Lice and Car Seats: 5 Proven Ways to Get Lice out of Your Car
Discover the 5 best ways to treat your car and car seats for head lice.
Question:
How do I clean lice out of our car? How do I clean our child's car seat from lice?
Answer from a Lice Expert:
Many people spend hours cleaning their house for lice, but completely forget about cleaning their cars and car seats!
Some mistakenly believe that using a pesticide lice spray will take care of lice in their car, but this couldn't be further from the truth. Multiple studies show that lice are resistant to these pesticides and that they do not kill lice!
Instead, here are five proven ways to treat your car and car seat and get head lice out of your car.
Before diving into this article, you should know that there is a FREE, all-inclusive LICE CLEANING CHECKLIST available for you as well.
Let me introduce myself...
Hi there! I'm a lice expert, lice coach, Registered Nurse, and the creator of My Lice Advice. I help people with lice every day in my lice treatment center, in school districts, and in government work. But the thing I love the most is empowering parents to get rid of head lice in ONE DAY at home!
You can eliminate lice in one day using the same proven professional technique I use in my lice center on your child. Follow along with the Step-by-Step Video System, and when you're done with the videos you're done with lice. PERMANENTLY!
How to Clean Car Seats From Lice
How to Clean Car Seats From Lice- Video!
Why Is It So Hard to Get Rid of Lice?
Now that you know what you're looking for I want to talk briefly about your biggest worry (that your child actually has lice) and the question I get asked by parents around the world that have been battling lice….
Lice bugs are immune!
Parents around the world are all asking me the same question…. "Why is it so much harder to get rid of lice now?"
Lice have become immune to everything that used to work in the past. Perhaps you remember your mom using a typical lice treatment or mayonnaise and that doing the trick. The new strain of head lice is no longer killed by those treatments, that’s why lice today are termed by people, “super lice,” because they are immune to those treatments.
I’ve cured thousands of people of lice in my lice center and let me tell you, I don't do it with over-the-counter lice treatments.
Lice eggs hatch!
Most people struggle with lice because they focus all of their attention on killing lice bugs and not enough attention on GETTING RID OF LICE!
If you want to get rid of lice you have to address all 3 of the problems of lice:
- Lice Bugs
- Lice Eggs
- Getting Lice Back
The best way to get rid of lice is to tackle all 3 of these problems at the same time, which is what I teach in my step-by-step video system.
So, if you discover your child HAS lice, don't panic. Just head over to the video system. Follow along with the videos and you'll be done with lice by the end of the day.
5 Ways to Clean Car Seats From Lice
Can lice live in cars?
Yes, they can live in cars for a short time, but it is unlikely for them to be in your vehicle. Head lice are called head lice for a reason. Generally speaking, head lice stick solely to the hair and scalp of humans, they do not live in cars. Lice must feed on human blood multiple times a day to survive. Without a human head, lice will die of dehydration.
How long can lice live in a car?
48 hours. Most lice die within 24 hours of being off the head away from a human blood meal. But, when studied in labs with precise temperatures, the longest lice live off the head is 2 days.
Should I use lice sprays on my car seats?
Do not waste your time, money, or health on pesticide lice sprays or lice bombs. If you have tried a bunch of pesticide treatments that have failed, you are not alone, and it’s not your fault. The latest stats say that most parents that use over-the-counter kits still have lice even after multiple treatments!
Just like pesticides are an ineffective treatment on the head, they are even more worthless when sprayed in the air or on your couches.
Additionally, they are EXTREMELY toxic and dangerous to you, your children, and your pets. If they actually killed lice, maybe you could rationalize the risk of breathing problems, sickness, or even cancer, but they don’t actually kill lice! The chemicals in lice sprays and bombs are the same pesticides that 98% of lice are resistant to, so you end up just spraying poison all over your car seats for no reason.
#1- Car Seat In the Dryer
Disassembling and Reassembling a car seat is among the most hated tasks for many parents. I'll admit that I hate doing it myself and usually reserve that task for "special" occasions such as when my baby vomits or poops in their car seat (just being honest). Another such special event is head lice. Disassembling the car seat and putting it through the dryer on high heat for 40 minutes is the best way to ensure that no lice are left in your child's car seat to re-infest your child.
#2- Vacuum
One of the easiest ways to clean after an infestation is to vacuum the seats and car seats. For those with cloth seats that have a handheld vacuum or an extension hose for your vacuum, you should be feeling thrilled right now. Be sure to vacuum the child's car seat exceptionally well in the cracks and crevices. If you do not own a vacuum like this, then you can go to almost any local car wash and use a vacuum for about $1.
For those with leather seats, things are much more manageable. Lice do not climb or hold onto leather well. Wiping leather seats down with a damp cloth is all that is needed to remove lice.
