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How to Wash the Hair With Baking Soda to Strip Out the Color

Mar 11, 2011 / By Kimbry Parker

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Baking soda helps to remove unwanted dye from your hair.

Photo: Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images

If you're suffering from a dye job gone bad, don't get in a tizzy just yet. Sure, you probably can't walk in front of a mirror without freaking out because of the color, but just remember -- it will fade. You can help speed up the process by washing your hair with baking soda. Baking soda isn't an instant fix for a botched dye job, but over time, it will help take the color out. So head to the fridge, and grab the baking soda. You'll be back to the old you before you know it.

Grab an empty container, and fill it with 4 cups of warm water. Mix in 1 tsp. of baking soda. If your hair is really thick or long, double the recipe.

Hop in the tub, and dump the mixture into your hair. Use your hands and fingertips to work the baking soda mixture throughout your hair, all the way from the roots down through the ends. Just don't scrub your scalp too hard; baking soda is a little harsh and can irritate your scalp.

Chill out for a few minutes, and let the baking soda absorb into your hair. Rinse it out. Use the hottest water you can when rinsing; hot water will also help to strip the color.

Now mix a teaspoon of baking soda with a teaspoon of clarifying shampoo. Clarifying shampoo will further help to strip the dye from your strands. Massage the shampoo and baking soda into your hair, and leave it there for at least five minutes. Rinse it out. The baking soda and hot water can particularly dry out your hair, so make sure to condition your hair really well.

1.Empty container

3.Baking soda

5.Conditioner

2.Warm water

4.Clarifying shampoo

Use the method listed above several times in a row (even for several days) until the color has faded to your satisfaction. If you just can't seem to get the color to a shade you want, you can buy color strippers from most beauty supply stores.

Give your hair a deep conditioning treatment each day you use the baking soda. Excessive washing -- along with using baking soda -- is drying on your hair.

Wash your hair with baking soda as soon as possible after dying your hair. The longer you wait, the more the dye will set in.