How To Get Hair Dye Out Of Clothes

How to get hair dye out of clothes is not a new issue, but not all of you know the exact ways to remove hair dye from clothes without damaging your garment. 

I’m sure you don’t want to waste a lot of time washing your clothes or even buying new ones simply because of the stubborn dirt caused by hair dye. Therefore, the guideline provided in this article will be an important key for you to tackle with hair dye on your clothes.

What You Need To Know About Hair Dye

Hair dye is a beauty product that can change your hair color, mainly containing hydrogen peroxide (also known as the developer) and ammonia. It can be divided into 4 types: Temporary, Semi-permanent, Demi-permanent, and Permanent, according to the time color can last.⁽¹⁾

Temporary hair dye coats outside your hair without going deeper into the hairline, so it’s easy to wash out with shampoo.

Semi-permanent hair dye can keep the hair color in a specific time, usually fading out after washing 8 times.

Demi-permanent hair dye contains less ammonia and developer than permanent hair dye and discolors after washing 12-24 times.

Permanent hair dye is the option for those who want to have the new hair color for several months because this type will affect your hair deeper.

In the following section, I will distinguish two easy-to-confuse terms: hair dye and hair color when you want to choose an appropriate product for your hair.

What Is The Difference Between Hair Dye And Hair Color?

First and foremost, it can be seen that hair color and hair dye have certain similarities, but there are differences between the ingredients of the two products.

Hair coloring or ammonia free dye is created based on natural ingredients such as vegetables or fruits. It will be friendly to the environment and health due to no chemicals involved in it. Moreover, hair coloring can disappear after washing 25-30 times.

On the contrary, hair dying includes ammonia which contributes to the permanent effect of coloring. The dyed hair can not disappear in time, so you should be careful when using this product.

Remember to check the ingredients before buying a hair color because hair dye is usually not directly labeled on the goods.

How Can Hair Dye Stick On Clothes?

In many cases, you see the hair dye leaching out of hair and spreading to other areas, commonly clothes. That’s because the hairdresser didn’t clean the hair dye entirely or use a processing cap. However, some stains can stick on dresses even when they’re dry.

So what should you do to get the hair dye out of clothes in these unpredictable circumstances? Let’s move on and find your answer!

The General Guideline On Getting Hair Dye Out Of Clothes

Supposing you are taking photos with your new hair color, you suddenly find stains on your favorite dress. You must be very annoyed, but don’t let anger overwhelm urgent things you need to do: remove stains immediately.

What you need to prepare:

• Liquid detergent (recommend to use heavy-duty type)

• Color remover

• Chlorine bleach

• Powdered bleach (dilute solution)

Before starting with a detailed guideline, I suggest you check the tag on your clothes because some specific fabrics have special cleaning instructions. Don’t forget to read the product instructions carefully before working.

Instructions

Step 1: First, you use a suitable volume of liquid detergent to pretreat the stains on your clothes and rinse them with water.

Step 2: Soak your garment into the dilute solution of powdered bleach you have prepared before

Step 3: If the hair dye stains are still visible on your clothes, you can try to soak them in a mixture of water and chlorine bleach.

Step 4: Wait for 15 minutes and check the result.

Step 5: If you can’t see the effectiveness of bleaching, you can use a color remover by pouring it into warm water and soaking your clothes in 2 hours for working best. Follow the direction sealed on the product, and wash as usual.

Note:

• You should check the use of chlorine bleach and color remover with a small piece of fabric because these items can change or remove the original color of your clothes.

• Don’t put your clothes in the dryer when the stain is still visible.

How To Deal With Different Color Stains On Washable Clothes?

With different hair colors, you will have different types of hair dye, especially light colors such as red or yellow. I will indicate how to get hair dye out of clothes based on the dyed color now. ⁽²⁾

Brown, Black, And Blue

Brown, black and blue are colors that you can remove easier than other hair colors. Therefore, treating these stains is quite different from that of red dyes, which I will guide you on in the next part.

