Effective Ways to Remove Hair Dye From Salon Towels

remove hair dye from towels

Whether you regularly change up your hair color at home or run a salon that provides coloring services, you’ve likely run into the problem of a dye-stained towel at some point. Perhaps you resolved to make that stained towel your designated dye towel, or attempted to get the dye out. 

If you opted for the latter, you know how difficult it can be to remove hair dye stains from towels — especially when it’s a  dark dye and a light-colored towel. Like with most things in life, removing hair dye from towels is a lot easier when you know how to do it right. So, what’s the secret? 

Removing Hair Dye Stains

Before you start trying to remove hair dye from towels, ensure you have all the necessary supplies to do the task correctly:

  • Gallon bucket or sink
  • Soft-bristled brush or old toothbrush
  • Laundry detergent 
  • Dishwashing detergent
  • Shampoo
  • Hair spray
  • Bleach
  • White vinegar
  • Hydrogen peroxide
  • Ammonia

The solution to removing hair dye stains is to try different methods until one works for the fabric and dye you’re dealing with. Sometimes, a simple spot treatment will be enough to clear the stain, while other times, you may have to run the gamut of options.

how to remove hair dye stains

How to Get Hair Dye Out of Your Towels

The first step to removing hair dye stains on towels is to try spot treating it. This method works best if you’re working on an isolated stain, though you can try it for smears or streaks as well. You can also treat hair dye stains with:

 

  1. Shampoo: Put a bit of shampoo on your fingertips and rub it over the stain. Keep rubbing until the stain comes off. If this is enough to remove the stain, go ahead and launder the towel as usual. If the stain hasn’t budged or has only partially come off, move on to the next step. You can also try this step using dishwashing detergent.
  2. Bleach: If you have a bleach-safe towel, try adding a quarter-cup of bleach to a gallon of cold water. Immerse your stained towel in the bleach and water for about half an hour. Doing so should help remove the stains, after which you can rinse the towel and put it through the washer.
  3. Water: Stretch the towel over a bowl or bucket and secure it in place with the stain positioned in the center. Put the bowl or bucket under a faucet and let cold water drip steadily onto the stain for several hours, until the water washes it away.
  4. Vinegar: If the previous steps don’t work, you can try using white vinegar to treat the stain. In a large container, mix a gallon of warm — not hot — water with two cups of white vinegar and two tablespoons of laundry detergent. Soak the stained towel in this mixture for a few hours and keep checking to see if the stain is fading.
  5. Ammonia: If you don’t succeed with vinegar, try mixing a gallon of water with one cup of ammonia. Then, stretch the towel over a bucket and secure it as you slowly pour the ammonia and water over the stain.
  6. Hairspray: It may sound odd, but the chemicals in hairspray might be precisely what stubborn hair dye stains need. You can even use cheap hairsprays that contain more alcohol and save the more expensive products for styling. Spray the hairspray directly onto the stain and let it sit for a few minutes before rinsing. This method is also an excellent way to pretreat the stain. 
  7. Hydrogen peroxide: We only recommend this option for colorfast towels, whose color won’t run or fade. Taking one part water and one part hydrogen peroxide, wet the stain and leave it to dry under direct sunlight. Make sure to keep wetting the stain until you’ve successfully removed it. Then, rinse the towel and launder as usual.

How to Remove Black, Brown or Blue Hair Dye Stains

For some darker shades, especially permanent hair dyes, you may need to try something a little more intense. Often, this means using multiple methods to remove the stain successfully. You likely won’t solve dark stains, like black, browns or darker blues, with spot treatment alone. However, spot treatments can be an ideal way to pretreat the stain before moving on to more intense methods.

 for darker shades of hair dye

  1. Detergent: Start by pretreating the stain with liquid laundry detergent. This method will work best on fresh stains, rather than older ones that have settled in. Rub some heavy-duty laundry detergent onto the stain using a soft-bristled brush — or even an old toothbrush. Once you’ve treated the stain alone, put the entire towel into a bowl of warm water and let it sit for a while, checking on its progress occasionally. Once the stain has dissipated, rinse out the towel and launder as you usually would.
  2. Hairspray: Another way to pretreat towels with hair dye on them is by using inexpensive hairspray. For darker stains, apply the hairspray directly to the stain until you’ve completely covered it. Then, soak the towel in a bucket or bowl filled with cold water and dish soap. Let it sit for about half an hour, or until the stain has faded. Then, wash the towel as you usually would.
  3. Bleach: Mix oxygen-based bleach with some water per the label instructions and let your towel soak in the mixture overnight. If the stain hasn’t completely gone, create a fresh blend of bleach and water and let it soak for another eight or so hours.  Once the stain has gone, launder the towel as usual. For white towels with dark stains, you can also try using a quarter-cup of chlorine bleach mixed into a gallon of water and letting your towel soak for about 15 minutes. After the stain dissolves, rinse the towel well before laundering it as usual. 

Remember to avoid putting a stained towel in the dryer. The dryer’s heat will only lock the stain in, making it nearly impossible to get out. If you’ve tried everything and can’t remove the stain, there’s a chance you may be stuck with it. However, instead of throwing the stained towel away, you can use it as a designated hair dye towel or convert it into a cleaning rag.

