7 Proven Ways to Clean and Disinfect your
Lice Comb
Learn the best and easiest ways to clean and sanitize your lice combs.
Question:
I have a good lice comb, but a bunch of nits and bugs are getting stuck in the comb! What's the best way to clean a lice comb?
Answer from a Lice Expert:
If a lice comb is doing its job, then it will be trapping lots of lice and lice eggs/nits in its teeth. So, if your comb is getting stuff stuck in between its teeth then that's a good thing...It means that it's working!
Combs like this are the most effective, but they can also be a pain to clean if you don't know how to do it. But, no worries, in this article and video, I show you exactly how to clean and sanitize your lice comb.
Let me introduce myself...
Hi there! I'm Theresa, I'm a lice expert, lice coach, and Registered Nurse. I help people with lice every day! You can get rid of lice in ONE DAY at home by using the same proven professional technique that I use in my lice center.
Just follow the step-by-step videos and be done with lice by the end of the day.
How to Clean A Lice Comb
How to Clean A Lice Comb Video Tutorial
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, as “super lice,” because they are immune to those treatments.
Today over 98% of lice have some immunity to lice treatments that worked in the past.
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.
How to Clean Your Lice Comb
Lice eggs and nits are the same thing.
To start off let's get something straight... Nits and lice eggs are the same thing! Don't make this more complicated then it needs to be. The two words (nits and lice eggs) will be used interchangeably in this article.
When it comes to combing you want a comb that doesn't just get lice bugs out, but also removes lice eggs. If you have a good lice comb, then the comb may get full of lice eggs and lice bugs.
If you’re removing lice eggs with a high-quality metal lice comb then it probably looks something like this:
All of the black spots are lice eggs and lice trapped in the comb. When a comb gets stuffed with too many lice and lice eggs, it becomes less effective. So cleaning your lice comb is needed.
Can I use lice sprays on my lice comb?
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 lice combs for no reason.
#1- Under Running Water
- Turn on the running water in an empty sink.
- Place the lice comb under the running water.
- Use one hand to hold the comb and the other hand to open up each of the tongs one at a time in a fanning motion while the comb is under running water.
How To Know if Your Lice Comb is Clean
- After opening up each of the tongs multiple times, re-examine the comb by holding the lice comb above you facing a light.
- Repeat the process of running the comb under running water for those lice eggs that you missed
Will this ruin my lice comb and make it less effective?
If you are using a quality metal lice comb, then no. I do this every day in my lice center, and they are still just as effective.
#2- In a Bowl of Water
- Fill a large bowl with water halfway.
- Place the lice comb in the bowl of water.
- Use one hand to hold the comb and the other hand to open up each of the tongs one at a time in a fanning motion while submerged under the water.
- After opening up each of the tongs multiple times, re-examine the comb by holding the lice comb above you facing a light.
- Repeat the process for those lice eggs that you missed.
- Pour lice contents leftover in the bowl down the drain or in the toilet.
#3- Use a Cleaning Tool
The comb that comes with an excellent cleaning tool is the Lice Meister. Below is a picture of the cleaning tool.
It's kind of like one of those "flossers" that you use to floss your teeth...
#4- Use Dental Floss or “Flossers”
Place dental floss between each tong of the comb and wiggle it up and down to remove lice and nits.
How to Disinfect and Sanitize your Lice Comb
When should I sanitize my lice comb?
Sanitize lice combs in between each use (after the entire treatment not after each sweep through the hair). You should also sanitize combs between each person treat.
#1-Soak in Hot Water
How hot does water need to be to kill lice?
Lice die after 5 minutes in temperatures higher than 130° F, the temperature of hot tea or hot coffee.
Be careful not to boil combs with plastic handles.
Plastic’s melting point is 212° F, the temperature of boiling water.
- Clean out lice comb with one of the above methods.
- Set hairbrushes in a large bowl or container.
- Heat water on the stove, just as it begins to boil, remove the water from the heat.
- Once water is no longer boiling, pour water over lice combs.
- Let combs soak for 10 minutes.
#2-Dishwasher
#3- Rubbing Alcohol
Lice die if soaked in rubbing alcohol for 10 minutes.
- Clean out lice comb with one of the above methods.
- Pour rubbing alcohol over lice combs and completely submerge for 10 minutes.
- If combs are not completely submerged, then flip brushes and soak another 10 minutes.
- FYI- Rubbing alcohol is not a good lice-killing method. You should clean out all of the lice before soaking in rubbing alcohol.
How often do I need to clean my lice comb?
I see some people trying to clean their comb after every single swipe through their child’s head for fear that they will inadvertently put lice or lice eggs back in their child’s head. If you are using a less effective treatment like the ones at the store, then I recommend cleaning out your comb anytime you see that you have combed up lice bugs or when your comb is full of lice eggs.
Do I need to worry about accidentally putting live lice BUGS back in my child’s hair when I’m combing?
If you are using an ineffective lice treatment, then yes, you need to be worried about putting live lice back in your child’s hair. Clean out lice on your comb frequently. Those treatments don’t kill lice, so you want to make sure you remove them from the head and rinse them down the sink or seal them in the garbage. If you’ve used a good lice treatment, then you don’t need to be as vigilant about rinsing lice off the comb right away, because lice will be dead.
Do I need to worry about accidentally putting LICE EGGS/NITS back in my child’s hair?
You do not need to be concerned about putting lice eggs “back” into the hair. Once lice eggs are pulled off the hair shaft with a lice comb, they cannot be reattached and hatch.
Combing & 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...
Perhaps you are saying to yourself, "Nah, I think I'll give another home remedy a try."
If that's your plan, then I genuinely wish you the very best. Lice is horrible, and no one should have to endure it for months on end. And I hope you don't.
But, I will caution you... that's most likely what will happen to you. Most 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. That's likely to be your story as well.
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…
Cleaning your lice comb in any of these ways will ensure that you won't get lice back from your comb.
But, the truth is that most people struggle with lice for as long as they do because head lice have grown immune to lice kits and home remedies that worked in the past.
If you want to get rid of lice quickly and ensure that they won't come back, follow along with my Step-by-Step Video System and be done with lice by the end of the 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.
