Dye family: alcohol or a long oxygen soak
How to get hair dye out
Permanent dye made to bond. Act within minutes; old hair-dye stains are often permanent.
Do this first
Rinse cold from the back immediately
Fresh stain
- Rinse cold from the back immediately
- Gently work in detergent
- Soak in oxygen bleach for hours
- Wash
Dried or old
- White towels: diluted chlorine soak after a test
- Otherwise, it's probably permanent
- Fabric care
- Keep 'hair dye towels' for dye days.
- Time
- Minutes matter
- How to tell
- Look: purple, brown, red or black; Feel: none; Smell: ammonia-ish
Where this fix comes from
We check every fix against these published guides. We do not run a test lab of our own.
Before you start
- Test on a hidden seam first.
- Never mix cleaners.
- Keep it out of the dryer until the stain is gone.