How to Remove Red Hair Dye Stains

 

While a dark hair dye stain, red can be a little trickier to get out, especially from light-colored or white towels. To remove red hair dye on towels, you’ll likely need to follow all or nearly all of the following steps. 

 

  1. First soak: The initial step is to soak the stained towel in a mixture of ammonia and dishwashing detergent. The formula should consist of a quart of water with one tablespoon of ammonia and one-and-a-half teaspoons of dishwashing detergent. Immerse the stained part of the towel into the mixture and let it sit for about 15 minutes.
  2. Scrub: Take the towel out and use your finger to scrub the stained area. Doing so will help loosen the dye and help it come out. Then, put it back into the ammonia and dishwashing detergent mixture to soak for another 15 minutes.
  3. Second soak: Make sure you rinse the towel well after the ammonia and dishwashing detergent soak. Then, in a new container, mix a quart of warm — not hot — water and a quarter-cup of white vinegar. Then, soak the stained area of the towel for up to 30 minutes. After half an hour, wash the entire towel as usual. However, if you find the stain is still there after washing, do not put it into the dryer. Instead, try Step 4.
  4. Third soak: If the stain persists, mix some water with bleach, using the package instructions on the bleach as your guide. Then, soak the entire towel in the mixture for about eight hours or overnight. If the stain remains after this time, mix a new batch of the solution and repeat the bleach soak until the stain is gone. Then, launder as usual. 

Again, it’s crucial to avoid putting a stained towel into a hot dryer without ensuring the whole stain has come out. The dryer’s heat will only seal the color into the towel, making it even more difficult — if not impossible — to get out later.

7 Ways to Prevent Hair Dye Stains

 

When you work with salon towels, the best course of action is to prevent stains from soiling your towels in the first place. While it’s impossible to avoid some mess when using hair dye, there are several ways you can reduce the likelihood of having to wash stained towels, regardless of whether you’re dyeing hair in your home or for a client at your salon. 

Here are seven ways to prevent your hair dye from ruining your towels.prevent hair dye stains

  1. Prepare your space: Whether you’re dyeing your hair at home or a client’s hair at a salon, prepare your workspace to ensure you get little to no dye on any textiles or surfaces. That means covering your countertop well and keeping the water running for a bit after you rinse the hair, so the dye doesn’t settle in the sink. If you’re dyeing your hair at home, you may want to put a layer of plastic cling wrap over the sink and counters in case the dye splatters. You should also remove any textiles you don’t want to get dirty, including any towels, bath mats or clothing.
  2. Keep towels handy: Paper towels are the best bet to clear up any spills or splatters. The quicker you wipe dye spills from counters or walls, the less likely they are to settle in and become difficult to remove. You may also want to keep a pile of old towels nearby for this reason. These are towels you’ve dedicated to cleaning up spills and chemicals, so you don’t mind if they get stained.
  3. Have designated dye towels: Similarly, if you regularly dye your hair at home, you may want to set aside a single towel that you use solely for drying your colored hair. Exposing one towel to multiple hair dye stains is easier than dealing with your everyday towels becoming stained. 
  4. Use only dark towels: If your salon offers coloring services, you may want to keep a stock of dark towels dedicated to drying freshly dyed hair. The best thing about dark towels is that they won’t show stains, so you can wash them as usual without worrying about removing specific stains. Dark towels can even hide the darkest stains, like those from black or dark blue dyes. If you dye your hair at home, you might want to choose a black or dark gray color for your designated dye towel.
  5. Buy in bulk: Sometimes, you have more customers than expected, so make sure you always have towels on hand for every client by buying your salon towels in bulk. You can buy them in multiple colors and designate darker shades for hair dyeing and never run out. Plus, if you opt for high-quality towels, you can keep using them for years.
  6. Get bleach-resistant towels: Bleach-resistant towels are a must-have for any salon, since you can use bleach to wash out any stains without worrying about the color fading or looking unattractive. Bleach-resistant towels are also ideal if you want to use white or light-colored towels without the color fading or hair dye stains making your establishment look unprofessional or unclean. They’re also easier to wash, since you can launder them with similar towels in the same load and save your staff the trouble of dealing with individual dye stains. The fact that you can reuse these towels multiple times even if they do get dye stains on them makes them an extremely cost-effective investment.
  7. Opt for colorfast towels: Like bleach-resistant towels, colorfast towels ensure that the color won’t fade or — worse — run when you wash them. Colorfast towels will allow you to wash them as usual and even use bleach to get rid of hair dye stains without sacrificing the towel’s vibrance. These towels have the bonus of looking as good as new even after multiple uses and washes, allowing your salon to maintain a reputable aesthetic.

Buy Wholesale Salon Towels at Towel Super Center

At Towel Super Center, we specialize in providing businesses with the highest-quality, 100% cotton towels. Our towels range in sizes and colors, and they can match the needs of any industry, from salons and spas to restaurants, gyms and car washes. And because we sell our towels in bulk, we can help your business save money — especially since our towels are also long-lasting. 

Choose from our wide selection of salon towels, stock up in the colors and sizes you need and choose between cotton or microfiber towels — both great for salons. Or, browse our selection of bleach-resistant towels, all of which can meet your budget, as well as your aesthetic needs.

Once you’ve made your selection, place your order online. If you have any questions, feel free to call us toll-free at 888-664-0951.

 buy wholesale salon towels

 

 

Similar Posts