How to Get Black Hair Color Out

Black hair color or dye, whether its permanent or semi-permanent, can be difficult to remove from any surface;especially clothing. If you have ever dyed your hair, you know that even with the most careful applications accidents and drips can happen. Well, the next time you get black hair dye on your clothes follow these steps to remove it.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Hairspray Two gallons (at least) of room temperature water Dish washing liquid or laundry detergent, 1 tablespoon White vinegar, 1/2 cup Small bucket Eyedropper or cotton swabs Clean white rags, several Heavy waterproof can Ammonia, 1 cup

Removing Black Color from Fabric

1. Saturate with hairspray. Immediately saturate any fabric touched by black hair color with liberal amounts of hairspray. The alcohol in hairspray prevents some of the hair color from bonding to the threads of the fabric.

2. Mix water. Combine in the bucket 1 gallon of the water with the tablespoon of liquid detergent, and the ½ cup of white vinegar.

3. Soak. Place the stained fabric in the water and let it soak for a minimum of 15 minutes, preferably 30 minutes.

4. Launder. The fabric should be laundered immediately after soaking.

5. Try the ammonia. If the stain remains after laundering, mix 1 cup of ammonia with 1 quart of water and test the ammonia water on a hidden portion of the fabric to see if the fabric is color safe.

6. Blot. Place small amounts of the ammonia water on the stain using an eyedropper or cotton swab, then work from the center of the stain to the outside edge. Blot in between each wetting and continue this process until no more color can be removed.

7. Rinse. The fabric needs to be rinsed completely with clean water and placed between several clean, dry, white rags.

8. Weigh it down. The fabric between the rags needs to be weighed down with the waterproof can. This weighing down, for at least 30 minutes, allows the liquid to absorb into the rags.

9. Launder again. Remove the can and the rags, and immediately launder the fabric.

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure to keep black color stains moist at all times on any fabric. Wool or silk fabrics that have been stained with black color may respond better to direct applications of undiluted rubbing alcohol if the detergent-water-vinegar mixture does not remove the dye. If neither alcohol nor ammonia water work on stubborn stains, consider testing a small amount of hydrogen peroxide on a hidden portion of the fabric. Hydrogen peroxide frequently removes all color from fabric, so use this method as a last resort. If the fabric is color safe, saturate the stain with peroxide, let the fabric dry completely for 24 hours, and repeat as necessary to continue removing the black dye.
• Never mix ammonia with other cleaning fluids because it may create a toxic gas that could be lethal if inhaled.