Any parent of school-age children has had at least one attack of head lice. If you haven’t, you will. Lice shampoo that you buy at your local drugstore is not cheap and it is not always 100% effective. Here are some home remedies to try that are cheap, in some cases free, and work just as well, if not better, than the ones you buy from your pharmacy. These are traditional home remedies that have been used for years, even before the medicated shampoo came out.

1. Get an onion, no matter what kind, and squeeze out the juice. Massage the onion juice into the scalp and leave it on the scalp for three to four hours. When the time is up, wash the hair thoroughly until no more lice are visible. This will not kill the eggs that are in the hair at this time, so you need to do this for three to four days to kill the remaining lice.

2. Mix freshly extracted coconut oil with powdered camphor. Massage the mixture into your scalp before going to bed. Wash hair and scalp thoroughly in the morning. Repeat for four days to kill all the lice.

3. You can get rid of lice completely without using any products by using a lice comb to get rid of nits (eggs) and tweezers to remove live insects. This is time consuming but it works. You may also have to do this for several days.

4. You can use real mayonnaise, olive oil, or petroleum jelly. Massage the scalp before going to bed and cover it with a shower cap. Wash your hair thoroughly in the morning, using a fine tooth comb to remove nits.

5. Take a raw custard apple and grind it into a powder, including the seeds. Massage the powder into your scalp before going to bed. Tie your hair back with a cloth or wear a shower cap. Wash your hair in the morning.

6. Wash hair with Sea Breeze Facial Cleanser every night before bed. Not only will this kill the lice, it will prevent the lice from reappearing.

7. This home remedy should only be used in adults and should be completely avoided if there are even children in the house. Mix some kerosene with a whole bottle of shampoo and wash your hair. After washing your hair with the kerosene shampoo, wash it with a normal shampoo. This kills the lice immediately, but not the nits. Therefore, it must be repeated for three to four days to completely eradicate the lice from the hair.

8. To remove lice from bedding, clothing, stuffed animals, and other soft materials, place them in a garbage bag and spray with Lysol. Tie the garbage bag tightly and leave it there for at least 24 hours.

Lice are hard to get rid of and a real pain when you or your child get them. These remedies should surely work to cure your illnesses.