# What have you used to kill lice? HELP!



## Kenziesmom (Mar 10, 2005)

We had our first experience with lice a few weeks ago, good grief those little boogers are a pain to get rid of!! Not sure if they are completely gone..still checking. What have you used that you know has worked to kill the lice AND the eggs (or nits)? It seems to be a guessing game so far, and a lot of running to WalMart to buy this crap...you have to treat 5 people it adds up quick! Any suggestions on treatments will be extremely appreciated.
So far we have done:

1. Nix treatment...repeated at 10 days
2 Sprayed everything that was not washable with the spray.
3.Washed everything in hot water + 1 cup vinegar, plus 1 cup bleach..black sheets are tye dyed now...
4.All combs, brushes ran thru dishwasher.


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## orangefoot (Oct 8, 2004)

We have only ever used a comb and conditioner except for the first time when I clipped ds1's hair down to a 1/4 inch when he was 4 because he had so many eggs hidden in his substantial thatch!

My only top is to comb late afternoon/early in the evening to remove the lice as they lay their eggs overnight. If you can get the varmints off the hair then you cut their cycle.

The varmints can't live for long once off the head. We experimented and found that a big varmint barely survived for a day on dry toilet paper.

I have read about suffocating them by covering the hair in oil but someone else may know more about that.


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## Kenziesmom (Mar 10, 2005)

Thanks for replying! My 12yo dd had them, ofcourse she has long hair! My 2 year old got a pretty good buzz haircut though! I have heard of putting Listerine (regular) on the hair and not rinsing, I've heard vaseline or mayonaise and cover with shower cap overnight..I've just not heard if they really and truly work or do I need to just keep the "lice treatment' on hand. I'm hoping someone knows of a good "cure" for them!


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## Cherie2 (Sep 27, 2006)

we are just recovering from a bout of lice.. i got this oil called "lice off" it has many essential oils but i think the main lice killer one is tea tree oil... you can buy that by itself... i added 20 drops per ounce to some conditioner and also to a spray bottle of water... everybody put the conditioner into their dry hair and let it sit for 5 min - i sprayed everything i could with the spray bottle.

They all seem to be dead ... only ds had nits so i picked those out (i just yanked out the hair and burned the nit over a candle)

they seem to be gone... they really don't survive very easily... wash the bedding and spray the mattress and furniture


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## earthus76 (Nov 2, 2005)

I had lice a few years ago and found that the lice treatments did not work so well. So I bought a special lice comb - it was GREAT. It is a very fine-toothed comb that gets the little nits out. I also used olive oil. I would douse my hair with it and sleep with a shower cap on. It smothered the little boogers. It really worked! Good luck!


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## slymamato3 (Jan 16, 2008)

DD#2 brought them home from k last year...UGH, I am starting to get itchy just thinking about it. We got "hairclean123" from the hfs, it came with a great metal comb(worked better than the plastic ones that came with the more toxic treatmants. We struggled with it for well over a couple of weeks, and I found that diligence was the key. I was beside myself with all the extra laundry(literally







more than once). I put anything that wasn't essential (blankets, sweaters, coats, hats awayin sealed trash bags for about a month.
I heard that the mayo thing works, because it smothers and imobilizes them. My heart goes out to you mama







I hope I was helpful in what must feel like a helpless time.


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## Kenziesmom (Mar 10, 2005)

Thank you, thank you, thank you..for the replies! I too went and got the metal lice combs...1 for the lice and one for the nit, plastic i found too isn't worth a hoot! I thought I was done after the treatment and then the re treatment 10 days later....then, I found more eggs and one live booger on dd..that's when I just about blew a gasket!! Like one poster said..the laundry is quite a job!!! My dd's school does not have a policy on lice, they say they can't do a school or class-wide check. I was really hoping they would help out a little, maybe stop the cycle of the little critters! I guess we've been lucky...7th grade and first time licers! I have to laugh...wah!


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## Kenziesmom (Mar 10, 2005)

Thank you, thank you, thank you..for the replies! I too went and got the metal lice combs...1 for the lice and one for the nit, plastic i found too isn't worth a hoot! I thought I was done after the treatment and then the re treatment 10 days later....then, I found more eggs and one live booger on dd..that's when I just about blew a gasket!! Like one poster said..the laundry is quite a job!!! My dd's school does not have a policy on lice, they say they can't do a school or class-wide check. I was really hoping they would help out a little, maybe stop the cycle of the little critters! I guess we've been lucky...7th grade and first time licers! I have to laugh...wah!


