Vinegar Friday -- Head lice and avoiding the Britney look

TGIVF!! 

I can't believe it's August already! Where did this summer go? Is anyone else wondering the same thing? 


 
With school right around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to prepare you for the possibility of head lice. Yikes!

The bad news is that lots of kids get them. The good news is that vinegar can help you out if it happens in your family! No need to go the Brittney Spears route! There are a few more desirable options for you. 


ONE -- Plain ol' vinegar and water. Add a cup of distilled white vinegar to a large pitcher of water. Pour the mixture over the scalp, being careful not to get it in your kiddo's eyes. Once the scalp is drenched, use a nit comb and comb those suckers away. Be prepared to do this more than once.

TWO -- A much greasier solution. Mix one cup DWV with one cup of mineral oil. Saturate the scalp and cover securely with a shower cap. Now here's the tricky part. Somehow get your little one to keep the shower cap on overnight as he/she sleeps (yeah, good luck with that one). In the morning, wash your child's hair and follow up with a good combing with the nit comb. Again, you might have to repeat the process for a couple of nights or so until the lice are completely gone.

THREE -- Here is a more pleasant option. Use shampoo with tea tree oil to wash the hair, following with a 50/50 apple cider vinegar and water rinse. Heed my previous warning about avoiding the eyes! There are a few options for tea tree oil shampoo here.

• Buy shampoo with tea tree oil already in it. Made From Earth Tea Tree and Protein Herbal Shampoo is one option.
• Add 10 drops essential tea tree oil to 8 oz. of your regular shampoo. Make sure to mix it well before applied it to your child's scalp. Never put undiluted tea tree oil directly on the scalp or skin.
• Mix up a batch of your own tea tree oil shampoo following this recipe:

• 1/2 cup pure Castile soap (Earth Mama Angel Baby, Dr. Bronner's, Trader Joe's, etc.)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 tsp. olive oil
• 12 drops essential tea tree oil

Using both tea tree oil and vinegar gives the lice a double whammy and keeps dangerous chemicals off your children's scalps. Of course, tea tree oil shampoo is good year round, not just during lice outbreaks, as is an ACV rinse. I'll be singing the virtues of tea tree oil on Wednesday, so make sure you drop in to read my review.

In the meantime, here's wishing you an itch-free school year. To be honest, I'm getting itchy just thinking about the need for these awesome remedies!

Keeping it green and lice-free with vinegar,

For more vinegar tips, check out my book, now on sale for only $6.99 on Amazon!