If You Have Lice, Do You Have to Worry About Your Leather Items?

There are three main types of lice: head, pubic, and body.

Head lice, as their name implies, live in human hair and on the head. Head lice need warm, dark surfaces like your scalp and hair strands to live and reproduce.

Pubic lice need coarser hair to live and reproduce. While they don’t generally grow on your head, they can grow in facial hair like beards.

Body lice, contrary to their name, don’t live on your body. They live in fabrics you wear or sheets you sleep on. They leave these fabrics, move to a warm human body to feed on blood, and return to the fabric to live and reproduce.

Leather doesn’t provide what lice need to survive.

If you think lice have come into contact with a leather item you have, like clothing, furniture, or a purse, it’s a good idea to wipe the item with leather cleaner or clean it the typical way you do. Though rare, there’s a chance that, if lice have come into contact with a leather item you own, there may be droppings or blood on that surface. Wiping it with a disinfecting cloth or leather cleaner should clean it.

If you have concerns about lice and the leather you own, you can speak with your doctor or healthcare professional to ensure there’s nothing more you need to do to clean it and see whether you have any lice symptoms and may need treatment.