Lice prefer dirty heads.

NOT TRUE! Like us, lice prefer a clean house. They’re not more likely to cozy up to a dirty head than a clean head. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t wash your hair. Having dirty hair isn’t going to prevent lice either. The only thing that prevents lice is not touching your hair against the hair of someone with lice.

Super lice are real.

TRUE! In your lice research you may have heard about super lice but found yourself asking, "what are super lice?". Super lice are real, but they don’t have super powers. They can’t fly faster or further than regular lice. In fact, like normal lice, they can’t even fly. Or jump. Or swim. Their only super power is that they’ve become resistant to many of the pesticides on the market used for lice treatment. The thing is, though, they’re not really special. The comb works on them just as well as it works on regular old lice. Your WelComb® is the arch nemesis of all lice, super or not.

Anything touched by a person who has lice should be disinfected, washed, dry-cleaned, or put in a plastic bag for 14 days.

NOT TRUE! Lice can’t live for more than 24 hours off a human head. Take a deep breath and think through what the child has come into contact with in the last 24 hours. Rationally and calmly consider how to best use your cleaning time based on where the live lice really may be hanging out.

Lice can't swim.

TRUE! They totally freeze up when wet. Since lice are fast runners, the best way to catch them is to soak them. Water stops them in their tracks so you can slide them out. But they can hold their breath for a really long time. Like two hours. So get ‘em wet and get ‘em out, because once that hair dries, they’re back to running around. And reproducing.

Lice treatment shampoos and oils kill nits.

NOT TRUE! No matter what the bottle says, no pesticides, solutions, oils (essential or otherwise) have been proven to kill nits.

Lice can jump and fly.

NOT TRUE! They can run. Really, really fast. But they cannot jump or fly. If you’re in the same room as someone with lice but don’t touch your head against their head, you are NOT going to get lice. Really. The only way they can get from the infested person to you is if you touch your head to the infested head. That’s when they hear the racing gun go off and shoot across the hair strands faster than you can imagine. The best way to prevent lice is to not touch your head to someone else’s head. Hard to convince a 3-year-old in preschool of this, though. We get that.

Lice commonly find new homes by waiting it out in hats and clothing or jumping from one person's coat to a new victim.

NOT TRUE! There is a less than 1 in 100,000 chance that lice can be transmitted through clothing. These little guys can only go 24 hours without food (biting the scalp for blood). There's no food in a hat. Or on a coat. Or on a couch. They don't want to leave your head. If they're there, they're staying there. It's a good deal: breakfast, lunch, dinner. No reason to leave unless a new victim just places their head right there. These guys aren't about to risk death. If one happens to get himself on to a coat or hat, most likely it's because he's reached the end of his life and doesn't have the energy to hang on. And if that's the case, he's probably not lasting even the 24 hours without his meal.

You can get lice from a comb or brush.

TRUE! Lice hanging out on a comb or brush can transfer to a new head of hair if brushed back on within 24 hours. Why? Because lice that simply fall off a head of hair are dying and not healthy enough to infest someone new. But lice that catch a ride on a strand of hair caught in a comb or brush are still healthy and strong and ready to lay more eggs.

Lice have favorite hiding places.

TRUE! They like to incubate where it's nice and warm right there against the scalp. Some of their favorite hideouts include the nape of the neck and around the ears.

The best way to tell if someone has lice is if they're itching their head.

NOT TRUE! We hate to tell you this, but once the itching begins, it’s likely the lice have been there a while. The itching is an allergic reaction to the saliva. You cannot actually feel the lice biting you. So if you’re not allergic to the saliva, you won’t itch. In fact, half of all people with lice never itch. So what’s the best way to tell if someone has lice? Comb. Get the hair nice and wet. Add conditioner, and leave it in. Sit them down, and comb through with a WelComb® Lice and Nit Removal Comb. This is also the best way to catch lice early, before they reproduce.

Lice are difficult to kill.

NOT TRUE! Lice need the warmth and blood provided by the human head. And they can’t live without it for more than 24 hours. That’s why manually removing lice and nits from the head is enough to kill them. No pesticides required!

A comb with very long teeth and a very long handle works best.

NOT TRUE! We totally get it. The further your hand is from the lice, the better. Sadly, that theory doesn’t work. The further you are from the lice, the less likely you’re going to capture them. That’s why the WelComb® doesn’t have a long handle or long teeth. These little guys need hand-to-hand combat. If you really want them gone, just get in there. You’ll get ‘em.

You need a liquid to kill lice.

TRUE! But be careful not to confuse “liquid” with “pesticide”. To prevent the lice from moving and to help lubricate the hair, all you need is regular old tap water, a lubricating conditioner and a proven lice comb (like WelComb®). Any comb that can be pulled through dry hair does not have teeth spaced close enough together to remove all the lice and nits. When used with tap water and a lubricating conditioner, the WelComb®’s rigid teeth (just the right distance apart!) capture lice and nits with ease.

You need a metal comb.

NOT TRUE! Your school nurse may have told you that you must get a metal comb. And you may have read that metal combs are better in this Consumer Reports article. The thing is, considering the other plastic combs on the market, metal combs are much better than the other plastic combs on the market. But not this one. The WelComb® has everything good about the metal comb plus more: short, optimally-spaced teeth with a beveled edge that won’t slip over lice and nits like traditional combs. So why didn’t we make it metal? Because we don’t have to. Maynard, our ingenious engineer, figured out how to make plastic work even better than metal. Thanks, Maynard. We owe you one.