Best nit and head lice treatments for 2023

If your child can't stop scratching their scalp or is complaining of itching, it may be that head lice are doing the rounds. 

But with such a wide variety of sprays, lotions, mousses and shampoos available, with many claiming to be '100% effective in one go' or just a '10-minute treatment', it can be hard to know which one to choose.

To find the top head lice treatment, we surveyed 1,030 parents of kids under 12, asking how they rated different solutions for effectiveness, ease of use, smell and value for money. 

Keep scrolling for the best head lice treatment, information on the most popular brands and where to buy them, as well as tips on what head lice look like and how to get rid of them.

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Which are the best head lice and nit treatments?

Only logged-in Which? members can view the head lice treatment test results below. 

If you're not yet a member, you'll see an alphabetically ordered list of the head lice treatments in our survey. Join Which? to get instant access to our survey scores below. 

_{Table notes: Survey of 1,030 UK parents in June 2022 with a child aged up to 12 years. Sample sizes: Boots (205), Full Marks (220), Hedrin (216), Lyclear (197), Nitty Gritty (85), NitWits (60), Puressentiel (33), Superdrug (163), Vamousse (62).}

Popular head lice treatments: brands and prices

Below, we've listed popular brands of nit and head lice treatments used by parents, with information on their range, typical prices and where to buy them. 

Logged-in Which? members can also view how each treatment scored in our parent survey, along with star ratings for effectiveness, ease of use, smell and value for money.

If you're not yet a member, you'll see an alphabetically ordered list of the head lice treatments instead. Join Which? to find out which brand of head lice treatment parents rated the best. 

Prices and availability last checked 1 December 2022.

Acu-Life

Cheapest price: £4.49 for an Acu-Life Nit Comb available at Amazon.

Acu-Life produces Lice Cure, which you can buy in the States, but it isn't currently available in the UK.

However, the brand also has a range of metal-toothed nit and head lice combs that prove popular with parents. 

The combs weren't included in our survey so we don't have a rating. 

Boots Pharmaceuticals head lice treatment

Cheapest price: £9.00 for 200ml (£4.50 per 100ml) available at Boots.

Boots' own-brand head lice treatment, which can be used for children from the age of two, claims a treatment time of 15 minutes and that it kills both head lice and eggs.

You massage this coconut oil shampoo into hair to produce a lather before rinsing and combing with the nit comb provided.

But does Boots head lice solution work? Log in now or join Which? to find out how parents rate Boots head lice treatments.

Full Marks

Cheapest price: £8.64 for 200ml (£4.32 per 100ml) available at Medicine Market Place.

The five-minute waiting time for Full Marks solution makes it one of the speedier treatments on the market. 

It contains cyclomethicone that kills the lice by dehydrating them so they can then be removed with the comb provided, along with any eggs.

Although it claims to be effective in one use, there's an asterisk next to this claim. If you read the small print on the back of the packaging, you'll see it states you should 'repeat above [treatment] steps on days 7 and 14 if necessary'. 

We'd always recommend a second treatment to catch any later lice hatchings anyway.

The 200ml bottle of Full Marks solution includes a fine metal-toothed comb and is suitable for four treatments. 

But does Full Marks solution work? Log in now or join Which? to find out how parents rate Full Marks head lice treatments.

Hedrin

Cheapest price: £9.95 for 150ml (£6.63 per 100ml) at Weldricks.

Like Full Marks, Hedrin also works by physically killing headlice rather than poisoning them - it uses dimeticone to do this.

In addition to its 4% lotion, Hedrin's other treatments include: 

• Treat & Go Lotion, Spray or Mousse, which is applied to hair, dried then washed out after eight hours. It’s available in different sizes (60ml does about two applications) and prices start at £4.49 for 50ml and go up to as high as £19.70 for 250ml so shop around. 
• Once Spray Gel – a 15-minute gel treatment, which is applied like a shampoo then washed out. Prices start at £5 for 60ml. 
• All-in-One Shampoo – this treatment is claimed to work in 10 minutes to kill lice, remove eggs and clean hair, so it's easy to include in a regular bathtime routine. Prices start from £8.34 for 100ml.

But does Hedrin work? Log in now or join Which? to find out how parents rate Hedrin head lice treatments.

Lyclear 

Cheapest price: £5.19 for 100ml available at Weldricks.

As well as its lotion, Lyclear – whose products use a physical action to suffocate and dehydrate both live and unhatched head lice – sells several other treatments.

These include a £9.09 head lice spray and comb, a 10-minute treatment shampoo, a creme rinse (suitable from six months of age) and a solution for people with sensitive skin. 

Lyclear also has an Extra Strong range, which costs between £8.99 and £15.99. It's available as a shampoo, lotion or spray and the manufacturer claims that it offers 72 hours of protection from re-infestation.

But does Lyclear work? Log in now or join Which? to find out how parents rate Lyclear head lice treatments.

