How To Make The Simplest Lice Prevention Shampoo In The World

August is here and the kids are heading back to school. That means a lot of bloggers are talking about head lice and how to prevent it. These posts are some of the best, most embraced posts for mamas with kids in school because dealing with lice is a chore, and not a fun one. (Speaking of chores, are any of them really fun? I think not, but that’s beside the point.)

Unfortunately, the beginning of the school year is NOT the only time your kid is at risk for catching head lice. Anytime you have a group of kids in close contact with each other, whether they’re in school together or at a sleepover, head lice is potentially a problem.

So today, I want to share one of the simplest ways to prevent your child from getting lice in the first place, and if they already have it, it can help rid their hair of it as well. 

We Call It… A Buzz Cut

So here it is. 

If you’re worried about your kid getting lice, the simplest thing to do is to totally shave their head. 

Wait! Hold on a second! Put the razor down… you don’t actually have to go as far as balding them. A nice, short buzz cut will do. #joking #notjoking

Okay, so, that actually will work, but it’s not the tip I have for you today. It’s my attempt at being humorous, and apparently, it’s not working.

I’ll get serious now.

Today, I’m gonna show you how to make the simplest lice prevention shampoo in the world, but before I get to the recipe, let’s look at the ingredient that makes this lice prevention shampoo work so well.

It All Starts With The Oils… The Bug Repelling Essential Oils That Is

It’s no secret that essential oils are great things to have on hand, especially if you’re trying to live naturally. I mean, they can be used to make your house smell good, to make you smell good, to clean your home, to help you get well if you’re feeling junky, so on and so forth.

And, they can also help keep the bugs away.

You see, plants contain volatile oils that either attract or repel bugs from them. It’s how they reproduce and how they survive… all wrapped up in some intricate chemical blends that can be extracted from the plant matter and bottled up for us to use at our good pleasure. 

So, if you gather together some essential oils that are known to repel bugs and blend them together into bug repelling blends that actually smell good so you aren’t the one doing the repelling, well then, you, my friend, are off to a great start.

Now,  if you’re looking for a kid-friendly blend or your don’t want to go through the trouble of blending one yourself, try either of these kid-safe blends from Plant Therapy. 

• Ban The Bugs KidSafe Synergy Blend
• Shield Me KidSafe Synergy Blend

FYI: These blends are exactly the same. Plant Therapy changed the name from Ban The Bugs to Shield Me. If you have both of them (like I do), just know they’re the same exact thing (only with different names), and they both work to discourage bugs (like lice) from bothering you.

If you prefer a blend that doesn’t smell so strongly of citronella, feel free to create your own bug repelling essential oil blends because the KidSafe blends above are not for you. Just know, they do work really well. I’m not a huge fan of citronella, but if it works, I feel it’s totally worth it!

A Simple Lice Prevention Shampoo

Ingredients:

• shampoo (we like Burt’s Bees or Earth Mama Angel Baby)
• Shield Me KidSafe Synergy Blend (or any bug repelling essential oil)

Directions:

1. Take the lid off your shampoo and add your bug repelling essential oil blend to it.
2. Shake it really well to mix the soap and essential oils together. (Use a stirring stick if you need to.)
3. Label the bottle and wash their hair as usual.

The essential oils will leave their scent on the strands of hair, repelling lice that may want to attach. At least, that’s the goal anyway.

See how simple that was? Easy-peasy.

Essential Oil Dilutions For Your Lice Prevention Shampoo

Now, you may be wondering how much of the bug repelling essential oil blend to add to your shampoo and conditioner so let me tell you what I know.

First off, I am not an expert at aromatherapy or using essential oils medicinally. I have taken a couple courses, but I’m nowhere close to being an expert or certified. So there. Let’s get that out in the open right off the bat.

Next, from my understanding, when using products that are not going to sit on the body for long periods of time, a higher dilution of oils can be used compared to a product that will be rubbed into the skin and left on to absorb.

Shampoo and conditioners are washed out, therefore, you can use a higher amount of essential oils in them.

Now that we have that out in the open, let’s talk specifics.

A 3% dilution is the norm when it comes to skin care products that are rinsed off. Again, shampoo and conditioner fit in here.

So, let’s say you squirt out a teaspoon of shampoo into your palm. In that case, you could add 3 drops of your blend to it, rub it together well, slather it in your hair, and rinse it out well. Repeat with your conditioner.

If you wanted to make up a large batch of this lice prevention shampoo ahead of time like I do, simply add 18 drops of your essential oil blend to every ounce of shampoo or conditioner. That’s it. Bottle it, label it well, keep it out of the kids reach, and use it off and on when needed.

How Well Does This Lice Prevention Shampoo Work?

Well, honestly, I don’t have any experience using it to prevent lice (seeing how I have boys with short hair and are homeschooled), but I can tell you it works to keep ticks off!

I live in the mountains, and my boys love to explore and play in the woods. And every year, it seems like the ticks are everywhere during the summer months. With the rising concern around Lyme Disease, I do all I can to prevent my boys from being bitten. That means they use this shampoo during the summer months, and they use a bug repelling spray on their skin and clothes as well. 

This year, the ticks have been worse than normal, and one of my older boys kept getting bit while the other didn’t. I couldn’t figure out what was going on until I realized that the oldest always takes a shower and was consistently washing his hair with the bug-repelling shampoo while the other wanted to play in the bath sometimes and was washing his hair with a different shampoo when he took a bath.

Guess which one wasn’t getting bitten? Yep, the kid that consistently used the bug-repelling shampoo in the shower. Not one time during the whole summer was he bitten by a tick! Once I realized that, I made a second bottle so each bathroom had one. And, as you can guess, we’ve had no tick bites since!

So there you have it. I hope this is helpful to you, mama! 

Thank you, as always, for reading. I love you more than red wine. #joking #not joking

Have you ever dealt with lice with your little ones? Did you get through it with natural remedies? If so, what did you do? 

This post was underwritten by Plant Therapy. All opinions are mine. Plant Therapy offers 100%, pure, undiluted essential oils sourced from some of the top essential oil suppliers in the world. They have single oils and synergy blends as well as a line of synergy blends specific to children. Not only do they offer high-quality essential oils, but they also offer carrier oils, hydrosols, and other essential oil accessories to help you keep yourself and your home naturally healthy.