My hair is turning orange *and* yellow. Should I try blue food coloring?

[gustavonut]

The title basically says it all. I don't really have a picture to show it but my hair is turning a really dark orange all over (even roots) And my lighter ends are turning this unusual yellow-orange sort of like a copper color, but uglier :( I know it is most likely from the minerals in our water and I currently cannot change that at all, and don't have any money for chelating shampoo.
I have tried ACV to chelate the minerals out but that made it WORSE. Which is why I'm here to see if using a blue food coloring would help this at all? If not it's fine, I'll deal with it. But it just makes my hair look a little greasier than it actually is. :eek:
Oh and also, I have a purple hair shampoo for platinum
blondes, I wonder if that would help at all too?

Thanks everyone ^_^

[red autumn]

hello gustavonut!

i had a similar proplem few month ago, and in my case, the purple shampoo helped a lot. i used to keep it ten minutes, and rince.
i don't know if you're in natural stuff, but i made a henna with some stinging nettle (is tht it in english?) powder, it's very green and it worked too.

[meteor]

If it's from minerals in the water, I'd highly recommend chelating. Some chelating shampoos are pretty affordable, e.g. Pantene Damage Detox "Weekly" Shampoo, Ion, and any swimmers' shampoo, really. Also, shampoos with chelating agents (e.g. EDTA or citric acid...) high up on the ingredients list should chelate, even if they don't state so.

Also, since you say ACV made matters worse, I'd replace it with white vinegar. ACV can give lighter hair a bit of coppery/slightly reddish shine - it did that for me. :shrug:

You could use citric acid or try making "miracle water" : water + citric acid + vitamin C powder.

If it's from the sun lightening, I'd keep hair up under a hat/UV buff/scarf.

Also hair that was bleached or dyed with peroxide/developer can develop that brassiness, so if you've bleached or dyed your hair before, then I'd try the food colorant option or go for toners and purple/silver shampoos.

[DollyDagger]

You could try some Red gold corrector from sallys and even add an additional teeny drop of blue to it.
They are drops that you add to your shampoo/conditioner. You can mix up enough for one wash at a time and adjust accordingly.

[Anje]

I agree with the citric acid and/or vitamin C if you can't get a chelating shampoo. I've heard good things about people rinsing with Emergen-C (which is probably more expensive in the long run, but fine if you have it on hand). Rinsing with club soda is another thing I've seen suggested, though I don't know whether it'll chelate as well as citric acid would.

Keep your eyes out for a swimmer shampoo like Ultra Swim. They're probably on clearance right now, since swimming pool season is over. I've spotted it before for a dollar or two at Walmart. (Nevermind that high school swim team is going strong.)

[Christine_O]

If you're up for buying purified water and heating it on the stove, the coloring should fade. My experience with this is a friend who had grown up in Fairbanks Alaska where there is lots of iron in the water moved away, and very soon afterwards discovered that she didn't have red hair.

[RavenRose]

I would highly suggest a chelating shampoo, if that is completely unaffordable, try the purple shampoo.

You might be use a few drops of blue in a shampoo/conditioner as a possible temporary toner, but error on the side of not enough, try one drop at a time...

[tigress86]

This hairdresser chelates with Dawn dish soap and lemon juice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBN2OD3Qfvw

[gustavonut]

Thank you all for the help! I'll post here once I actually try something. :)

[Groovy Granny]

This hairdresser chelates with Dawn dish soap and lemon juice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBN2OD3Qfvw

I just used her 'recipe' this week (with my silver shampoo) to remove argan oil stains from my silver/white hair; it worked well actually!
I followed up with 4 drops of mineral oil to my ends then rinsed it out; then applied a good conditioner to my ends and rinsed out.
A couple drops of mineral oil was worked into my damp ends.
My hair was poofy by very soft.

[SparkleToes]

Yeah you should try out your purple shampoo, maybe like once or twice a week or you could try a toner sallys has some from wella or you could go to a hairdresser manic panic also sells a toner they sells non damaging hair dyes.