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## cravenab00 (May 25, 2005)

homemade lice shampoo, this really works!

6oz Dawn dish detergent ( DO NOT SUBSTITUTE OTHER BRAND)
1 oz tea tree oil
4 tsp white vinegar

put in tuperware container with lid or bottle and shake. it will be a gel.
use like regular shampoo, leave on 15 minutes, rinse out VERY WELL. you may still have some suds no matter what. comb out lice, they will be dead








you will need a metal nit comb for the nits though. the vinegar will dissolve the glue like substance that holds the nits to the hair.
use every other day for a week. lice all gone.








wash bedding on hot and dry on hot.
just toss your combs and brushes and hit the dollar store for new ones.


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## nolonger (Jan 18, 2006)

I'm sorry, but the only thing that has EVER worked for us is oil packs. They're miserable and downright dangerous for the littles since it makes them flammable and so slippery that they can fall and hurt themselves.

Everybody over the age of seven neeeds to be doused with so much oil (olive oil is best, but crisco, corn oil, or even mineral oil will work in a pinch) that they're positively dripping and have to carry a paper towel around with them. It needs to stay on for at least overnight and 24 hours is better. It will NOT wash all the way out right away, so be sure to have hats, scarves, etc. available.

The littles need to have all their nits and adult lice removed manually with a comb and conditioner while the teens and adults marinate.

It's horrid, but eventually you go broke from the OTC lice remedies and wind up having to do it anyway. I shaved ds1's head down to the skin once and that didn't work either. Greasy oily messy misery is inevitable so hopefully I'll just get it over with ASAP next time around.


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## SusanElizabeth (Jun 2, 2006)

We tried all the shampoos, and combing the lice out.

Finally, what worked was that my kids slept with Vaseline in their hair. It suffocated the lice, but it was a bear to get the Vaseline out! We shampooed and shampooed and shampooed.....


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## mlsantarem (May 4, 2004)

About 3-4 years ago we had loads of trouble with lice. We live in the tropics. I tried all the trad. pestcide route, with reservation but did it. They just sort of came back or never really killed. Then I found this website, havard school of public health´s site on lice. This site is the protocol for olive oil treatment. It involves a specific days related to the insects reproductive cycle. For us it worked.

http://www.headliceinfo.com/order.htm
It cost 8 dollars I don´t have the protocol anymore on my computer. It is a bit intensive but worked for us.
good luck
ML


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## PikkuMyy (Mar 26, 2004)

Ask RUTHLA!


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## PoppyMama (Jul 1, 2004)

I do coconut oil soaks wrapped (braid hair and pin up if long enough) in saran wrap and a towel left on for a couple of days and I bag up everything in the house for two weeks rather than washing everying. After a few days for the kids and from the start for me I wash the hair in Suave coconut shampoo and then glom on the matching conditioner and sleep in it washing it out in the morning. I do this for about a week or two depending on how fed up I am. My dd had lice 12 time and with this protocol it never came back. I still have them use the coconut Suave since it seems to keep them away.


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## Cherie2 (Sep 27, 2006)

i have heard good things about this robi comb too


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## HikeYosemite (Jan 21, 2006)

Cooking oil in the hair, with a cap, overnight (and/or vaseline over that, but it is even worse to get out). Shampoo perhaps as many as 20 times to get it out afterwards, and clean the tub with dish lotion as it's very slippery (as pp noted). Also, thorough nit-picking for hours once or twice a day, for two weeks or more!

I also used a natural anti-louse shampoo product on my long hair (a non-prescription product carried at Clark's Mr. Prescription--I forgot the name), and no one was doing thorough nit-picking on me (near-sighted husband), but somehow mine went away.


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## Shonahsmom (Mar 23, 2004)

We battled lice multiple times for months on end. I tried every method you can think of. I found that the ONLY thing that actually worked and worked for good was diligent combing with metal lice combs and removing all the eggs manually.

I'd have dd stand in the shower. I'd douse her thick hair in conditioner. Then I'd first get the tangles out with a wide tooth comb. Then I used a regular fine tooth comb (which was good at catching the adults). Then I'd go over it, in sections, with the metal lice comb, all along continuing to add conditioner. I did this three evenings in a row. After the third night, when absolutely no bugs came out during the combing, I sat her in front of a movie and went over her head, practically strand by strand, with a flashlight and removed any eggs, either by just pulling them off or cutting the strand of hair they were attached too. During that time, the only thing I did laundry wise, was throw her stuffed animals, bed pillows and sheets in the drier on high for 15-20 minutes.

