Getting old dye out????

[Treehuggin]

I want my old hair color back but I'm losing patience. I've decided I don't want to chop the old color off, but I know it's going to take a very long time to grow out... it's already been a year since I've had it dyed. It was dyed much darker than my normal hair color. Is there anything that can strip the dye off my hair? I've read some things about getting it out soon after the dye job was done.... but what about if it's been there for a long time?

[spidermom]

From what I've read and observed around here (no experience personally), I think you're probably stuck with it. But welcome and good luck; you might learn ways to get what you want.

[Natalia]

I hear alot about things like color fix on here. Not read to much about them but i figure its better than the fustration of growing out. I have dyes my hair dark dark brown for several ears and i love the color but had to stop becasue of allergic reactions :(. My hair is naturally a very pale blonde, like it looks clear when held in the light so that a significant grow out :p and i feel your fustration. I hope you find something that works for you.

[Blue Willow]

well I'm afraid youd have to use a 10 or 20 volume peroxide to lift the old color..I wouldnt attempt this yourself, get a professional who has some experience in this kind of thing. Also be prepared for your hair suffering some damage from the procedure, so good deep conditioning is going to be very important. Good luck

[HairColoredHair]

You can certainly try Colorfix on your hair, though I've heard results may vary. :)

[Delilah]

There's no magic way to do it. You can use colorfix, or bleach, both will result in some degree of damage and you will not have the color you started with but some degree of brownish orange that you will have to dye again. The damage could range from slight to melted hair and blistered scalp. If you're not sure how to do it, it is best to go to a salon and ask for prices on color correction.
You may want to ask on a forum that specializes in hair dye.

[Elainehali]

I used to chemically color. I noticed as a side effect of oiling my color would fade. Also SLS and ALS shampoos fade it too.

So as a starting point try drenching your hair in a ton of oil. Any kind you have would probably work. And then shampoo it out in a hour or so.

To get more color removed add a tablesoon of baking soda to the shampoo. (when I used to do this to remove some color you might actually SMELL the chemicals being removed. ick!)

Goodluck

[RancheroTheBee]

I used to chemically color. I noticed as a side effect of oiling my color would fade. Also SLS and ALS shampoos fade it too.

So as a starting point try drenching your hair in a ton of oil. Any kind you have would probably work. And then shampoo it out in a hour or so.

To get more color removed add a tablesoon of baking soda to the shampoo. (when I used to do this to remove some color you might actually SMELL the chemicals being removed. ick!)

Goodluck

I preferred oiling it overnight, personally. :| But I have an awful lot of time on my hands.

[Nat242]

Some posters have had success with deep oiling, honey lightening, and colour oops/colour fix.

I recommend trying deep oiling and honey lightening before moving on to harsher products.

[wintersun99]

color oops and color fix will remove the dye (probably without damage) as it's not bleach. I've used color oops a few times with good results. however, it will not (nothing will) restore dyed hair to natural color. your natural pigment has been altered by using the dye. so, while these products will remove the dye, it will leave your hair in the condition whatever 20% peroxide would have done.

you can use those products to remove the dark dye and than re-dye closer to your natural color OR you can use the various ieas mentioned to slowly fade the dye to a lighter color... eventually.

[euphrasyne]

I know one woman who bleached hers lighter then dyed it with a permanent non ammonia dye to match her natural color.

I haven't had any luck with any method and am going two-tone. I've been dye free for over a year and it is still very much tone on tone.

[Unnamed]

So sorry this is long!

I'd say if you're a year out heavy oilings might not help, but if you try it you want up in the range of at least 6 hours (overnight unless you have time during the day), and olive oil was what I used way back (4-4.5 years ago) as I had read that it was on the acidic side and that's why it would pull out dye...on me it just took the inkiness away, but the first couple of times it was really, really clear it was pulling some of the dye out. It'll probably be most useful if your hair hasn't been dyed too many times--the top 1" or so got visibly lighter after several goes with it, and I think the first long (6 hr) soak was about 3 or 4 months after my hair was last dyed.

Colorfix I think will probably get out most non-direct permanent dyes (direct dyes will oxidise back--mine did after about a week). Colorfix didn't seem at all damaging on my hair, and I've used it a fair bit (not the third bottle, though). It does stink, and for a while after, too. It doesn't really matter if you get it on the non-dyed hair, as it doesn't alter natural colour, just the dye.

Bleach alone might get out most dye, but I'd definitely try Colorfix (and multiple times) before bleach. Bleach can be very damaging. I'm lucky that my hair seems to love being bleached/dyed to death (it actually feels better after being bleached lol), but bleach can really damage and even destroy hair, and IMO is kind of a last resort. And need to avoid getting it on the non-dyed hair (or else it'll lighten).


Anyway, either way you'll probably need to either tone or re-dye the old dyed hair to get it to blend better, as even with colorfix the dye you used had peroxide in it which would have altered the original colour (and will likely appear orangish or at the very least brassy/warmer).

And if you do it (even the colorfix) on your own strand test so you know what it'll do (and what you might need to re-dye or tone) and if it'll work beforehand.


On the dye in my hair (a black-black (Feria) direct-dye) the only thing that I've found that removes it is bleach (2/2.5 to 3 hours total with 20 vol--basically bleached it as light as it will go with just bleach) and then Colorfix (three goes at an hour). Bleach only got to an orange to red (not light enough to re-dye to match my hair colour), and colorfix got to orange but oxidised back. Found this out accidentally when I tried using colorfix on all of the dyed hair in Nov 2007, and forgot to pull out the old bleach strand test I did in early 2005 (hair was last dyed in Oct 2004), and voila, the bleach strand turned yellow. :lol: Very much only something to do if the dye won't respond to colorfix and bleaching alone isn't enough, though (aka if it's a direct dye and essentially going from black to blonde). I didn't notice any damage from doing both, but that might not hold true for others.