How to treat your pillows, sheets and mattress for lice

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Lice (singular: louse) are wingless insects that live and lay their eggs (nits) in human hair. They can easily transfer from one person to another making them very contagious. Lice feed on human blood by sucking it from your scalp which makes your head feel itchy. They cling to hair strands and crawl down to the scalp whenever they need to feed.

A person can easily contract lice if they’re in close contact with someone who has lice in their hair, or by using their belongings such as hairbrush, towels, pillows or sheets. Although lice cannot survive without a human host for more than 24 hours, it doesn’t mean that it makes your belongings any safer.

If you’ve managed to get rid of lice in your hair, for instance, you need to make sure that your belongings – pillows, sheets, mattress etc where you lay your head down – are also lice-free.

Here are a few tips that can help you treat your affected pillows, sheets and mattress for a lice infestation:

Washing

Many people are under the false impression that merely washing your pillowcases or sheets will easily kill lice. It clearly isn’t true as you can thoroughly wash your hair many times but still don’t get rid of them unless you use an anti-lice shampoo. These tiny insects have six, strong claws which hold onto fabric or a strand of hair so tightly that simply washing is useless, even if it’s been through an extra-long cycle in the washing machine.

Lice can survive even if they’ve been immersed in the water for 8 hours. So it’s clearly established that lice aren’t killed simply by washing. Treating pillows and sheets for lice is quite tricky but luckily there’s a solution i.e. if your washing machine has a sanitise cycle. Lice can’t survive in temperatures above 55ºC/130°F for more than 5 minutes and the ‘boil wash’ cycle has a temperature of about 75ºC/165°F which will definitely kill lice and your belongings will be lice-free.

Tumble-dryer

We understand that not every washing machine has a sanitise cycle but you can instead use a tumble-dryer. You can always kill lice by putting your pillowcases and sheets in the dryer. The average temperature in the dryer is 60ºC/135°F and as mentioned above, lice can’t survive in temperature above 55ºC/130°F.

So, after you’ve washed your bedding, put them in the tumble-dryer for a complete cycle, switching off the eco sensor mode. Your items will emerge dry and lice-free.

Vacuum cleaner

You can readily use a tumble-dryer or sanitise wash cycle as an anti-lice technique for pillowcases and sheets but it can’t be used for mattresses. It’s impossible to wash a mattress and then put it in a dryer. Many people might suggest anti-lice spray but remember that it’s highly toxic which means if you spray it on your mattress, you’ll be breathing in those chemicals for days.

Disinfect your mattress with the help of a vacuum cleaner. It sucks dirt and tiny particles from the most difficult of places and can draw out lice stuck to the fabric of your mattress.

Anti-lice laundry detergent

Another way to disinfect your bed linen is by using anti-lice laundry detergents. You simply can’t rely on a regular detergent to kill the lice but you can always use ones with special fragrances that lice hate. By using such scents, lice will be reluctant to reside in your bedding.

One such product is Launder Lice™. It contains tea tree and anise which lice don’t like. Bear in mind, this detergent won’t kill the lice, but it will definitely deter them from your bedding. You can spray it with natural essential oils such as eucalyptus and lavender to discourage lice.

Bag them up

There are some, often expensive, bedding materials that you can’t simply throw into the dryer or hot wash as they’ll be ruined. If any such items become infested with lice, there’s an alternative solution.

As mentioned at the beginning of this post, lice can’t survive for more than 24 hours without feeding. Just bag up affected sheets and pillowcases very tightly for two days in a hot environment. Make sure to pack them tightly in plastic bags, so that the lice can’t escape to infect something else. Furthermore, the high temperature will contribute to getting rid of the pests.

Eliminating lice from personal belongings such as bedding isn’t an easy job but we’ve given you a few initial tips. Use these to disinfect any affected bedding and keep them lice free.

