Leah LOVES hair. So much so, she dedicated an entire website to it! One of the founders of Hair Everyday and Chief Editor, Leah enjoys reviewing all the hair products and showcasing the best. She believes her most underrated articles are her hair care tips!
If you want to know how to remove semi-permanent hair dye from bleached hair, then here are some easy tips. In this article, I listed methods on how to remove hair dye from hair.
I had bleached my very dark hair recently as I wanted to try an unconventional hair color. However, the blue hair dye I tried out didn’t really turn up the shade I expected.
As you can imagine, I was panicking. There was no way I could color over the blue. And the only option left was to figure out a way to remove this semi-permanent hair color.
- Related: Best Hair Color Removers That You Can Use At Home
- Related: How To Remove Purple Hue From Purple Shampoo Out Of Hair
Now this took me on a journey where I tried several different home remedies before finally caving in and buying a color remover.
In this article, I have explained all the methods I’ve tried and what are their advantages and their disadvantages.
I’ve also given a few tips on making sure your hair remains healthy despite all the bleaching, coloring, color-removing processes.
How to Remove Semi-Permanent Hair Dye from Bleached Hair
Try Using A Strong, Clarifying Shampoo
The first thing I did when my little hair color experiment failed was to try washing it off with shampoo. Instead of using my regular, color-safe sulfate-free shampoo I bought a bottle of Head and Shoulders instead.
Yes, most anti-dandruff shampoos contain both Sodium Laureth Sulfate and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate which are very powerful surfactants.
They can actually remove a lot of dye pigments from your hair strands.
However, this method can take some time to show results on semi-permanent hair dye. You might need to wash your hair multiple times and I do not recommend this if your bleached hair is already showing signs of damage.
Mix In Some Baking Soda With Your Shampoo
There have been some studies showing that baking soda can penetrate the cortex of your hair. So it can be helpful in removing hair dye. But honestly? This hack did not work for me at all.
I first tried making a paste of baking soda and water and using it as a sort of hair mask (yes, not my best idea!).
I kept this baking soda mask on for at least 15-20 minutes and then washed it off later with cool water.
And when it didn’t do much, I tried mixing the baking soda with shampoo instead.
The baking soda’s granular texture can be exfoliating on your hair and the theory is that mixed with a sulfate-based shampoo can have twice as much of a clarifying effect.
I think this method will give better results if you use it consecutively for a few days. But it made my hair very frizzy and dry in just one use. And I did not want to see what a few days of baking soda would have done.
Apply An Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse
At this point I really wanted a safe, non-abrasive way of removing hair dye from my bleached hair when I discovered that acidic substances can help with this issue.
So I thought why not try an apple cider vinegar rinse? And let me tell you vinegar is the least-damaging way of removing hair dye from your strands.
It’s not very effective unless used multiple times. So if you have nowhere to go and time to spare, you can use this rinse everyday and pray that your hair color fades fast.
But if you’re in a hurry, this method of removing hair color is not for you. It takes several days to fade hair dye using just a vinegar rinse.
Wash Your Hair Using Dish Soap
I know this doesn’t sound pleasant. And it’s not. But it’s a very, very effective way of removing hair dye pigments from your strands. Dish soap like Dawn have very strong surfactants. So the theory is that if the soap is strong enough to remove grease, dirt and bacteria from plates and pans, they can remove dye from your hair.
But the truth is that dish soap is going to leave your hair extremely dry. Take it from me. Do not try this unless you’re very desperate. Maybe not even then. A sulfate-based shampoo can do the trick just as well.
Get A Hair Color Remover From The Store
So finally none of these “home remedies” completely worked on my blue hair. On using the sulfate-based shampoos and vinegar rinses, my hair did fade from a dark jewel blue to a light blue shade.
However, I needed something to work on my hair pronto as I had to be at a wedding and my hair was absolutely in no state to be seen by anyone.
I bit the bullet and finally got the Color Oops Hair Color Remover with the Extra Conditioning formula. And I was very happy and very relieved to see that it had finally got rid of my blue hair dye and my tresses were back to being a light blonde color.
The product worked in a few minutes time and was very easy to apply too. It did smell really chemically and absolutely unbearable but it was so effective I’m willing to forgive this little flaw.
This is what my hair looked at the end of using the color remover! It was finally back to bleached blonde again.
FAQs On How To Remove Hair Dye From Hair
How do you remove permanent hair dye from bleached hair?
While there are some remedies for removing semi-permanent hair dye from your tresses, getting rid of a permanent hair dye from bleached hair can be more challenging.
You can let some time pass so that the dye fades to some extent naturally before you try to remove the hair dye to make it easier.
In my experience, the best way to remove permanent dye from bleached hair is to either use a professional hair color remover or to do a bleach bath with hydrogen peroxide and water.
You can try DIY remedies like using baking soda or clarifying shampoo, but it won’t do much.
How long does it take a semi-permanent hair dye to come out of blonde hair?
A lot of this depends on the quality of the formula of the semi-permanent dye and how well you maintain your hair color. On average, a semi-permanent box hair dye lasts for about 28 washes. This can be anywhere from 5-8 weeks depending on how often you shampoo your hair.
If you’re using a hair color-protect shampoo and treatments like hair gloss, then this can enhance the longevity of hair dye.
How to remove box dye from hair without damage?
When you apply hair color, the pigments in the dye penetrate into the cortex (inner layer) of your hair strands. If you want to remove hair dye then you’ll have to open your hair cuticles and wash out the pigments from the cortex. Naturally, doing this can lead to some amount of damage (especially dryness and frizz) no matter how much you try to avoid it.
But if you’re comparing the various hair color removing techniques, then some are less damaging than others.
You can use a sulfate-based, clarifying shampoo to remove hair dye, apply apple cider vinegar or lemon juice (which contain Vitamin C) to help remove dye increasing the acidity on hair, or open your hair cuticles using heat and then massage oil into it to remove the dye.
These are less damaging than using chemical-based color removers or using harsh abrasives like baking soda or hydrogen peroxide.
How to remove red semi permanent hair dye from bleached hair?
It can be easier to remove certain hair color shades from bleached hair then others. If you want to get rid of red tints on your strands then you can start off by using a clarifying shampoo to remove the worst of the color, then instead of using more hair color removers, you can actually use a hair toner instead.
There are toners that help neutralize reddish tones on hair by adding blue pigment. So using a blue shampoo/toner afterwards can remove the remaining red tones.
Summary on Removing Hair Dye From Bleached Hair
So to sum it all up. There are a few home remedies and hacks you can use to remove semi-permanent hair dye from your bleached hair.
Most of these involve using a shampoo with large amounts of surfactants or adding exfoliants like baking soda or vitamin C to your hair to scrub out the dye pigments.
As you can imagine these tips can be too harsh on your tresses. But your hair will not be too damaged if you use these hacks just once and adopt a nourishing aftercare routine.
Alternatively, you can try a chemical hair color remover from the market. I had to resort to this at the end when my blue hair dye wouldn’t come off.
I think using this kind of product is not so bad if your hair isn’t too fine or damaged already and if you’re sure that a single use of the remover will get the dye out.
Some of these removers are also much more nourishing and gentle than others. So be sure you pick the right one for your hair type as well.
Also Read:
How To Remove Brassy Tones From Blonde Hair
How To Get Black Hair With Blue Tint Without Bleach
Will Bleaching Red Dyed Hair Turn It Pink
Can You Mix Splat Hair Dye With Conditioner
To Summarize
