Best nit and head lice treatments for 2025

A child constantly scratching an itchy scalp may be a clear sign that head lice are doing the rounds, but choosing from an array of treatments can be really confusing.

We surveyed 3,015 parents with children up to 12 years of age, asking how they rated head lice brands for effectiveness, ease of use, smell and value.

We reveal the best head lice treatments with information on the most popular brands and where to buy them, plus tips on what head lice look like and how to get rid of them.

Ways to keep your family living costs down and kids of all ages happy: Get our Family newsletter – it's free, monthly

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 brands in our survey. Join Which? to get instant access to our survey scores below. 

_{Table notes: Survey of 3,015 UK parents in May 2024 with a child aged up to 12 years. Sample sizes: Boots (648), Full Marks (450), Hedrin (453), Lyclear (301), Nitty Gritty (94), NitWits (66), Superdrug (123), Vamousse (53).}

Popular head lice treatment: brands and prices

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

Logged-in Which? members can also view how each brand 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. 

We have given you the cheapest prices found on the date stated, but it's worth knowing that deals appear frequently and there are often discounts for loyalty card holders (including Boots, Sainsbury's Nectar and Tesco Clubcard).

Prices and availability last checked 27 August 2024.

Boots head lice treatment

Cheapest price: £7.49 for 200ml (£3.75 per 100ml) available at Boots

Boots' own-brand head lice treatment, which can be used on children from the age of two, claims to kill both head lice and eggs in 15 minutes.

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

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

Full Marks

Cheapest price: £8.99 for 200ml (£4.50 per 100ml) available at Amazon

With a five-minute waiting time, Full Marks solution is one of the speedier treatments. 

Although it claims to be effective in one use, the small print on the packaging advises repeating the treatment one week and two weeks later, if necessary – something we would recommend you do anyway to catch any subsequent lice hatchlings.

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

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

Hedrin

Cheapest price: £7.99 for 100ml available at Superdrug

Like Full Marks, Hedrin kills the head lice by suffocating them with dimeticone, rather than poisoning them.

The shampoo can be used from the age of one upwards, and Hedrin says it has been proven to work with just one treatment, although hair should be thoroughly nit-combed after and further checks carried out a week later.

There are several products available in the Hedrin range, including a spray, a leave-in liquid and a 4% lotion (Hedrin's original product).

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

Lyclear 

Cheapest price: £9.83 for 200ml (£4.92 per 100ml) available at Boots

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

These include a head lice lotion, a spray and a product for sensitive skin.

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

Nitty Gritty

Cheapest price: £12.99 for 150ml (£8.66 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.

The solution, which contains essential oils, neem and wheatgerm, is formulated to help your nit comb glide smoothly through hair without foaming up like a conditioner.

You can buy the Nitty Gritty Complete Nit Kit for £34. The Nitty Gritty nit comb on its own costs from £12.99.

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

NitWits

Cheapest price: £12.99 for 120ml (£10.83 per 100ml) available at Amazon

The all-in-one spray from this Australian brand is sprayed on and left for 20 minutes before rinsing out. 

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

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

Superdrug head lice treatment

Cheapest price: £5.39 for 120ml (£4.99 per 100ml) available at Superdrug

This own-brand head lice treatment is one of the cheaper options and, like some more expensive products such as Hedrin, 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.

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

Vamousse

Cheapest price: £15 for 160ml (£9 per 100ml) available at Amazon, Ocado, Sainsbury's and Tesco

Vamousse says that just one treatment with its mousse will kill head lice and eggs within 15 minutes, thereby ending the infestation cycle rather than you having to treat again seven days later.

It does this with sodium chloride (labelled as natrum muriaticum), weakening the protective layer of both lice and eggs, and killing them by dehydrating them.

The pack also contains a nit comb, so you can comb the wet hair after moussing.

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

Can you get free head lice treatment from the chemist?

As a general rule, you will have to buy head lice treatments – but if you don't pay for your prescriptions, you may be able to get them for free.