#3- Sticky Tape Lint Roller
Another way to remove lice from the seats of a car is by using a sticky lint roller. Some sticky lint rollers are better at picking up things than a vacuum, including lice. Roll all the areas of the car where people sit. Be sure to replace the sheets of the lint roller as they collect debris and lose their stickiness.
#4- Enzyme Spray
Like I said, most sprays these days do not work to kill lice because they are pesticides. There are lots of other household lice sprays out there that claim to kill lice, but they don't so I wouldn't spend time or money on this.
There is however, an enzyme spray that works pretty well. This lice spray doesn't use pesticides (which lice are immune to) instead it's loaded with enzymes that help break down the exoskeleton of lice.
#5- Repelling Lice Spray for Car
There are several essential oil scents that lice hate. When you spray these fragrances on your car's upholstery, lice flee the scene.
Here are a few lice-repelling scents:
- Peppermint
- Tea Tree Oil
- Lavender
- Rosemary
- Citronella
Frequently Asked Questions:
Can you get lice from a car seat?
Yes, you can, but it isn't very likely, I'd say less than a 4% chance. In a study, the pillowcases of 48 people were examined for head lice after a full night's rest. Two of the 48 pillowcases had live lice on them. Since most people spend less time resting their heads in a car than they do sleeping on a pillowcase I assume the chances are a little less than 4%.
Can head lice live in a cold car?
That all depends on how cold the car is. A vehicle that is below 0° F is cold enough to freeze lice. Studies show that lice in cold temperatures, but not freezing, LIVE LONGER! Lice in warm temperatures usually die within 12-24 hours, whereas those studied in precise cold temperatures were the ones who lived up to 44 hours.
Can head lice live in a hot car?
In most cases, lice can live in a hot car, but they will dehydrate and die faster. Lice in humid environments die within 12-24 hours. A very hot car, reaching 130° F or more, will kill lice in about 5 minutes.
Lice and The Never-Ending Cycle
Most people that use lice kits and home remedies get caught in the horrible "Never-Ending Cycle of Lice"
First- You Have Lice
When you first discover lice you have adult lice bugs, baby lice bugs, and lice eggs (also known as nits)
You Think You've Gotten Rid of It.
But...
After using an over-the-counter treatment or a home remedy, people think they've taken care of the problem because they aren't finding lice bugs for a while.
But the bigger problem is the lice eggs that are left in the hair. Lice kits and home remedies don't kill eggs, and each of those little lice eggs has a bug inside just waiting to hatch and re-infest your child again.
Then- Those Eggs HATCH!
Just like lice eggs are tiny, when lice first hatch they are teeny-tiny. In fact, they are almost invisible to the naked eye! So, it typically takes a few weeks for them to grow big enough for you to see them.
And by the time you notice your head is infested all over again!
And Lice Is Back Again!
How to Avoid the Never-Ending Cycle
If you want to avoid this never-ending cycle and get rid of lice fast then check out my Step-by-Step Video System. Follow along with the videos and you can be completely done with lice in ONE DAY, no retreatments necessary.
If you choose to go another route...
Lice is horrible, and no one should have to endure it for months on end. And I hope you don't.
Many people go from lice kit to lice kit and then from home remedy to home remedy. They think it's gone for a week or two, and then it comes back again.
I created the My Lice Advice Video System so you can avoid struggling with lice for months, instead, just follow along with the videos and be done with lice by the end of the day!
How to be lice-free by the end of the day...
GET THE VIDEO SYSTEM
Get rid of lice the same way the experts do. Your personal lice coach walks you through each step of doing a professional lice treatment at home in a series of videos.
FOLLOW ALONG
Follow along with the videos on your child in your home. No lice kits or toxic chemicals involved!
BE DONE WITH LICE!
When you're done with the videos, you're done with lice. And it's gone permanently!
Summing It Up…
Head lice prefer to stay on the head and rarely come off, but they can live up to 2 days in your car before dying of dehydration. It is unlikely for them to be on your car seats and headrests, but not impossible. Always avoid pesticide lice sprays, because they DO NOT work.
The most important thing about getting rid of lice isn’t cleaning inanimate objects--it’s making sure you’ve gotten rid of lice!
If you want to get rid of lice quickly then follow along with my Step-by-Step Video System and get rid of it in ONE DAY.
All the best,
Theresa is a Registered Nurse and lice expert with years of experience curing children of lice. She owns a lice treatment center in the US which is where she perfected the Step-by-Step Video System proven to get rid of lice. She also works with government agencies and schools helping those with the worst head lice cases in America.
Her greatest passion is empowering parents by teaching parents online how to do a professional lice treatment on their child at home. She is the Lice Coach for the My Lice Advice Step-by-Step Video System.
