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dontfencemein
October 1st, 2009, 11:46 AM
I havent been on here in over a year, but I figured if someone would know it would be you lovely people.
My 3 yo decided to "paint" her sister with some food coloring she snuck out of the kitchen. The one year old is now green and yellow and red. She has light straw/white blond hair. Is there any hope of getting this out. Please tell me there is!

TIA
Jamie

Madame J
October 1st, 2009, 11:51 AM
I got red food coloring on my fingers in the third grade and it took two or three weeks to wear out. I would say give her hair a gentle wash to get any immediate residue off, and then just wait it out. It'll look silly, but if you put a hat on her, people will be none the wiser. The only other thing you might try is washing with baking soda, but it is incredibly drying, so it's probably better just to wait it out. Anything else you could use to get color out would be potentially irritating on young skin.

marikamt
October 1st, 2009, 11:53 AM
poor sweetie!!! The only positive is that one day this will be a funny story the family will tell.......
good luck!

motormuffin
October 1st, 2009, 11:59 AM
You could try vinegar with a tiny bit of laundry soap...I don't know if I'd try much else. I'd take some pics so you can say..."remember when?". My daughter cut her own hair and the cat's. Kids are kids. If the vinegar doesn't work you may need to wait it out.

Merewen
October 1st, 2009, 12:05 PM
I second the "take pictures" advice. My mom has some lovely photos of when a friend and I decided that it would be way cool to color all our exposed skin with markers. People understand when small children have turned funny colors. It's likely to remind them of their own selves/children/nieces/nephews/grandkids etc.

halo_tightens
October 1st, 2009, 12:05 PM
I don't know if she'd tolerate it or not, being just a baby, but it seems like a long soak in something like SMT might persuade the color to let go. I've noticed that my henna always fades a bit when I SMT, and food coloring can't be as stubborn as henna!

dontfencemein
October 1st, 2009, 12:11 PM
What is SMT?

Nightshade
October 1st, 2009, 12:11 PM
Baby shampoo, honestly. It'll help raise the cuticle of the hair. You could also try 1 part baby shampoo, one part honey, and let it sit for a few minutes (or as long as she'll tolerate) before rinsing.

Dementia1013
October 1st, 2009, 12:18 PM
You could try vinegar with a tiny bit of laundry soap...I don't know if I'd try much else. I'd take some pics so you can say..."remember when?". My daughter cut her own hair and the cat's. Kids are kids. If the vinegar doesn't work you may need to wait it out.Won't the vinegar help stain her hair? I would think it would be like the easter egg effect help keep the color on...

halo_tightens
October 1st, 2009, 12:23 PM
Sorry-- I was talking about Snowy's Moisture Treatment, a mixture of 4 parts gentle conditioner, 1 part honey, and 1 part aloe vera gel.

Medievalmaniac
October 1st, 2009, 12:25 PM
It WILL wear out with time, but you'll need several washes over probably a week or two before it does. In the meanwhile - take pictures!!! It doesn't seem so now, but this is definitely something you will want to have on film later on down the road. :)

motormuffin
October 1st, 2009, 03:17 PM
I did an experiment for you. I dripped blue food color on a paper towel and let it dry. I sprayed it with with vinegar and some dish soap and smooshed it up and rinsed it out. Then I did it again but let it sit for an hour...like that could happen with a kid (hah!). Then I rinsed it out again. It went from the darkest blue down to a light pink. My hands feel dry but not bad. Some lotion would fix it.
I would feel comfortable putting my daughter through this...but then again I make her actually clean her room which is probably worse.

Fractalsofhair
October 1st, 2009, 03:39 PM
Punks used to do similar things with coolaid a while back. I'd suggest just washing her hair occasionally for 3-4 weeks, and it should have started to fade by then. Or, just get some manic panic and make the streaks REALLY bright so it looks like she did it on purpose.

lora410
October 1st, 2009, 03:56 PM
I would do an oiling with like olive oil or something and then the baby shampoo method.

Carolyn
October 1st, 2009, 06:15 PM
Oh please take pictures! You have a great family story to tell for years and years. All kids do things like that. It's pretty funny really when you think about it. I'd oil her hair with olive oil or what ever you have on hand and then wash with baby shampoo in the morning. If that doesn't do it, just wait it out. Anyone you tell, will think it's a good story.

Tanuki
October 2nd, 2009, 08:38 AM
Dye the rest of the baby's hair? If you can get a consistent color, you could always claim it's an anime baby

Anje
October 2nd, 2009, 08:42 AM
It'll come out after a few normal washings, honestly.

When I was young, my friend used to put spots of food coloring on their mostly white cat at Halloween. (Looking back on it, I wouldn't recommend doing this to cats, since they can't process a lot of things that cause no problems for humans.) It didn't last all that long on the cat, and I don't think they bathed her.

ETA: Yes, take pictures. These will be useful later, perhaps at the 1-year-old's wedding....

pradabacon
October 2nd, 2009, 08:43 AM
Dye the rest of the baby's hair? If you can get a consistent color, you could always claim it's an anime baby

^^^:spitting:

Nightshade
October 2nd, 2009, 08:47 AM
Dye the rest of the baby's hair? If you can get a consistent color, you could always claim it's an anime baby

This reminds me of our friend's then one and a half year old. He had somehow gotten into oil-based paint and smeared it in his hair, "SHAMPOO MOMMY!" :bigeyes:

It was mostly on the sides, and try as they might they could NOT get it out. So they shaved his hair into a mowhawk for the summer. Kiddo LOVED it, but they did buzz him to one overall length before he went back to daycare in the fall :lol:

rchorr
October 2nd, 2009, 08:52 AM
Yeah, my kids decided to do that on my DH's watch. I thought it was histerical! He was NOT amused! LOL!

RCHORR'


I second the "take pictures" advice. My mom has some lovely photos of when a friend and I decided that it would be way cool to color all our exposed skin with markers. People understand when small children have turned funny colors. It's likely to remind them of their own selves/children/nieces/nephews/grandkids etc.

Shermie Girl
October 2nd, 2009, 09:02 AM
Kids... :rolleyes: :lol:

There probably isn't much you can do about the food colouring in the hair. It is just going to have to wear away on it's own. Which it will do in time.

Until then, take lots of pictures and just relax and enjoy it. It will become a cherished memory and something you can all laugh about, in the coming years. :D

GlassEyes
October 2nd, 2009, 09:06 AM
Yeah, I'd definitely go with baby shampoo. Safer than laundry soap (I don't know if I'd put that on a one-year old's scalp) and people use it to get rid of hair dye as adults too, though, granted, it might not work as well on a child's hair (different pH and such, but I'm unsure if that's just the scalp or the hair as well), but it's your best bet.

And look at it this way--at least she's not bald! :D I chopped off my sister's hair when I was six and she was four.

Aunteater
October 2nd, 2009, 09:22 AM
My little brother inadvertently dyed a patch of his white-blond hair pink when he was a toddler-- red jello was the culprit, I believe. We had to wait for it to grow out. It was hilarious :D Take pictures so you can embarrass the kid in years to come!