This is through the NHS Minor Ailment Scheme at selected pharmacies, where you can get advice and, if appropriate, free treatment for some common illnesses without the need to see a GP.

Ask your pharmacist or GP if you're covered under this scheme.

Support your growing family: Our expert advice can help you make the right choices, from improving your home to planning your finances

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

This is one of the cheapest nit treatments (basic nit combs start at around £2) and can be used for both lice detection and getting rid of an infestation. Here's how:

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 check for lice, repeating for at least 30 minutes.
4. Do the same process four more times over the following two weeks to ensure all lice (including newly hatched ones) are removed.

It's quite time-consuming and can be tricky for some hair types, but it still proved popular in our 2024 survey where 60% of respondents who didn't use a branded head lice treatment said they had used conditioner and a nit comb.

Battery-operated combs can be used on dry hair and claim to kill lice on contact, but there is limited evidence to show they really work so the extra outlay (around £15 rather than around £2 for a basic nit comb) may not be justified.

Pros No resistance concerns, they're reusable plus they avoid insecticides

Cons Fiddly and time-consuming, metal combs can hurt and electric combs aren't proven to be effective

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

Medicated method

Some 94% of parents we surveyed in 2024 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 and physical insecticides.

Chemical insecticides. These poison the lice or paralyse their nervous systems, and various trials have shown they work. However, they can lead to louse resistance so shouldn't be used as a preventative measure, and some smell horrible – like malathion (Derbac-M), which has a garlic aroma.

Physical insecticides. These kill lice by physically coating them in liquid such as dimeticone to drown or dehydrate them (for example, Hedrin). They tend to be less pungent than chemical products and you're avoiding insecticides, so louse resistance to them is unlikely. However, be prepared to treat again after a week to tackle newly hatched lice because some products kill live lice but not the eggs.

Herbal/natural method

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

In our 2024 survey, just over a quarter (28%) of parents who used an alternative to traditional branded treatments chose herbal treatments.

However, head lice management guidance from NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) says that essential oil-based and herbal treatments are not recommended, due to the lack of good-quality evidence on their safety and efficacy.

If you prefer not to use a medicated product, we recommend using conditioner and a nit comb.

Pros Resistance is less likely than with some methods, and they are easy to apply

Cons There's little clinical research into efficacy of treatments, the potential side-effects aren't known and they 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 many rounds of head lice treatment do I need to do?

Manufacturers give usage information on their packaging, including how much of a product to use, how to apply and remove it and whether it will need to be repeated.

In our survey, we asked respondents how many rounds of treatment they used with their specified brand.

Around half (55%) of them said they'd used two rounds of treatment, while the number using either one treatment (19%) or three treatments (17%) was fairly similar.

Almost one in 10 (8%) had carried out more than three rounds of treatment.

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 rather than detangle hair. Part down the middle, rather than attempting to detangle the entire head of hair, and use lots of conditioner because these types of hair are highly absorbent.
• Work with sections. After creating a 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. 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 and Afro-Caribbean hair.

Dreadlocks

The density of dreadlocks 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 tackle both scalp and roots, where fresh eggs are found. But because you can't use a nit comb, it may be best to seek the help of professional lice removal experts.

Best hair dryers –  Is it worth buying the pricier Dyson hair dryer, or can the new Shark hair dryer or a cheaper model blow you away? 

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 small brown insects. Before you spot these, you may notice white specks in your child's hair – these are the empty egg cases (also known as 'nits').

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 2024 survey reveals the most common first signs of head lice, according to parents, with their child itching being the most common reason they detected their presence:

• Itching – 60%
• Head lice – 7%
• Nits (lice eggs) – 8%
• Sores on the scalp, neck or shoulders from scratching – 3%

Is your child itching but there's no sign of head lice? Find out more about different childhood rashes, including what they look like and how to treat them

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.

How to get rid of scabies in your home – our expert guide to getting rid of the highly infectious scabies bug from sofas, mattresses, towels, clothing 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 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.