Preparation:

• Laundry Detergent

• Alcohol

• Oxygen-based Bleach

• Chlorine bleach

Instructions

Step 1: First of all, place your clothes under the running water to remove the remaining sediment on your garment. On the other hand, you can apply a small volume of alcohol to the affected areas. 

Step 2: You pour a suitable amount of laundry detergent on the stains and rub the dirty area together by hand or using a brush. Launder the garment after 10 – 15 minutes.

Step 3: Blend oxygen-based bleach with a water bowl. Then soak the entire fabric into this liquid and check again after 8 hours.

Step 4: If these steps above are ineffective with white fabrics, you can soak the clothes in the mixture of water and chlorine bleach (1-gallon water:¼ cup of chlorine bleach) for 15 minutes.

Step 5: Check the stains on your garment and take them to the washer when you find any stain.

Does bleach really work with clothes? Check it now!

Red

Red is a particular hair color that attracts many people to try dying this color. However, getting red hair dye out of clothes seems more complicated than normal when it leeches out onto your clothes. 

What you need to prepare:

• Alcohol

• Dish soap

• Ammonia solution

• Laundry detergent

• Vinegar

• Oxygen-based Bleach

Instructions

Step 1:  Similar to step 1 that I have mentioned above. You can get the dirty sediments from clothes by rinsing them with cold water or alcohol.

Step 2: Make a mixture of dish soap, water, and household ammonia following this ratio:½ tablespoon of dish soap, 1 tablespoon ammonia, and 4 cups of water. Then, soak the affected areas in this solution for 10-15 minutes.

Step 3: Take your clothes out of the solution and rewash them under the water sink. You can scrub your garment with laundry detergent and soak it in the previous solution until it is spotless.

Step 4: If the stain is difficult to remove, you should change the container and soak in the solution of ¼ cup white vinegar and 4 cups of warm water. Wait 30 minutes and launder as usual.

Step 5: If all actions don’t work, you have to use oxygen-based bleach to clean. First, prepare a new container and fill it with an appropriate volume of oxygen bleach based on its product instructions and cool water.

Put your clothes in this solution and wait 8 hours to launder. In the case of using chlorine bleach, you can only apply it in white color clothes and soak your garment for 15 minutes.

Note: Remember to change your washing container to avoid blending ammonia with bleach, impacting stain removal efficiency.

Bonus Tips To Clean Hair Dye On Clothes Properly

Besides many cleaning methods provided above, you can also take a look at some bonus tips when you get rid of hair dye to achieve the best result:

• Treat the stain as soon as possible.

• Read the care label on your clothes carefully to avoid unexpected damage.

• If the stains don’t disappear the first time washing, you must repeat the process several times.

• Don’t heat your garment before washing off all hair dye stains.

How To Prevent Hair Dye Stains?

You have consumed a high cost of hair dying, so you certainly hate spending extra fees for cleaning the stain on your clothes. Therefore, learning how to prevent hair dye from sticking to your clothes is essential.

First, you have to ensure that the hair dye is totally dry before wearing clothes. If you often sweat, you can have your hair up with a hairpin or ribbons. However, you are the one who is interested in changing your hair color constantly, so what should you do? 

Well, in this situation, I recommend you prepare an old suit used as an outer coat to wear when you prepare to wash your hair. This way can help you minimize the stain from hair dye as much as possible.

Moreover, you can prepare an old towel and place it on your shoulders to prevent hair dye stain. Always remember to wear gloves if you dye at home. 

FAQs

Because the knowledge related to hair dye is considerable, you may still have some additional questions. In this section, I hope that you can find the answers you need.

Try Your Best For Your Beautiful Clothes

This article has provided many cleaning methods for you to get rid of nasty hair dye stains on your garment. Although getting the hair dye out of clothes is not simple, you can remove it quickly by treating them in time. Don’t worry and keep trying your best.

Do you want to give some advice? If you have any ideas to share, you can leave comments below, and don’t forget to share my post with your friends.

References

1. En.wikipedia.org. 2021. Hair coloring – Wikipedia.

2. Haircoloruniversity.com. 2021. Secrets of the Contributing Color Pigment Chart [VIDEO] – Haircolor University.com.