Can Lysol kill lice on furniture, fabric, helmets, beddings, mattresses, couches, and other surfaces?
Lice problems have increasingly become difficult to treat, possibly due to genetic mutation, which seems to be the reason. This is possible because lice treatments that worked effectively in the past have zero effect on lice today.
Watching lice problems flourish with limited solutions available is very disappointing. A lot has been said about Lysol and its ability to kill lice.
We’ll find out if this claim about Lysol is valid or just some unfounded rumors.
Will Lysol Kill Lice?
Lysol is a brand name representing a wide array of disinfecting and cleaning products.
These come primarily in liquid form containing a mixture of soft soap and cresols. This might sound a bit off as you’d expect Lysol to have a pest control product because we’re discussing lice.
However, the question about the exterminating effect of Lysol in lice is in order because this cleaning product has been used successfully on other pests.
Lysol kills bed bugs but does it have the same effect on lice?
Using Lysol For Lice Control
If you’ve hoped to hear a positive response about Lysol’s capacity to kill lice, we’re sorry to disappoint you; it doesn’t kill lice. Several tests have shown that lice have been dipped in Lysol with zero after-effects.
Lysol may be an excellent natural remedy for other pests but won’t solve your lice issues.
It doesn’t matter if you use Lysol to treat lice in carpet and upholstery, bedding and pillows, or head lice. You still won’t get any results. What remains is to seek alternative solutions to your lice issues.
So, what works?
Alternatives To Lysol Lice Control
Having determined that Lysol won’t eliminate lice, it becomes necessary to find practical solutions.
Now, using Lysol for killing other pests is an excellent home remedy. Due to the focus on this cleaner and disinfectant, we’ll be considering effective and proven home remedies for lice problems.
There are several methods you can use to kill lice wherever they are.
The strategy used depends on the medium or surface these pests are on. Methods include using a dishwasher, soaking lice-infested brushes in hot water, and freezing.
Other lice extermination strategies include vacuuming, using enzyme lice spray, a sticky lint roller, and a dryer.
Let’s give you more details on each lice extermination strategy listed above.
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Dishwasher
Apart from being found on the head, lice would also congregate on whatever is used on it; your brushes and combs.
Will harbor a significant lice population that needs to be killed. Your dishwasher comes with multiple settings, including the “SaniWash.”
The SaniWash setting is known as the anti-bacterial cycle and allows for heated drying. Under this setting, temperatures can rise to about 180 degrees F. The lice on your combs and brushes won’t survive this temperature.
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Soaking Lice Infested Brushes in Hot Water
If you don’t want to use the dishwasher option, consider using hot water.
While this method is effective, the water temperature shouldn’t go beyond tea or coffee temperature. Brushes and combs should be allowed to sit in hot water for about 10 minutes.
It would be best if you exercised caution not to burn your brushes and combs by boiling them in water. Excessive heat might end up destroying them. You want to get rid of lice alone.
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Freezing
Lice will hardly survive in extreme temperatures.
Just like they’re killed by heat, lice won’t survive zero to sub-zero temperatures. Placing your combs and brushes in a Ziploc bag and leaving them frozen at zero degrees should be enough to kill them.
This can be left to sit overnight before removing your combs and brushes and any lice-infested clothing.
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Lice Vacuuming
Sanitation has proven efficient in solving many pest issues, including lice infestations.
Your vacuum cleaner comes in handy for this task. It would be best if you targeted the suction power of your vacuum cleaner on surfaces where lice presence is suspected.
Vacuum cleaning your furniture should do just fine to contain a lice infestation.
After completing lice house cleaning for each day, you should carefully discard the contents into the garbage. Doing so ensures they don’t have a chance of survival.
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Using Enzyme Lice Spray
This isn’t a pesticide but a multi-purpose spray that does the job. Nits and lice are killed on contact while being gentle on the scalp and hair.
Examples of this product include Lice Eradicator, Enzymatic Eradicator, LiceLogic Clear & Free All Purpose Spray, etc.
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Sticky Lint Roller
You can use Sticky Lint Roller in place of a vacuum cleaner.
What this tool does is that its attached adhesive tape pulls lice off surfaces when rolled across. The roller sheets can easily be replaced when they lose their stickiness.
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Dryer
Vacuuming can become tiring as you have to cover various points and furniture to pick up lice.
However, you can save time by placing your pillows in a dryer and running for about 40 minutes. This sustained heating will eliminate lice.
It would be best if you had lice-free pillows after this drying cycle. With this inexpensive and time-saving lice extermination strategy, you can quickly adapt to free your home from lice.
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Using Essential Oils
Essential oils have proven to be highly effective in lice control.
Lice are killed when they come in contact with these oils. You can choose any of the following essential oils; eucalyptus oil, tea tree oil, clove oil, lavender oil, neem oil, nutmeg oil, aniseed oil, and peppermint oil.
Others include red thyme oil and cinnamon oil.
For this strategy to succeed, you’ll need to mix about 15 to 20 drops of your preferred essential oil with about 2 ounces of olive oil. Use this mixture on your scalp and hair and allow it to stay overnight.
Next, comb out and shampoo your hair before rinsing. This process should be repeated until there are clear signs of lice-free hair.
Conclusion
Lice are another familiar pest problem people have to deal with. However, using Lysol to eliminate the problem won’t get much done.
In other words, You can’t use Lysol for lice control. You may have to use different strategies to get the job done.
Lysol shouldn’t be used on the body either. This is due to its toxic nature. It isn’t advisable to apply to your hair either. Since Lysol won’t get the job done, what else can be done?
Several! Some ways include wet combing, vacuuming, and washing infested items.
Others use essential oils like tea tree, ylang-ylang, eucalyptus, lavender, etc. These are non-toxic ways to get rid of the problem.
So far, we’ve found out that Lysol doesn’t kill lice.
However, we have provided you alternative home remedies to tackle the problem. These methods will cost you next to nothing.