Mayonnaise, Vaseline, olive oil and other remedies are messy alternatives for treating head lice. The goal of these treatments is to drown the lice. Because lice can survive for hours without breathing, these treatments are not very effective. Because mayonnaise needs refrigeration, it is likely it will spoil and could become toxic. One of the above treatments may kill some of the live lice, but none of the products remove the NITS, which eventually become live louses and the cycle continues.