I found this to be very helpful and wished I had found it sooner:

hhttp://www.hsph.harvard.edu/headlice.html

Good luck!


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## Noisette's_Maman (May 22, 2004)

I got them from my cousin's kid a couple years ago and had just found out I was expecting #2 so I didn't want to use anything too toxic. I slathered my hair in cheap conditioner and covered it with a shower cap before going to bed, then washed the next morning and had my DH or mom comb out any bugs or eggs they could see. I did this every other day for a week, then a couple times the next week.


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## mother_sunshine (Nov 25, 2001)

btdt many times. Here's my answer from another recent thread...

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...2&postcount=10


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## aussiemum (Dec 20, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *slymamato3* 
I was beside myself with all the extra laundry(literally







more than once). I put anything that wasn't essential (blankets, sweaters, coats, hats awayin sealed trash bags for about a month.
.

Adult lice cannot live more than 24 hours without food. And the eggs dont fall off hair (other than on shed hair, so I guess you'd need to vacuum each day), so you don't really need to to do the month quarantine thing.

Regular conditioner laced with tea tree & rose geranium oil, combed thru hair every 2 days (I use a pet flea comb, as it has very fine teeth) for two weeks will get rid of the nits. Seriously. you just have to be vigilant with the combing, & vacuum & wash the bedsheets a few times at the beginning of treatment & you should be able to get rid of them.

A link to some relatively recent research regarding the little parasites. http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/phtm/PH...ce/hlinfo1.htm

Quote:

DO I NEED TO SPRING CLEAN THE HOUSE?
Definately not! Head lice die if they leave the head. The only way head lice can get water and food is by sucking blood from the scalp. A head louse not on the head is a head louse in a desperate situation! Head lice will dehydrate when off the head. The rate at which this occurs depends on the amount of water vapour in the air. In an air-conditioned room, head lice will be severely dehydrated after a few hours. When it is wet and raining, head lice may live for 24 hours.
We searched the floors of 118 primary school classroom carpets for head lice while the pupils were out of the classroom. We also checked the children's heads. We found no lice (ZERO!) on the floors and 14,033 lice on the heads of the 2000 or so children using those classrooms. To treat head lice concentrate on the head!

A small number of lice do move down to pillow slips at night. So change the pillow slip when you are treating your child, or heat it up (hot wash, iron, hot dryer) to kill any head lice that may have walked across to the pillow slip. However, focus your main efforts on the head, not on the environment. The head is where the action is!

I love government sponsored research!!


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## ombra*luna (May 1, 2003)

Hope this never comes up again for me - but in the very unlikely even that it does _::fingers crossed::_ I wouldn't use the poisons they sell in the pharmacy any more. They weren't very effective 8 or 9 years ago - it took me an entire summer to get rid of the lice my dd got at day camp. They were *completely* ineffective when my kids got lice again, 2 years ago.

I remember after I treated dd's hair with (I forget which of the products but one of the common drugstore brands of poison) and I even left it for a bit longer than the recommended time, due to my own personal freakout moment (caused by my memories of the earlier infestation). As I was rinsing that nasty stuff out of her hair, I was disgusted and dismayed to see several live ones still moving around!

That's the last time I ever used the poison. Not only is it poison, but as a pp mentioned, it gets expensive to keep using it over and over again, esp. with more than one child.

I did the mayo in hair, wrapped in plastic wrap overnight, then just sat her (and before long, also her brother) under strong light every night for hours, combing with a metal flea brush, parting and combing, parting and combing, parting and combing. Literally hours a night. They have thick hair.

I was checking littlest dc's hair (age 4 then) all the time, but one night as he was asleep in *my* bed, I looked (just as I had looked all the other nights) and from one night to the next, suddenly he was totally infested. In fact, it was the worst I'd ever seen - live bugs crawling all over his head. Awful. At least he had fine, light-colored, thin hair. Another couple hours per night of comb and part, part and comb, part and comb, etc. - he couldn't handle sitting still for it though, so in his case it had to be while he was asleep.

I had gone to the pet supply store for metal flea combs (one per person) b/c the plastic combs that came with the poison weren't working, the teeth just bent around the nits. The first time around when dd was younger, I had just used my fingers to pull out the nits every night, but the metal flea comb was better. (I preferred the flea comb with a single row of teeth, it was easier to see the nits/bugs when they got caught in the comb than with a double row.)

