Background information
Help, head lice! How to get rid of the pesky parasites
by Olivia Leimpeters-Leth
The monkey is laughing at me: lice remedies tested
4.9.2024
Translation: machine translated
Nobody wants them, but some people have them anyway: head lice. Fortunately, there are remedies for these blood-sucking parasites. In a recent test by "K-Tipp", you can find out which lice remedies are actually good and which are not.
As I write these lines, the heads and hair of the other children in our five-year-old daughter's kindergarten are being examined by the "laustante". The specialist's visit to the school after the summer holidays is a tradition in most Swiss communities. She examines the children for what is known as pediculosis: head lice infestation. Although these little parasites are harmless, they are all the more annoying and sometimes quite persistent, as colleague Olivia has written elsewhere:
If our daughter or your child comes home with lice, we need an antidote as quickly as possible. The "K-Tipp" has tested which ones we can count on.
Rated "very good"
Lice repellents in the form of shampoos, lotions or oils are designed to suffocate head lice and their eggs. This effect of six different products was tested by a specialised laboratory in Berlin on behalf of the Swiss consumer magazine. Not with head lice, but with clothes lice. These are very similar to head lice in their body structure, explains "K-Tipp". The main reason for testing with clothes lice, however, is that head lice are very difficult to breed because they can only survive for a short time outside of hair.
The test winner is "Xpress" from Hedrin. Neither lice nor lice eggs survived when it was used. It was the only one of the lice products tested to receive the top score of 6. 2 in 1 Shampoo from Anti-Brumm just missed out on the top score. This product also killed all the lice. However, a larva hatched from one of 30 lice eggs. For this, there is a slight deduction and an overall score of 5.8.
At least still "good"
The lice remedies from Hedrin and Anti-Brumm come out on top in the "K-Tipp" test, with no other products coming out on top. Although: With an overall score of 5.4, the shampoo from Paranix just missed out on a "very good" and instead had to settle for an overall rating of "good". The difference is the effect on the lice eggs, from which nine out of 30 larvae hatched. The effect on the live lice, on the other hand, is flawless, meaning that not a single one survived the test.
"Insufficient" to "poor"
Well, and that's it for the recommendations. The remaining lice remedies failed the test. "Anti-Lice" from Puressentiel killed 22 out of 30 live lice, and 23 larvae hatched from 30 eggs. With an overall score of 3.8, this is "unsatisfactory".
The product from Livsane and another from Anti-Brumm were even worse: they failed against both lice and their eggs and are simply "bad" with scores of 2.3 and 2 according to "K-Tipp". In terms of effectiveness against lice eggs, Livsane's lice and nit shampoo even achieved the worst possible score of 1 - it is the only 1 in the entire test. You will be spared the test loser, the "2 in 1 Pure Power Lotion" from Anti-Brumm, at least in our range.
Comb the lice with a comb
After applying a product, you should also comb the hair with a louse comb. The experts from the laboratory in Berlin strongly recommend this. Unlike in the laboratory test, not all lice come into contact with the product in real life. Practical: The comb is included with some of the lice remedies tested. However, you can of course also buy it separately.
By the way, our daughter is back from kindergarten without lice. If you and your child are less fortunate, have a look at Liceinfo. There you will find lots more information on the topic of head lice and how to combat or prevent them.
Source: Photo: Sofia Vogt
You can find the "K-Tipp" lice remedy test here. You can read it if you take out a plan.
Header image: Shutterstock / New Africa
I'm a full-blooded dad and husband, part-time nerd and chicken farmer, cat tamer and animal lover. I would like to know everything and yet I know nothing. I know even less, but I learn something new every day. What I am good at is dealing with words, spoken and written. And I get to prove that here.
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