Nitty Gritty

Cheapest price: £11.99 for 150ml (£7.99 per 100ml) available at Nitty Gritty.

You can buy this pesticide-free treatment on its own or as part of a kit, which includes a solution, a plastic nit comb and a defence spray.

Nitty Gritty says the head lice defence spray can be used daily to help mask the hair's aroma, as head lice use a sense of smell to detect new hair to infest. 

It claims the essential oils in the spray 'encourage head lice to stay on their existing host rather than migrate'.

You can buy the Nitty Gritty Complete Nit Kit for £29.99. The Nitty Gritty nit comb on its own costs from £7.

But does Nitty Gritty work? Log in now or join Which? to find out how parents rate Nitty Gritty head lice treatments.

NitWits

Cheapest price: £9.90 for 120ml (£8.25 per 100ml) available on Amazon.

This is an Australian brand, but it's available in the UK. It's an all-in-one treatment that comes in a spray format. You spray on the treatment, leave it for 20 minutes then rinse out.

NitWits All-in-One Lice Treatment comes with a comb, which can be useful for removing dead lice and eggs.

But does NitWits work? Log in now or join Which? to find out how parents rate NitWits treatments.

Puressentiel herbal treatment

Cheapest price: £12.99 for 100ml available Numark.

Puressentiel Anti-Lice treatment lotion contains a natural complex of vegetable oils including coconut and jojoba as well as essential oils (lavender, clove, tea tree, geranium).

It claims to be 'effective at killing 100% of head lice, larvae eggs and nits' by mechanically obstructing their respiratory openings

The bottle comes with a lice comb, which you need to use after applying the treatment to remove lice and eggs.

Puressentiel also sells a 2-in-1 treatment shampoo, which costs £22.90 for 150ml. 

But does Puressentiel work? Log in now or join Which? to find out how parents rate Puressentiel head lice treatments.

Superdrug head lice treatment

Cheapest price: £5.99 for 120ml (£4.99 per 100ml) available at Superdrug.

This own-brand head lice treatment is one of the cheaper options and like some of the more expensive head lice treatments like Hedrin, it contains dimeticone, which works by suffocating lice. 

The manufacturer recommends you leave it on for as long as possible (preferably overnight), so it might not be the best choice if you're in a rush.

But does Superdrug head lice spray work? Log in now or join Which? to find out how parents rate Superdrug head lice treatments.

Vamousse

Cheapest price: £14.40 for 160ml (£9 per 100ml) available at Ocado.

This brand started off with a mousse-based treatment but has since branched out with a protective lice shampoo as well.

The active ingredients are isopropyl alcohol and isopropyl myristate, and it works by dissolving the lice's protective exoskeleton then dehydrating the lice and eggs – something it claims to do in two hours.

But does Vamousse work? Log in now or join Which? to find out how parents rate Vamousse head lice treatments.

How do I get rid of head lice?

There are three main methods for tackling head lice and nits: the nit comb method, the medicated method and the herbal/natural method.

See below for more on how they work and the pros and cons of each.

Nit comb method

You can use a nit comb to detect lice in the hair, and to get rid of an infestation. It's one of the cheapest nit treatments available (basic nit combs start at around £2) and they're easy to use. Follow the steps below: 

1. Cover the infected hair in conditioner to loosen the lice and make combing easier.
2. Start pulling the comb from the roots all the way to the tips of the hair.
3. After each stroke, check the comb and clean it on a tissue to see if there are any lice on it.
4. Repeat this over a period of at least 30 minutes.
5. Do the same process four more times over the following two weeks to ensure all lice (including newly hatched ones) are removed.

This treatment is quite time consuming. And, depending on your child and their hair type, it may be tricky trying to keep them still long enough to do a thorough job. But it's popular: our 2022 survey revealed that for those respondents who didn't use a branded head lice treatment, 73% of them used conditioner and a nit comb.

Battery-operated combs can be used on dry hair. These kill lice on contact, but there is limited evidence to show they really work. They cost around £15, which is much more expensive than basic nit combs too.

Pros No resistance concerns, reusable, no insecticides

Cons Fiddly and time consuming, metal combs can hurt, electric combs not proven to be effective

Watch our video of how to comb through hair using a nit comb and conditioner

Medicated method

Some 69% of parents we surveyed in 2022 said they used a head lice solution, with medicated treatments from Boots, Superdrug, Full Marks, Hedrin, Nitwits and Lyclear all making the list. 

One of the benefits of these treatments is that they're often much quicker to use than the combing method – some take only 10 minutes. 

Medicated methods fall into one of two categories: 

Chemical insecticides work by poisoning the lice or paralysing their nervous systems. Only use if you've found a live head louse on the hair rather than as a preventative measure because this can lead to the lice developing resistance to a non-lethal dose, reducing the product's effectiveness when it's actually needed.