Then I'd get together a cup of hot water, a pin with a round ball on the end (so it wouldn't disappear if I dropped it). Comb comb comb, frequently poking the nits and/or bugs (from where they were stuck between the teeth of the comb) into the cup of water, using the pin. Flushed the water in the cup down the toilet when done. Then get another cup of water, pin, flea comb - and on to the next kid.

I managed to avoid getting them myself this time around. Also I didn't bother to go nuts with laundry, only pillowcases. (I was so frustrated the first time, 8 or 9 years ago, that I quarantined every single toy and pillow they owned in the garage for like a year, and after a couple months of not being able to eradicate them, I was so at the end of my rope that I actually hired someone to take all my upholstered furniture to the dump! And then we didn't have a couch for a few months.)

My ex did get it from little ds, and then gave it back to him once, but I managed to nip it in the bud and keep it from spreading to the other kids, at least.

And then one day I realized nobody had any sign of them. I kept on checking, obsessively, for weeks - and nothing. Whew!

They won't be back.

Never.


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## operamommy (Nov 9, 2004)

*hugs* My dd picked it up from her cousin the other year. This was when dd was 8 and had NEVER EVER had a haircut.







The first comb-through took seven hours!!

Another tip is to make certain (if they don't already) that your kiddos blow-dry their hair after washing. Our school nurse told me that the heat helps kill the lice and that it's one of the reasons you find lice is more common in elementary rather than middle/high schools - 'cause most of the older kids blow-dry/style their hair.


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## Kelso (Jan 28, 2002)

I think its called the Nuvo treatment (I could be wrong on the name of this) and I've seen it here when dd had lice. I think if you Google 'lice home treatments' or something like that you'll find it. You put 1/2 a bottle of cetaphil (liquid soap that doesn't foam much/hypoallergenic and gentle) in a clean hair dye bottle or one of those condiment squeeze bottles that have the pointy squirty tops. Then you squeeze the stuff onto the dc's scalp in a grid pattern, first going from front to back and then side to side--on the scalp and about 1/4-1/2" apart. Then you comb their hair out, first with a wide comb then a regular comb and finally a nit comb. The next thing you do is blow dry their hair. It must be dry when you're finished!! Not wet, and not damp, but dry!!. Then they go to bed!! (we did this on a Friday or Saturday night)
In the morning, they wash out their hair and you comb it again. Check the head daily for live ones. Do the cetaphil thing again in 10 days (the life cycle of a lice bug I believe) if dc seems to need it. That's it!! No poison, no oil, no wraps etc...Dd got to stay up a bit later and watch a movie while I combed out her (long) hair. Washing/changing bedding on the same day you treat the hair and change pillow cases often helps too.


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## daylily (Dec 1, 2001)

This thread has been so helpful to me. Thank you all, and thank you the search function at MDC!

We have managed to dodge lice for years--I was feeling almost smug about it--and last night I discovered that my 11 year old daughter has them. I'm really annoyed with her school. She came home on Friday, upset, saying that she'd been sitting in an upholstered chair in a classroom, and her teacher told her not to sit there because there's lice going around.

If the teacher knew about lice going around, why weren't the parents notified?

My daughter was very upset when I broke the news to her, and it's unfortunate that she has very thick, very curly hair. Getting a nit comb through it is not going to be easy. My other daughter, age 14, asked me to check her hair, and there are nits in it as well, although very few, and her hair is straight. I think I was able to get most of them off.

Anyway, we'll be buying a metal comb and the ingredients for that tea tree oil shampoo today.


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## Maddy123 (Aug 14, 2006)

I second the cetaphil method. We had no luck with Nix, Hairclean123 or tea tree oil. I would go straight to the cetaphil (google for more info) if lice ever revisit our family. My sympathies!


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## mother_sunshine (Nov 25, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *daylily* 
My daughter was very upset when I broke the news to her, and it's unfortunate that she has very thick, very curly hair. Getting a nit comb through it is not going to be easy.

You can always pick them by hand instead of using the comb. Just make sure you slide every single nit all the way off the hair shaft. Or, if you do use a comb, make sure you use tons of conditioner to help make it easier to comb through and reduce the pain. Good luck mama.


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## griffin2004 (Sep 25, 2003)

We recently had our first encounter with the little demons. I did the Rid treatment on Night 1. I did the Cetaphil/nit comb treatments on Nights 2, 3, and 5, and 10. I threw away all her headbands and did her laundry every day for a week. I put tea tree oil in her shampoo. I tried to limit her to one area of the house so any varmits downstairs would die a natural death.

