I know that J.D. Griffioen has officially taken over the mantle of lice king at Blogging Baby, but after stumbling across the dreaded "Lice are back" note in front of Will's classroom today, I thought I'd share this wonderful tip I received from Heather earlier this year after she read about my sealing all of Sean and Will's stuff animals in plastic bags and thoroughly cleaning and vacuuming every inch of our apartment at least 3 times in a row:

"When my oldest daughter was in primary school, there were continuous outbreaks of head lice and it was just awful - notices home every other day. So what I did was blend approximately 125-150 ml water (tap is fine, but you can use bottled if you prefer) with 25 drops lavender oil and 15 drops tea tree oil. It's best if you use neat oil and not ones that have been diluted with other base oils (like almond). Tea tree oil is quite pungent and can smell somewhat antiseptic, but it is probably better than chemicals. If you can't tolerate the scent, you can alternately use: rosemary, geranium (also strong smelling), eucalyptus or lemon oils. I put it in a little plastic spray bottle and spray my daughter's head in the morning. It's best to keep it in the fridge as the water eventually can go stale and the oils will go rancid after extended exposure to heat and light. Keep your extra oils in a dark, dry cupboard. Also, know that you should not wash your kids' hair every day (when lice are around) as lice can only lay eggs on clean hair and generally avoid unwashed hair, and that this spray is not a failsafe - it won't kill the lice, only deter them and prevent another outbreak."