A nit hoover is one of the most effective tools you can use to get rid of nits and head lice. In this article, we answer all the questions you may have about them, from what they are exactly and how they work to where you can find them.
What is a nit hoover?
There are two types of nit hoover in use. One is used in professional nit and lice removal clinics and there’s another one that the general public can purchase.
The one we use professionally is often referred to as a nit hoover. However, it is actually used for removing the head lice, not their eggs (the nits), so it is actually a lice hoover.
This specialist tube-like attachment simply goes onto the end of a conventional hoover hose so it can benefit from the hoover suction to extract the lice quickly and efficiently and containing the lice so they don’t escape.
The other hoover is a consumer product called the Licetec V-Comb. This is an electrical lice comb, which gently sucks the lice and the eggs into a chamber.
How do nit hoovers work?
There are two key elements to the professional nit hoover that enable the extraction of the lice along with the hoover suction: a comb and a filter. The comb attachment in the nit hoover is more like a conventional comb rather than a nit comb. It runs through the hair picking up the head lice which the hoover vacuum, then sucks into the hoover attachment.
As the lice are combed out with the hoover, they are securely caught in a filter which can be checked to see how many you are extracting. These can then be disposed of by hoovering out the filter, to further contain the lice.
Why do professional lice removal clinics use nit hoovers?
The lice hoover treatment is a highly efficient and contained way of extracting the head lice effectively. Head lice are fast movers and movement-sensitive, so once you touch the hair they are immediately on the run. If you don’t track them down and remove them then they will continue to develop and lay yet more eggs.
Getting the head lice out is, therefore, a major priority. Once all the head lice are removed attention can then turn to extract all the nits (the eggs).
Using a nit hoover at home
When the Hairforce opened in 2006, nit hoovers were a consumer product, but user found them very time-consuming.
Also, you cannot just rely on the lice hoover. You still must use a head lice comb to extract the eggs from the hair. If you don’t use a head lice comb, you would have to hoover quite a few times until all the eggs hatch. Then you would still have the empty eggs in the hair.
How do professional nit and lice removal services use them?
At The Hairforce we run a network of nit and head lice removal clinics in the UK and we exclusively use the lice hoover in our process.
To use a head lice hoover is a skilled process. As you are hoovering out the lice, you are also working with a suction that is strong enough to suck the lice down the flexible tube into the filter. A weak suction would give the head lice the ability to escape the process.
At The Hairforce, we divide the hair into sections, so the hoovering process can cope with the volume of hair. Then we hoover each section following a pattern to ensure that we don’t miss any head lice.
Then, we dehydrate the eggs using controlled heated air technology. Finally, we forensically comb out the eggs or nits using a professional quality lice comb.
We then have a second appointment at the Hairforce clinic 7 days later. When head lice lay their eggs, they lay invisible sacks of liquid, that we can’t see at the first appointment. The controlled heated air works on those eggs over the 7 days, drying the majority out.
The controlled heated air technology has an over 95% effectiveness rate. Therefore, at that second appointment, we hoover, nit comb and nit-pick remove the dried-out eggs that come through. This is how they guarantee a 100% shut down.
Where can I buy a nit hoover from?
The lice hoover used by the professionals is not available for consumers to purchase. The Licetec V-comb is an electrical lice comb but doesn’t have the same suction power as a hoover.
It combines vacuuming out the lice through the comb as you comb out the nits. It is effectively a head lice comb which catches lice in a filter behind the comb. However, this is not a nit hoover tool a professional would use.
How can I view a nit hoover in action?
You can view a nit hoover in action in a number of places, including on The Hairfoce Clinics website, where you can see the clinic service in action.
You can also see it on this clip from This Morning ITV. Here we show how we hoover out the head lice on This Morning TV with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield. As you will see, we divide the hair into sections and then hoover section by section to ensure we extract all the lice.
How can I get my hair treated with a nit hoover?
The Hairforce nit and head lice removal clinics exclusively provide a checking and clearing service that uses a lice hoover. If you would like to book an appointment or talk about the process, you can get in touch here.