A common misconception about treating people and homes that have had contact with lice is that the only way to get them out of the house is to put everything in the home that is made of any type of fabric in plastic bags for two weeks and have the furniture and carpets cleaned.
Cleaning lice on carpeting and clothes.
Head lice are spread most commonly by direct head to head hair to hair contact.
For more read our article lice and carpets clothing.
Once the clothes have been washed put them in the dryer on high heat.
Vacuum the floor if it is carpeted.
Once you return to the items the lice will have died.
As above keep this garbage bag somewhere it won t accidentally be opened.
The risk of getting infested by a louse that has fallen onto a carpet or furniture is very small.
Either remove rugs and put in the dryer for 40 minutes on high heat or vacuum them or place them in a garbage bag for 48 hours.
Instead of wasting precious resources on unnecessary cleaning go to the article ultimate lice cleaning checklist that explains what to clean and how to clean it.
If a fabric item cannot be washed or taken to a dry cleaner seal it in a plastic bag and store it for two weeks.
Take dry clean only items to a professional but mention that the item has been exposed to lice.
The most important thing about getting rid of lice isn t cleaning inanimate objects it s making sure you ve gotten rid of lice.
However much less frequently they are spread by sharing clothing or belongings onto which lice have crawled or nits attached to shed hairs may have fallen.
Only launder dirty clothing.
Many people spend hours and hundreds of dollars on cleaning their home and carpets.