How to remove hair dye from clothes, furniture and plumbing

by Abbas Jahangir · July 10, 2024

Despite all its positive features, dyeing at home is associated with a number of troubles. One careless move and colored blots and drops end up on wardrobe items and furniture. Is it possible to wash hair dye off clothes? As a rule, yes.

First steps

Fresh stains are the easiest to clean. Therefore, you need to start fighting the coloring pigment that has gotten on your clothes right away. A newly formed color blot is removed as follows:

Carefully remove the top layer of paint with a damp cloth. It is great if it is alcohol-based. Additionally, you can spray alcohol-containing hairspray on the stained area and wait until it is completely absorbed.
The remaining trace is soaped with regular laundry soap or “Antipyatin”, then washed and rinsed.

Water for cleaning clothes from hair dye should be at room temperature. In hot water the pigment will “brew” and it will be impossible to wash it off.

All-purpose cleaners

If the stain has already set in, you can still remove it from your clothes. The easiest way to do this is with specialized detergents.

Oxygen stain removers, such as Sarma, Vanish, Astonish, do a great job with stains on white and colored fabrics, except silk. They are used locally, added to a soaking container, or used with powder when washing.
Classic “Antipyatin” works well to remove hair dye stains. Rub the dirty area with a bar, and wash with lukewarm water after a quarter of an hour.

You can also remove an unpleasant “decoration” from a wardrobe item using folk remedies.

Gasoline, turpentine, acetone, kerosene or white spirit are applied to a cotton pad and the dry surface of the product is rubbed from the edges to the middle. The remaining pigment is removed with a pad soaked in ammonia.
Mix equal amounts of chalk, ammonia and turpentine. Cover the stain thickly with the paste, leave for several hours (until it dries), and then scrape it off. After that, treat the fabric with turpentine, acetone or gasoline.
Dilute vinegar essence with water in a ratio of 1:20 and apply a swab soaked in it to the stain until it disappears completely.
Moisten the contamination with 9% vinegar. After half an hour, rinse the segment with cold water.
Mix 6% vinegar with dishwashing gel in half and apply to the pre-soaked stain for 30 minutes.
A cotton pad is moistened with warm glycerin and pressed several times against the damp, colored area. Then the same manipulations are done with a pad moistened with clean water. If the stain is not completely removed, salt water is poured on it, and after 3-5 minutes, it is wiped with table vinegar. This method can be used painlessly for treating delicate fabrics.

Although universal products are not aggressive, it is better to test them before using them on colored and delicate fabrics. To do this, apply the composition to the seam from the inside and evaluate the reaction of the material after 20 minutes.

For white only

Chemical and natural substances with a lightening effect effectively remove hair dye from white clothes.

Stained areas on linen, bamboo and cotton (excluding cambric) items can be bleached with chlorine-containing bleaches, such as Domestos or Belina. The stain is treated locally with the product, and after a minute, washed off with plenty of cool water. In addition, wardrobe items can be completely soaked for 20 minutes in a bleaching solution (2 tablespoons of the product per 10 liters of water).
A 3% hydrogen peroxide solution is poured onto the stain and left for half an hour. After that, the item is rinsed in cool water.
Place 30 g of soda on a water-soaked blot and pour in table vinegar. When bubbles stop forming, wash.
Hydrogen peroxide and ammonia (1 tbsp each) are diluted in 200 ml of water. The mixture is heated to 60°. A cotton pad is dipped in the hot liquid and then applied to the damaged material. The result is assessed after half an hour.

Even henna and basma can be washed off well using a mixture of ammonia and peroxide, but only if their traces were noticed immediately.

What to do with paint stains on furniture and plumbing

Fresh paint that gets on plumbing or furniture can usually be easily wiped off with wet wipes soaked in an alcohol-containing solution. If the stain has dried, you will have to take an individual approach to each piece of furniture.

The damaged upholstery of the upholstered furniture is cleaned with one of the universal means for removing dye from clothes. After conducting a preliminary test on an inconspicuous area of the fabric from the inside.

Colored splashes on plastic surfaces can be removed:

6% vinegar;
citric acid diluted in water;
detergent with bleaching effect;
a paste of chalk and toothpaste;
melamine sponge;
acetone or nail polish remover;
gasoline, white spirit or kerosene.

A cast iron bathtub can be washed from hair dye with a mixture of 1 part hydrogen peroxide and 2 parts ammonia. The mixture is kept on the contaminated surface for a quarter of an hour, and then the stain is rubbed with a soft cloth. In addition, you can spray bleach diluted with water 1 to 3 on the enamel, and after a few minutes, thoroughly wash the bathtub with a shower.

If the bathtub is acrylic , after testing it on an inconspicuous area, it is cleaned:

soda diluted with water to a paste;
toothpaste, which is applied to a damp surface in a thick layer and then brushed off after half an hour;
with a slice of lemon or a cotton pad soaked in a solution of citric acid.

Thus, if hair dye gets on a wardrobe item or surrounding things, in most cases it can be removed. However, it is important to choose the right cleaning agent so that instead of a bright blotch you don’t get a whitish spot or a hole.