How to Remove Hair Dye Stains From Wood

Using hair dye at home requires a lot of preparation, and most of it is to make sure that the dye doesn't land anywhere else but on your head. With the word "dye" in its name, it's no surprise that hair dye can stain wood floors and other types of surfaces. That's why prepping your home and yourself before you use the stuff is critical.

No matter how many old T-shirts you lay down, coloring hair is a messy process even for pros, and hair dye stains still happen. Luckily, getting hair dye out of those wooden floors you love isn't as tricky as you might think. There are commercial stain removers designed to address stubborn stains like hair dye, but usually, hair dye stains can be treated with cleaning products that you probably already have at home.

There are two common types of hair dye used at home: temporary color and permanent color. As the names may indicate, permanent is designed to stick around, and temporary is chemically formulated to wash out of hair after a few shampoos. Temporary hair dye stains are easier to clean up than permanent hair dye stains.

The type of wooden floor you've stained plays a role too. If your wood floor is lacquered (looks and feels shiny and glossy to the touch), the lacquer protecting your floor makes it easier to get the stains out — it's the lacquer holding the stain, not the wood. However, if your wood floor is unvarnished with no form of protection on its surface, it will be more challenging to get the hair dye stain out.

A melamine sponge is critical to the process of removing hair dye from wood floors. Here's how these sponges work, and what makes them different from other sponges.

These miracle stain removers are made of a unique material called melamine foam. Melamine compressed into a foam acts essentially as sandpaper, blasting away any surface stain with which it comes in contact. A well-known example is the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, but other manufacturers make these products as well.

These erasers are powerful enough so that they need only water to work. They are strong enough that it is wise to test the surface area you plan on cleaning to make sure they don't leave scratches behind. Lacquered wood floors, however, can handle melamine foam with ease, making it a popular choice for various types of stains, including hair dye stains.

Putting your melamine sponge to work is easy: Just wet the sponge and scrub the stained area vigorously until the stain has lifted.

If you don't have a melamine foam sponge at home, you can try baking soda first. Make a paste of baking soda and water. There's no need to formally measure — just keep in mind that you want a paste-like consistency that can be applied without being too runny. Completely cover the stained area with the paste. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes; then wipe it off and clean the surface with water.

If the stain is still there, add more paste and repeat the procedure. If the stain remains, try again: This time, follow the same technique, but use lemon or distilled white vinegar instead of water and repeat the process of application and removal. Adding a tablespoon of liquid dishwashing soap to your paste is another way to boost its cleaning power.