I got all my hair up and under the cap I noticed several eggs had washed into the bowl. I combed and combed yesterday with the lice comb after the lice shampoo treatment (as much as I could, hard to get it through my hair) and didn't find a single egg. Listerine must make them detach too because shampooing with my regular shampoo and conditioner last night and combing it again didn't get them out but the Listerine rinse did.

Not sure I will leave it on 2 hours, I doubt it takes that long to kill them. I see someone had results in 30 minutes. I don't want to ruin my hair by drying it out with all the alcohol. I will probably do about an hour and see what the results are. When the kids get home from school I will be treating everyone's head with Listerine. I think I will use a small fan by the sink to keep the heavy fumes away while I wet theirs down though, it can be pretty overpowering.

Don't worry about drying your hair out. Our house has done this as a preventive method all my life and I am now 29 years old. We do this about every 3 months and soak overnight. (Normally on a Friday night so the smell is gone by Sunday) I have posted before on how well this worked. A couple years ago I had to stay at another persons house for a while and they all got lice but my head stayed free and clear. As for another method of killing them along with the Listerine they make an electric comb that kills them. It makes a beeping sound as you comb through your hair and stops beeping when it reaches a bug or egg. The electrical shock kills them on the spot. After all you have been dealing with this might help as well. Good Luck

I'm looking forward to the effect of having this Listerine right now since I'm still on the process of applying Listerine on my hair for 2 hours and I think it would really work. Hoping this would end my fears and struggles of hair lice :)

I am so glad that I found this solution! I've tried all of the over the counter shampoos, combed for hours, washed and cleaned everything, etc. so I thought I'd try this. It works! Before I put it on child's head, I found a live louse and placed it in Listerine. I was dead in less than a minute! I couldn't help but laugh though as I was reading everyone's comments because several of them said that they had Listerine on their head as they were typing....SO DO I and my children! LOL! YAY for Listerine!

My 8 year old daughter caught lice from who knows where and my mom bought some lice killing meds from this store. That didn't work. I have a 2yr old and a 2 month old and I was terrified that they would get it like her. Well 2 year old ended up getting it but not as bad. I googled home remedies for lice and came across Listerine.

I tried it and I was shocked. 2 or 3 dead bugs fell out of her hair and after sitting there for 3 hours picking the knits out, she hasn't complained of scratching or itching. I've found a few eggs that I probably missed but no live bugs!

My daughters are being sent home every two weeks during the school year diagnosed with lice and I am really tired of it. I have read the comments about using Listerine, and am going to try it.. really hoping it works.

I have been going through this lice dilemma for three weeks now. I have three kids and school is going to start in 4 days and wanted to send them to school lice free. I did the "poison" shampoo twice, washed and bagged everything as the instructions read and still have lice. I did the olive oil thing and all that did was really condition our hair.

My last resort was listerine. I put it on their heads yesterday for two hours. I wrapped their heads in saran wrap "helmuts" as they call it and then put shower caps on top of that. For the last half hour I removed the "helmuts" to put on vinegar to get to the nits and put the shower caps back on. The "helmuts" actually had about 3 or 4 dead lice inside them. We all thought that was so cool and so very encouraging.

Then I had them each shower with Suave Coconut shampoo and conditioner (apparently lice hate coconut). I combed through each of their heads. As I was combing I would dip the metal comb into a small bowl with warm water and vinegar to remove all the "debris" from the comb. Then we can check the bowl as we go and I couldn't believe the amount of nits and dead bugs that came out.

We are on day two of our listerine/vinegar treatment and itching is gone, rashes are gone and I am finally feeling cautiously optimistic. I plan on doing this for two more days or until our bowls are clean after combing and then treating every three days for the next week after, just to be sure. We will be using coconut shampoo and conditioner forever though.

Four more tips:
1. I have the children remove all the pillowcases every night and we wash them in hot water.

2. Also I filled a small spray bottle with listerine and sprayed all the pillows, bedding and couches with the listerine. My mom came over last night and commented that my house smelled so fresh!

3. Make sure you also have the children cover their eyes, because listerine does sting. The listerine is strong, but once you put the saran wrap "helmuts" on the smell is gone.

4. Most importantly, buy everyone their own batting helmut for sports and don't let them share with anyone. That is how we got into this pickle. I also sprayed their helmuts with the listerine, then bagged them in plastic bags for two hours and then put them in the diswasher (alone, of course) to rinse (not soap) with hot water. After drying them in the sun, I am feeling confident about that too.

Good luck everyone....last night was the first time I slept without dreaming of bugs in three weeks.

LISTERINE/VINEGAR HAS DEFINITELY WORKED FOR ME!!!!

It sounds like it works pretty well for people. I am going to try it tonight fingers crossed that it works. I will let you know how it goes.

Wow, this is great I love this stuff. Even though it stated stinging after 15 min., it wasn't stinging anymore after I left it in for 2 hours.

I used this method on Monday, today is Saturday. My family is sitting here lice free!!!

My 3 girls and I received these unwanted guest a week ago yesterday. I tried the Nix product just to find live ones crawling around again. I saw this site and had to try it.

Put listerine in a spray bottle and doused our hair put on shower cap and sat for 2 hours, rinsed with vinegar and searched. Didn't see any live ones (or dead ones) Continued to pick out nits. I picked out nits for days (still picking from the daughter that was infected first) but I have NOT seen any live ones!!!!

