The cheapest place to buy head lice treatments

Head lice are very common amongst children aged four to 11, so if your child starts itching a few weeks after the new school year begins it shouldn't come as much of a surprise. 

But with so many different treatments available costing anything from £5 to £16, you may well be scratching your head in confusion as to which is best.

To find the best nit and head lice treatments, we asked parents to rate nine branded and own-brand options. But if you're just looking to save money we also reveal the cheapest place to buy four of the most popular brands: Full Marks, Nitty Gritty, NitWits and Hedrin. 

Keeping scrolling to find out where to get treatments for less, if solutions cost more at different times of the year and whether you should go for branded, cheaper or natural.

Best nit and head lice treatments: see how parents rate solutions from brands including Hedrin, Boots and Superdrug.

Where’s the cheapest place to buy head lice treatment?

_{Table notes: Prices from 13 June 2022 - 13 September 2022 inclusive}

We looked at the prices of four branded head lice treatments at Asda, Amazon, Boots, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainbury's, Superdrug and Tesco over three months, excluding any retailers where the item was unavailable during that period. 

Amazon's lowest average price for Full Marks Solution was just £8.75 compared with £12 at the supermarkets Morrisons and Tesco. 

It was a similar story for the Nitty Gritty head lice kit. Amazon sold it for £9.94 while Ocado stocked exactly the same product for nearly £5 more. 

Nitwits and Hedrin were both cheapest at Superdrug, but the savings between retailers weren't as significant. In fact, these two brands stayed at similar prices across all available retailers during the three-month period. 

Before you buy, see our round-up of the best nit and head lice treatments so you know you're buying an effective solution. 

5 ways to save money on head lice treatments

1. Understand what a deal actually is. Take a look at the average cheapest price in our table above and if you find the product for less, you've found a bargain.

2. Look out for promotions and deals. Some treatments have expiry dates as long as three years, so you can stock up when they're on offer and use at a later date. Always confirm expiry dates on the product pack for the brand you've chosen.

3. Don't rule out own brands. They can be around half the price of branded options but still contain the same active ingredient/s. Just check the list of ingredients against the branded product you'd otherwise choose.

4. Store solutions correctly to increase their shelf life. Keep unused treatments sealed in their original packaging and out of sunlight in a cool, dry place so they keep for longer. Always check individual products for instructions as these may differ.

5. Use conditioner and a nit comb instead. You can use a nit comb to detect lice in the hair, and to get rid of an infestation. It's one of the cheapest nit treatments available (basic nit combs start at around £2) and they're easy to use. 

Follow our step-by-step instructions on how to get rid of head lice.

Do head lice treatments cost more at different times of the year?

Prices for different head lice treatments alternated between high and low at most of the retailers they were available in. This means most brands could be found on discount at one or more retailers at any one time. However, seasonal sales periods really differ. 

For example, Morrisons made the most of the back-to-school head lice rounds by dropping its price for Full Marks Solution by 25% (£12 to £9) during September and October. While Boots nearly halved the price for Vamousse Head Lice Treatment for its Boots Advantage Card holders (£15.50 to £8.50) in October. 

Superdrug also reduced its 120ml bottle of NitWits All-In-One from £10.99 to £7.32 for the first four weeks after the Christmas break. 

Not every retailer followed suit. Some retailers hiked up prices during school terms and holidays instead. For example, Superdrug sold Full Marks Solution (200ml) for £11.59 in October, having sold it for just £8.59 the month before.

Find out more about popular head lice treatment brands and prices.

Branded vs cheaper own-brand treatments - is there much difference?

Own-brand head lice treatments are often much cheaper than branded options - but typically contain the same active ingredient. 

For example, you can expect to pay around £4.37 per 100ml for Superdrug's own label head lice treatment which contains dimeticone, the same active ingredient in big brand Hedrin's 4% Lotion. But if you want the branded version you'll have to pay £7.99 per 100ml instead - that's double the price per 100ml.  

If you're considering switching to own-label alternatives to save money, try to look for these active ingredients typically found in popular branded versions: 

• Permethrin (e.g. Lyclear Creme Rinse)
• Malathion (e.g. Derbac M liquid)
• Dimeticone (e.g. Hedrin 4% Lotion)
• Cyclomethicone (e.g. Full Marks Solution)
• Isopropyl myristate (e.g. Vamousse Head Lice Treatment Mousse)

Is your child itching but there's no sign of head lice? Find out more about different childhood rashes.

Is it cheaper to use natural head lice treatments?

There are lots of natural head lice treatments that typically cost less than medicated products, such as tea tree oil, green tea shampoo, or coating the hair with an oil like olive oil in a bid to 'smother' or suffocate the lice. 

However, NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) says that essential oil-based and herbal treatments are not recommended 'due to the lack of good-quality evidence on their safety and efficacy'.

It may therefore be a false economy buying products that aren’t proven to work as you could end up shelling out more for additional solutions. 

If you prefer not to use a medicated product, we recommend using conditioner and a nit comb - a method that 73% of the 1,030 parents with kids under 12 in our survey who said they didn't use a branded head lice treatment opted for instead.

Lyclear? Hedrin? Nitty Gritty or Full Marks? The best nit and head lice treatments revealed.