Pros Easy to apply, various trials have shown they work

Cons Can be prone to resistance, varying effectiveness in clinical trials, some smell horrible

Physical insecticides, such as Hedrin and Full Marks solution kill lice by physically coating them in liquid and drowning or dehydrating them, which means head lice can't become resistant to them.

However, some don't kill the eggs so treatment must be repeated after a week to kill any newly hatched lice. 

Pros No insecticides, resistance unlikely, odourless

Cons Reapplication is needed a week later 

Herbal/natural method

Natural and herbal remedies include tea tree oil and green-tea shampoo as well as over-the-counter products like Puressentiel and Nitty Gritty

In our 2022 survey, two in five parents who used an alternative to traditional branded treatments chose herbal treatments and a nit comb.

Herbal treatments may work better when used in combination with a nit comb. However, many parents prefer to use herbal treatments as a preventative measure, rather than to actually get rid of lice, as it's thought products such as tea tree oil repel lice.

There is limited evidence of the efficacy of herbal products, and not much information on any side effects. If you prefer not to use a medicated product, we recommend using conditioner and a nit comb.

Pros Resistance less likely, easy to apply

Cons Little clinical research into efficacy of treatments, potential side-effects not known, can be strong-smelling

If your child is feeling under the weather, use one of our best digital thermometers to quickly and easily take their temperature.

How should I treat head lice in mixed-race and Afro hair?

Dee Wright, founder of The Hairforce, a professional head lice removal company, suggests the following for treating mixed-race and Afro hair:

• Part, don’t detangle, the hair. Part down the middle rather than attempting to detangle the entire head of hair at the outset to avoid it getting fluffy. You may need to use lots of conditioner because these types of hair are highly absorbent.
• Work with sections. After you've created the middle parting, work with smaller sections to make it more manageable. For very curly or Afro hair, Dee recommends dividing the hair into 12 sections – six either side – before starting to comb.
• Detangle. Once the sections are created, you then need to detangle each one. As soon as it's detangled, plait it to keep it under control and out of your way.
• Nit combing. Once you've detangled and plaited them all, unplait one at a time, apply conditioner and start nit-combing. When you finish nit-combing that section, replait it and move on to the next plait.

African and Afro-Caribbean hair

African and Afro-Caribbean hair has a flattened-oval hair shaft, while mixed-race and Caucasian hair has a more circular hair shaft. The head lice indigenous to Caucasian hair aren't adapted to the flattened-oval hair shaft, so the lice aren't able to take up home as effectively in African or Afro-Caribbean hair.

Dreadlocks

If you are dealing with dreadlocks, the density of them makes it impossible to nit comb, which means you can't comb the nits out and the eggs will hatch, leading to repeated infestations. 

The dreadlocks need to have grown down to at least five to six inches (13 to 15cm) from the head so you can get to the scalp and roots, where fresh eggs are found, but because you can't nit comb it may be best to seek the help of professional lice removal experts.

We don't just survey head lice treatments – if you're looking for a gift for your child see our round-up of the best remote control cars. 

What head lice treatment can I use when pregnant?

The best method to use if you have head lice when you're expecting is nit combing with conditioner because it avoids chemicals.

If you still can't eradicate them, speak to your doctor or pharmacist about what to do next.

What do head lice look like?

Head lice are the small brown lice you see on the hair, whereas a nit is the egg case, which sticks to the base of the hair shaft, rather than the live louse.

The white specks you can spot in a child's hair are the empty egg cases, and they can be the first indication that your little one has unwanted visitors and needs a bit more of an inspection.

Our gallery makes for grim viewing, but it's worth taking a look to discover exactly what to look for and how to spot nits and head lice.

Our 2022 survey reveals the most common first signs of head lice according to parents:

• Itching – 64%
• Head lice– 17%
• Nits (lice eggs) – 12%
• Sores on the scalp, neck or shoulder from scratching – 7%

Is your child itching but there's no sign of head lice? Find out more about different childhood rashes and how Calpol and other infant paracetamol pain relief might help.

What causes head lice?

Head lice are generally picked up by head-to-head contact, which is why they can be so easily transmitted among children as they huddle together when playing or at school. It takes a mere 30 seconds for a single louse to transfer from one scalp to another.

Head lice are most common in children aged four to 11, are more common in girls than boys and infestations are often seen at the start of the school year.

Lice can't be caught from animals, and although in theory you could pick up eggs from a pillowcase, hat or head scarf, it's very rare as lice can't live for very long if they're not on a host.

Discover the best trampolines we found by testing the most popular on sale from Argos, Plum, Smyths and more.

How to avoid head lice and nits

Despite the fact that you can buy repellent sprays that claim to prevent head lice infestation, the NHS says there's nothing you can do to prevent head lice.

Rather it's a case of helping to stop them spread by wet or dry combing regularly in order to detect nits and lice early. 

Also, there's no need for children to stay off school if they have lice: just keep on top of wet combing and, if needed, use a medicated solution to tackle it.

See our round-up of the best head lice treatments.