Nits don't fall out on their own, you have to take them out! I continued to spray Listerine in their hair over the next few days while checking for nits. Doesn't hurt their hair at all. Now if I can get the itching from dry scalp to stop (from the 3 treatments of Nix) I will be a happy lady!

Don't forget to vacuum everything!! Throw away old hair stuff ( or boil, but my stuff melted) and wash laundry with hot water! Careful of towels because I found two dead lice stuck in my towel. Gross, went in garbage!

Lost 3 pounds cleaning and standing all day going through hair. Persistence will get it done! Keep it up and they will be gone in no time!

can my daughters hair be wet when I put the Listerine in it?

right now my hair is soaked with Listerine and I have a shower cap on and a rag behind my neck and I really hope this lice goes away I mean no one else in the house has it but me. Do I leave it in for 2 hours?

After doing listening, use a flat iron to fry the nits that you may have missed! They say the heat will zap them!

is it just dt we'll apply Listerine with a shower cap....leave it for 2 hrs??
later is it to be rinsed with normal water or sum shampoo b4 combing????
pplz tell me all d steps.......am a 9th grader ...can't believe to have lice in my long hair.......plz sum1 help me out with d full process (i mean steps)!!!!plz......:-(

I have tried the Listerine method before.. is it okay if i use the green one or does it have to be the orange one?

People's Pharmacy response: The green one may work, but you will end up with green hair.

Ok..so my daughter went to school a week ago. And came home with lice... I have wasted over $250 on shampoos etc.. plus doctor. Nothing has work.. And to top it off.. I got them to.. Gross >:(.... not pleased at all.. I have read about Listerine.. So I'm trying it out.. My head n her feel so cold like a icepack... But I really hope it works..:)... Crossing fingers.. My baby need a good night rest...I'll post what happened... One more hour to go....
Question. Does it really work? Or am I just wasting time?:(

I will definitely be trying Listerine & vinegar tonight, I am sick to death of my daughter coming home with lice that doesn't want to die! Thanx to all for this advise!

I've done a RID treatment on my 12 year old daughter, and a few days later a vinegar treatment followed up w/ Denorex shampoo. Checked for nits every day and just found a sporadic one or two with no live lice, but today (9 days after original treatment) I am noticing a LOT more nits. She feels no itching and I see nothing alive, but when she gets home tonight we are doing the Listerine thing. We shall see!

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? LISTERINE AND VINEGAR WORK WONDERS!!!

Yes folks, I can attest to the fact that this treatment works. I feel like crying for joy when yesterday I was just ready to cry...and almost ready to take a razor to the long brown locks that have taken me the past 3 years to grow.

Thank goodness I found this treatment...it has given me relief.

I will be treating my hair at least once a month for the rest of my life just to keep these creepy crawlers away.

I LOVE LISTERINE AND VINEGAR!!!

What is the exact process? Spray hair with Listerine, rinse, then vinegar? I've been battling lice with my kids for months now. Please help us with info! Thank you!

I was mortified to find the RID did NOT work, especially after spending so much money on the kit. Five days ago I learned about the Listerine treatment and then found THIS website while doing a little research on the topic. I was so glad to see all the comments. I'm happy to report that we have been both lice and nit free for five days now! Like other posters above have mentioned, using Listerine as a preventative measure will be something we do on occasion after this. Here is what I picked up and the process I followed for myself and my children (never saw any lice in my hair but I felt "creepy crawl-y" and treated myself anyway):
1 large bottle of regular Listerine
1 pkt disposable shower caps
1 box of disposable gloves
1 box of masks (to help some with the fumes)
1 spray bottle
1 metal lice comb (I found a great one at Sally's Beauty supply....nothing got through that sucker)
Paper towels or tissues

I donned the gloves and mask and put masks on the kids as they were treated. I also had a dry rag ready for them to cover their eyes with. Then I sprayed their hair starting in the back and going in rows until their entire scalp was saturated and pulled through the ends of their hair. Then I put a shower cap over their heads and let them sit for 2 hours. After the wait, I rinsed out their hair and then rinsed again with vinegar and I also applied a little conditioner to soften the hair for combing. Then came the really difficult part. Combing the hair out with a lice comb. If you use a good metal comb then you must be careful to take small strands of hair at a time. Not only to make sure you get all the nits but also because it will pull terribly if you try to take too much hair at once. Wipe the nits off the comb onto a paper towel or tissue and have a garbage can nearby to toss them into as you go. When I was all finished I took out the garbage and then washed and conditioned their hair again. I have checked them twice a day since then and found no lice and no nits! I am SOLD on the Listerine method!

As far as bedding goes, I simply washed all bedding, pillowcases, etc in hot water and dried them on high temp for awhile. Favorite stuffed animals were dried on high temp for a minimum of 30 minutes.

I just wanted to come back and comment on how this worked for me and my family and let any future parents know exactly what tools and steps we used. I hope it works as well for you! This was a mortifying issue to have to deal with but I'm glad I know how to handle it now.

Thank you for this website!!!

I will definitely be trying Listerine & vinegar tonight, I am sick to death of my daughter coming home with lice that doesn't want to die! Thanx to all for this advise!