Remove Blue or Green Hair Dye from Hair Without Bleaching

While you may have enjoyed your blue or green (maybe even blue and green) hair, you've decided it's time for a change. However, you really don't want to use bleach and don't know what else to do. Never fear, wikiHow is here to help you transition out of the cold color spectrum of hair. All you will need are the right supplies, some time, and a bit of perseverance.

Steps

Stripping Dye with Shampoo

Shampooing Your Hair

  1. Buy cheap shampoo that is not ‘color safe’. You should buy a clarifying shampoo that is specifically not safe to use on dyed hair. This shampoo will help to strip your hair of the dyed color. Suave Daily Clarifying is a good shampoo to use. You will also need to purchase non-color safe conditioner. This can also be on the cheaper end of the conditioner spectrum. If you used a permanent dye, you should consider using the other methods listed in this article, as this method is meant for semi-permanent. It will certainly fade the permanent dye, but it will take a bit longer to do so.[1]
    • If your hair tends to be dry or unmanageable, you should buy a more expensive conditioner that will give your hair the nutrients it needs.
    • Dandruff shampoo will also work, however, depending on the active ingredients in the shampoo and dye, it might simply lighten the color of the dye, rather than actually removing it from your hair.
  2. Consider mixing some baking soda into your shampoo. Baking soda is a natural bleaching agent, so adding it to your shampoo can make the color-stripping process faster.
  3. Use hot water to wet your hair. Make the water as hot as you can stand it--hot water opens up hair follicles and cuticles making them more receptive to being stripped of the dye. Get your hair thoroughly wet.
  4. Lather with the clarifying shampoo. Put a bunch of shampoo on there and really give your head a good scrub. Squeeze off any excess foam (which should be the color of the dye you are removing). Make sure your hair is thoroughly coated in the shampoo but do not rinse!
  5. Clip your hair up. If you have short hair, you can leave it down. Place a bath towel around your shoulders that you don’t really care about (the shampoo and dye will run and could potentially get on your towel).
  6. Place a plastic shower cap on your head. Make sure it covers all of your hair and is securely fitted on your head. Use a hairdryer to heat your head but take care not to hold the heat on one spot for two long or you could potentially melt the plastic. The heat will help the shampoo strip your hair of color.[1]
    • If you don’t have a plastic shower cap, you can use a plastic bag. Wrap it around your head and secure the opening in the front with a clip.
  7. Let your hair stay in the cap for 15 to 20 minutes. Once you have let it sit, rinse your hair thoroughly with hot water. Lather your hair with shampoo two more times, rinsing after each time you use the shampoo. The foam should only have a hint of dye left.

Conditioning Your Hair

  1. Cover your head with cheap conditioner. Rub your hair thoroughly with the conditioner, making sure your whole head is covered. If your hair is long enough, clip it up, otherwise just leave it down.
  2. Use a hairdryer to heat your hair. Once your hair is semi-dry, let your hair sit for 25 to 30 minutes. Rinse your hair with cool water so that all of the conditioner gets washed out.
  3. Dowse your hair in cold water. To close the hair cuticles up, blast your hair with freezing cold water. This is ensure that your hair retains the nutrients it needs from the conditioner. You should see that the dye has faded to roughly 2/3rds of what is once was. Let your hair rest for a day and then repeat this process.[1]

Stripping Dye with Vitamin C

  1. Get roughly 500 mg of vitamin C. You can buy these in packets, bottles, or as a powder. Place your vitamin C in a mixing bowl. If it is not already a powder, crush it up into a powder using the back of a spoon or a pestle (if you have one).[2]
  2. Add shampoo to your vitamin C. You will want to use good shampoo that leaves your hair soft and healthy. Add a good bit (a little more than you normally would use) to your vitamin C and mix the two ingredients together. Make sure there aren’t any lumps and that the powder is thoroughly mixed in.
  3. Get your hair wet using hot water. As stated above, hot water really helps to open up your hair, making it easier to remove the dye. Apply the shampoo mixture to your hair. Really lather it so that it gets really worked into your hair and coats each strand.
  4. Clip your hair up and put a shower cap on. You should also wrap your shoulders in an old towel, as the dye tends to drip down. The shower cap should catch most of the drips, but its always better to be safe than sorry.
    • If you don’t have a shower cap, you can also use a plastic bag clipped in the front, or cling wrap that has been wrapped around your hair.
  5. Let your hair process for 45 minutes. During this 45 minutes, the shampoo and vitamin C mixture will be working to rid your hair of color. Once it is done process, rinse your hair.[2]
  6. Work conditioner into your to hair. This is important to do so that your hair does not dry out or become frizzy. This method works on both permanent and semi-permanent dyes, however everyone’s hair is different. You may have to repeat these steps again if your dye is particularly tricky or has been on your hair for a long time.

Fading Dye with Household Products

Bath salts

  1. Run a bath and add bath salts. Bath salts, which can be purchased at bathroom and home supply stores, or at beauty stores, are known to fade blue and green semi-permanent hair dye. Run a bath with hot water and add a package of bath salts. Soak your hair for as long as possible in the tub. When you are done, your hair dye should be faded. You should them shampoo and condition your hair. Repeat in a day or two if necessary.[3]
    • You can also stop up a sink and add bath salts to that if you don’t want to soak in the tub.

Dish soap

  1. Use dish soap. Note that this will really dry out your hair so it is important to condition your hair well after using this method. Add four or five drops of dish soap to a quarter-sized amount of shampoo. Get your hair wet using hot water and then lather your hair with the shampoo mixture. Leave this mixture in for 10 minutes, then rinse. Follow this with a really good conditioning treatment.[4]

Clothing detergent

  1. Wash your hair with a clothing detergent. You must make sure that the detergent you use does not contain bleach or any bleaching agents--these can be quite damaging to your hair. Get your hair wet with hot water and then work in one tablespoon of detergent. Add another tablespoon if you have particularly long hair. Rinse your hair thoroughly and then use a good conditioner to keep your hair healthy.[5]

Fading Dye in the Sun

Hairspray

  1. Use hairspray. Cover the colored hair with lots of "strong hold" hairspray. Sit in the sun for as long as possible. Then brush out the hairspray, wash with an anti-dandruff shampoo and condition well to restore the hair's softness.

Chlorine

  1. Expose your hair to chlorine and sun. While it will not strip your hair of color immediately, going swimming and exposing your hair to sunlight will begin to fade your dye. However, you should always wash your hair with shampoo and conditioner after you have gone swimming. Do not expose yourself to so much sun that you end up getting burnt, as this could lead to skin cancer.

Tips

  • If you are unable to fix the color of your hair, you should consider going to a hairstylist who can fix your hair professionally.
  • It is always worth wearing old clothes and putting towels down when you are dyeing your hair.
  • Use dandruff shampoo and make a hair hot oil treatment. Repeat until it's gone.

Warnings

  • Do not try to dye over blue or green hair with shop bought dyes like brown and black. Often, it will make them extremely dark and have a blue tinge to them.
  • Always use caution when using household products like dish soap and detergent. Take extra care not to get any in your eyes, ears, mouth or nose.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 http://haircrazy.info/beginner-guides/removing-hair-dye-safely-cheaply/
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://haircrazy.info/misc-articles/how-to-remove-dye-with-a-vitamin-c-treatment/
  3. ↑ http://haircrazy.info/misc-articles/10-ways-to-remove-hair-colour/
  4. ↑ http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=38914
  5. ↑ http://www.bollywoodshaadis.com/article/lifestyle--health/health--fitness/8-ways-to-remove-your-hair-colour-easily
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