Is hot wash enough to kill lice/nits on clothes?

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Forum -> Household Management -> Cleaning & Laundry

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amother

Wine

Mon, Nov 05 2018, 10:01 pm

One child brought lice home from school. Nobody else in the family caught any but she apparently had them for a week (there were babies) and we need to disinfect the whole house. The lice lady said to put everything through hot wash and hot dryer. I did that for all the bedding but I'm nervous that the hot dryer will ruin all our clothes. The hot wash gets very hot. Isn't that enough to kill anything? I can put it in for an extra long hot rinse cycle or even put it through twice, it gets nice and hot but I am sure the hot dryer is harsher. When I did my towels they all came out crunchy, even though I only put them in long enough to get dry.

Mon, Nov 05 2018, 10:42 pm

Hot wash is enough iif your water gets really really hot like in public housing.

amother

Wine

Mon, Nov 05 2018, 10:52 pm

Hot like when you open the thing on top to put in detergent, steam hits you in the face. I put it in for an extra-long cycle and will hope for the best. The medium dryer setting gets quite hot too. I'm not in public housing but I am using a laundromat so possibly a similar technical setup.

Mon, Nov 05 2018, 10:53 pm

I guess it's good

Miri1

Mon, Nov 05 2018, 11:08 pm

I wonder if putting items in the freezer for a few days would kill the nits.

amother

Wine

Mon, Nov 05 2018, 11:11 pm

Lice lady said that the alternative to hot wash/hot dry is to keep things in a separate/closed container for 2 weeks, freezer offers no specific advantage as lice die from either heat or from not having nutrition for long enough. 2 weeks is enough time for freshly laid eggs to mature and hatch and then the babies die of starvation. So anything really delicate I've put away but we still need things to wear...

cozyblanket

Tue, Nov 06 2018, 12:07 am

amother wrote:

I would do this. The dryer can ruin your clothes and I wouldn't trust the water to be hot enough. If you need something specific sooner, then freeze it!

amother

Wine

Tue, Nov 06 2018, 12:13 am

I am pretty sure from what she said that the freezing won't kill nits. They'll just hatch when they defrost. Only heat kills them.

I hot washed and hot dried all the regular shirts and undershirts and pajamas (she said skirts are not really a concern)

Sweatshirts and dresses I washed on hot for an extra long cycle and dried regular/delicate. I don't want to kill the sweatshirts.

Knit sweaters and shells I'm just going to wait out the two weeks. I'll be wearing the same 3 tops all the time and hope nobody notices!

Miri1

Tue, Nov 06 2018, 12:14 am

https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/......html

At the bottom of the page it discusses freezing - sounds like a few days should suffice.

Really, even though the nits may live for longer, I'm not sure where you'd find them except for in the kid's hair. It is the lice that might be on the loose, and I think they live for less time.

Also, dry cleaning is an option.

amother

Wine

Tue, Nov 06 2018, 12:17 am

Apparently they can lay eggs on clothing fibers.

Now if only I had freezer space for my clothes. I think 2 weeks will pass quickly enough. It's already been 3 days since the big comb-out.

Miri7

Tue, Nov 06 2018, 12:56 am

2 week’s in a trash bag for things you don’t want to put in the dryer. I did this for stuffed animals.

chanie18

Tue, Nov 06 2018, 1:41 am

It isn't necessary if you mean head lice:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/.....nits/

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