How to get them outta there.
Full lice and nit removal instructions can be found below. But before you get started, watch this informational video to learn how to get rid of lice eggs in hair and why the wet combing method of lice and nit removal truly works!
Now let’s get started!
1 Get it together.
- WelComb® Lice and Nit Removal Comb
- Dental floss for cleaning the WelComb®
- Wide-toothed comb
- Tissues or paper towels
- Cape or towel to drape on your child’s shoulders
- Small plastic garbage bag
- Movie, video game, book or other engaging distraction
Let’s face it: no one wants to sit still and have lice combed out of their hair. Make it bearable with the distraction of a movie, book or game. - Bright light
- Reading glasses or other magnification device
Getting a better, closer look at lice is probably not on your bucket list, but if you really want to make sure they’re out of there, a bright light and magnification helps. - Bobby pins or hair clips
2 Wash and condition hair leaving hair wet with conditioner in it.
- You’ve subdued one moving target with a movie. The real target, those fast-moving lice, halt when wet, making them much easier to capture and remove.
- While we all would like to believe the conditioner is smothering the lice, it’s not. The conditioner is there to make this process more bearable: conditioned hair is simply much easier to comb through, making the process faster and easier for you and your child.
3 Create a superhero (yes, we mean put the cape or towel on the child).
- The cape or towel keeps the child’s wet and conditioned hair from making their back uncomfortably wet. Yes – that bearable thing again.
4 Remove ALL tangles with the wide-toothed comb.
- The teeth of the WelComb® Lice and Nit Removal Comb will slide through hair much more easily if it has been detangled with a wide-tooth comb first.
- Combing with a wide-toothed comb helps evenly distribute the conditioner throughout the hair and remove any excess conditioner.
5 GENTLY comb through hair with the WelComb® Lice and Nit Removal Comb.
- Start at the scalp each time and comb the entire length of the hair strand.
Lice lay their eggs at the scalp.
Lice and nits hang on to strands of hair like glue. They won’t come off unless combed all the way through to the end of the strand. - Take just a few strands at a time.
If you take too many strands of hair at a time, you will leave lice in the hair. The process only works if you do a few strands at a time. It takes time, but it’s worth it. - As you go, pin back sections that have been combed through.
- As you go, wipe lice and nits from the comb with a paper towel or tissue, collecting them in the plastic garbage bag.
- Be sure to comb ALL the hair with the WelComb®. Nits are very difficult to see in light hair, and lice are very difficult to see in dark hair. A section of hair is not lice- or nit-free just because the lice and nits are not easily visible to you. The WelComb® removes lice and nits that you cannot see. To defeat the lice, you must remove them ALL.
6 Clean up.
- If you choose to dispose of the comb, add it to the small plastic garbage bag and take to garbage bin.
- To clean the comb, soak it in 130-degree water for 5 to 10 minutes.
- The old trick of using a toothbrush to clean the comb will not work on a Welcomb®. The toothbrush cannot get between the closely-placed, rigid teeth. Instead, slide dental floss between the teeth to more thoroughly clean the comb.
- Vacuum area.
7 Repeat.
- Repeat this same process every other day. Subsequent combing will remove any remaining or new lice and nits.
- Continue periodic combing until no live lice are discovered for an interval of up to two weeks.
- Repeat sessions with NO live lice are the sign that you’ve conquered the lice!
- If this comb works so well, why do you have to repeat the process?
Because lice are evasive little creatures and lice and nits are sticky little pests.
Because despite your dreams of becoming a lice-removal professional, you’re new at this. You may have missed a few.
Because missing a few lice and having them start a brand new colony on your child’s head wins out over repeating the combing process a few times.
Because with repeated combings, you’re eradicating the hatching nymphs, the ones that can take up to 10 days to emerge. By combing out every few days, you capture them before they are mature enough to lay more eggs. - Rechecks at weekly intervals is recommended; a reinfestation is only one head to head contact away! Make combing with the WelComb® part of routine hair washing for even better lice eradication.