[disclosure*]

Adding a luxurious touch with a silk pillowcase

We were sent a silk pillowcase to review by Calidad Home; it’s made of 100% A Grade, long-strand, 22 momme mulberry silk. Apparently, 22 momme (pronounced ‘moe-me’) is the perfect weight for the job; not too flimsy for 8 hours of continuous use and not so stiff as to feel rough against the face. A silk pillowcase is something I’ve always wanted to try as it’s meant to have so many benefits.

Mulberry silk is meant to be good for the skin – especially if it’s sensitive. It’s claimed to reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles as the material doesn’t dehydrate the skin. In addition, there’s less friction between skin and pillowcase if it’s made of silk rather than cotton or linen. Recently, silk has begun being used for underclothing for people who suffer from skin conditions such as eczema – go figure.

If you have hair like mine that tangles at the slightest touch, a silk pillowcase is a godsend! Also, if you’re prone to night sweats, silk draws heat and moisture away from your skin without the fibre getting damp and clammy. Conversely, on cold nights, it helps maintain body heat; as its low conductivity properties keep warm air close to the skin.

The pillowcase has a practical zip rather than the usual flap to keep your pillow nice and secure inside. Mulberry silk is surprisingly easy to launder – a cool wash (30ºC or below) on a delicates cycle followed by a gentle tumble dry is all that’s needed.

After experiencing the feeling of silk against my cheek, cotton, linen or – God forbid – polyester just aren’t satisfactory materials any longer.

If I’ve convinced you to make the switch to silk, Calidad Home offer customers a 30-day money back guarantee; so if you don’t love your silk pillowcase, simply return it and they’ll give you a complete refund.

www.silkpillowcase.co.uk

Exclusive discount code from Silk Bedding Direct

Today, a large swathe of the country is hitting the Boxing Day sales. You’ve been splashing out on everyone else over Christmas, so perhaps you’re going to treat yourself to a little something this week. You may remember that we wrote a review earlier in the year about 100% mulberry silk king size duvets. Well, Silk Bedding Direct is offering our readers an exclusive 15% discount on their already reasonable winter sale prices.

But you need to hurry! The Silk Bedding Direct 15% discount code is only available until midnight on Sunday 30th December. To take advantage of this offer, all you need to do is, during the check out process on their website, click on the small link that says, “I have a gift voucher or promo code” and enter the code: PARTY15

Silk king size duvets – luxury bedding to experience & enjoy

As winter approaches, thoughts turn to hunkering down and snuggling in. So, it was timely for us to receive these luxury mulberry silk king size duvets to review.

Silk Bedding Direct specialises in supplying mulberry silk-filled bedding in a variety of prices to suit all budgets. Their affordable premium range is made using a silk/polyester mix. The luxury range is 100% mulberry silk filled with a hand stitched finish which, unlike machine-made versions, improves the insulation quality of the duvet.

Mulberry silk is hypo-allergenic and, unlike other bedding materials, it doesn’t support the growth of dust mites, bed bugs or other microscopic beasties. It’s also contains the amino acid, sericin, which has been proven to improve skin elasticity and has anti-wrinkle properties… it gives new meaning to beauty sleep!

All Silk Bedding Direct silk products (as well as duvets they produce mattress toppers, pillows and eye masks) are OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 Certified and have been awarded the ‘Confidence in Textiles’ OEKO label.

Each has a number of ‘Easy Clip’ clips around its edge that allow you to fasten together the summer and spring/autumn weight duvets to form a cosy winter version – 3 for the price of two!

Silk is a wonderful insulator and regulator of temperature. If you feel too warm in bed, it allows excess moisture and heat to escape, it also retains heat to keep you warm and snug if conditions get colder.

We’ve been testing the duvet for a week or so now – an unusual trial that involves lots of sleeping! We’ve certainly enjoyed the experience… and have been very impressed by the product. The duvets feel comfortable and luxurious – you can actually feel the smooth, silky nature of the product even through a duvet cover. They’re not too heavy, yet warm and cosy.

We think that our top floor bedroom is now ready for anything that winter can hurl at it! The luxury silk duvet, combined with our wood burning stove and ‘chinchilla’ bedspread, will provide all the warmth required during the chilly nights ahead.