Any way you slice it, the ordeal blows big time.


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## Kenziesmom (Mar 10, 2005)

I think we are finally out of the woods...I'm still a fanatic about checking them, everytime I see one of them scratch their head, I'm like one of those monkeys going thru their babes hair!!! haha! It was truly a pain!! I think I bought every remedy..even the electronic comb (Robi) I think it was..it worked fine for ds with short hair, not worth it for dd's long hair! The metal combs work ok for the adults, but for them nits..those little boogers WILL NOT let go..I actually pulled individual strands of hair out to make sure they were gone, that seemed less painful than trying to pull them all the way down her hair! Thanks for all the great advice..I'm still taking notes!! I pray we never get those cooties again!


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## Cloverlove (Jan 2, 2003)

Lice are fairly endemic in our area and they love dd's thick, curly hair. We have battled lice more times than I care to think about.









What has worked for us is covering the hair & scalp with either mayo or olive oil (with TTO), covering with a shower cap and blowing dry for about 3-5 min (to get any remaining O2 out). Honestly, we have found that there is no need to leave on overnight-- 1 hour for the olive oil and 2 hours for mayo does the trick. And then you have to comb, comb, comb and literally nitpick. Make sure to repeat the treatment in 7-10 days.

On the day I do the treatment, I am fairly diligent about washing and vacuuming everything (and soaking brushes in hot water for an hour). No need for bleach, it is the heat that kills them. On the combing days, I am just sure to change the pillowcase.

For prevention, I spray dd's hair with a mixture of water, TTO conditioner, a few drops of straight TTO and rosemary (it also works as a detangler). Also, she wears her hair up when she goes to school.

HTH!


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## aussiemum (Dec 20, 2001)

I hear you about endemic lice, cloverlove. They are rife in most australian schools, I don't know if its the heat or what, but I'd guess that 5-10% of kids in schools have them at any one time.

Remember to use lots & lots of conditioner on the hair when you are combing the nitties out. It's less painful & it prevents the adults from clinging to the hair shaft when you comb. It does nothing for the eggs, though, & I find the best way to get them off the hair is scraping with my fingernails.

Since headlice are so common here, we often do a weekly check with the comb & conditioner, as it helps nip the next infestation in the bud. It seems to take a few weeks before they get really out of control.


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## snelps (Nov 18, 2005)

Thank goodness I found this post! Great input. We discovered we all have lice, though it is showing up differently in each of us. We made our own tea tree oil shampoo by putting 10 - 15 drops in one palm-ful of shampoo (for one person) plus some lavender. I just read about *Neem* and when we do a second treatment I will add that in.

Our problem is that the lice combs (fine tooth, metal, Rid brand - USA) do NOT REMOVE THE NITS. I know the finer one gets the actual lice, but we only had a few. I'm talking about the nits that cling to the hairs and are about 1 - 2 inches away from the scalp. My school's info says these are not viable eggs, they are hatched already, so they aren't a threat to recontamination. But for unknown reasons, we are required to remove every single one before my daughter, with long curly hair, may return to school!!! I tried the suggestion to soak in vinegar first and also to use lots of conditioner and immediately comb. But I can literally see nit on the hair shaft, comb it 3 times, and it's still there. It goes right through the comb.







:

Any other suggestions on loosening and removing those dumb nits? I had to just use my fingernails and slide each bugger off. SOOOOOOO tedious. I wonder if a different comb would work better, but the one we're using is very fine and there's practically no space between the teeth/tines.

By the way, thanks so much to AussieMum for the link to the Australian univ. site (http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/phtm/PH...ce/hlinfo1.htm). I found this very helpful, especially in making feel I don't have to go crazy with laundry and vacuuming.

Lisa SP in California


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## Cherie2 (Sep 27, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *snelps* 
Any other suggestions on loosening and removing those dumb nits?

the easiest way i have found is to just yank the hair out, then i have a candle burning and hold the nit over to flame (just to make sure its dead lol)


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## daylily (Dec 1, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Cherie2* 
the easiest way i have found is to just yank the hair out, then i have a candle burning and hold the nit over to flame (just to make sure its dead lol)

I agree. As long as you pull out exactly one hair at a time, it doesn't hurt. Or, at least, if your child has very long curly hair, this method is kinder than combing. I think we're lice free now. We used the dawn soap/tea tree oil/vinegar recipe, and it does kill the lice, but it dries out the hair. My washing machine was running non-stop for three days, but I think I went a little overboard with that, LOL.


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