How to Kill Lice in the Carpet

Lice infestations can temporarily take over your house 3. Although lice live on people, they can jump from a person into various places in your home such as a pillow or your carpet 3. Although lice can only live on their own for one to two days maximum, during that time it is possible for them to jump onto someone's head or body and infest again 3. For that reason, it is important to do a thorough cleaning of your carpet to be sure all of the lice in your home have been killed 13.

Cleaning the Carpet

Vacuum your carpet, especially in the area where the infected person was sitting or lying down. Vacuum twice a day until you feel confident the lice are gone 3. Then continue to vacuum once a day.

How to Kill Lice on Furniture

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Vacuum the furniture as well. This way you can be sure lice cannot jump from the furniture to the carpet 3. Clean all upholstery daily until the house is clear of the infestation.

Steam clean the carpet once You can either use your own steam cleaner, or if you do not have one, hire a professional. To maintain a clean carpet, it should be steam cleaned once every six months or once a year at the very minimum.

Tips

Lice cannot live long on their own. If they are in the carpet, they have no food, nor will the eggs in the carpet hatch for lack of warmth. If someone in your house has been infected with lice, stay off the carpet for a couple of days. If there were any living in the carpet, they will die in a day or two.

Warnings

Do not use poisons to kill the lice. Vacuuming and a thorough steam cleaning should be sufficient to kill the lice, and they won't harm your family as the poisons can.