The last time I dyed my hair red, my shower looked like a scene out of the movie Psycho every time I took a shower. I’m talking about blood-colored dye bleeding out of my hair, down my body, and all over the shower. My towels were stained permanently red. It was a nightmare.
But why does my hair color wash out so fast? Hair dye washes out when color molecules don’t fully penetrate into the hair’s cortex or when the color molecules are too small to stay inside the hair’s cortex. This allows water to rinse the color out of hair.
There are several reasons this could happen which I’ll cover in this post. But most importantly, there are tons of things you can do to stop hair color from washing out, which I’ll let you in on as well.
Does Semi-Permanent Hair Dye Wash Out?
Temporary hair dye usually washes out in one or two shampoos.
Semi permanent hair dye lasts longer, often up to a few months. But it doesn’t adhere to the hair nearly as well as permanent hair color, so it’s not uncommon to see it washing down the drain with each shampoo.
If you want to stop this from happening, skip ahead to my tips for keeping hair dye from washing out.
Does Permanent Hair Dye Wash Out?
Immediately after you dye your hair, the chemicals used to dye your hair should be rinsed out. During this rinse, you will see color washing down the drain as well. After this initial rinse, most people don’t see color washing down the drain again.
Permanent hair dye uses a chemical process that opens up the hair cuticle so that dye is deposited deep inside the hair strand’s cortex. Once color is deposited deep inside the hair, a chemical reaction occurs that increases the size of the color molecule, making it larger.
This larger molecule is then too big to escape out of the hair’s cortex. At this point, the color is permanently trapped inside your hair and shouldn’t wash out.
But what happens if you don’t wash all the dye out of your hair?
Well, some people find that permanent hair dye bleeds out after the first or second washes. This tends to happen when there is excess dye that is attached to outer layers of the hair strands.
This is usually fine because there is still plenty of color that makes it inside the hair strand that will never wash out. So you simply wash out the extra dye and everything is good from then on out.
On rare occasions, however, the dye never completely penetrates the hair or the molecules never get large enough to stay stuck inside the hair’s cortex.
If this happens to you, you may find your permanent hair color washing out everytime you shower. This will also cause the hair dye to lighten after washing. So permanent hair dye washing out is not common, but it still occurs for many people.
Why is My Permanent Hair Dye Washing Out?
If your permanent hair dye is washing out, it’s likely due to one or more of these factors: the color of the dye, the health of your hair, the products in your hair when you dyed it, or using henna on your hair in the past.
Color
Most likely, if your permanent hair dye is washing out, it’s because of the color you’ve chosen. Red shades in particular are well known for fading quickly.
The common belief is that red hair dye fades quickly because red color molecules are larger than other color molecules and don’t penetrate the cortex of the hair as deeply as other colors.
However, according to cosmetic chemist Perry Romanowski, the opposite is actually true.
It’s not that the red molecules are too big, rather the problem is they are too small! These red polymers tend to be of smaller molecular size and are therefore more easily removed by water, especially when surfactants are involved (i.e., shampoo formulations).
Perry Romanowski
As I’ve explained, during the permanent hair dye process, a chemical reaction occurs that makes color molecules larger so they can’t escape out of the hair’s cortex.
Because of the limited options available for red polymers, this chemical reaction still occurs in red hair dyes, but the resulting molecules are still small enough to slowly escape out of the hair over time, especially if you wash your hair a lot or use the wrong hair-care products.
Hair Damage
If your hair has a lot of damage, it will have problems retaining color molecules. This is likely in people who chemically treat their hair a lot with bleaches, highlights, hair dyes, or perms. It also can happen from using hair dryers, straighteners, and curling irons.
Hair Products
Some hairstyling products, particularly those that contain dimethicone, can prevent hair dye from penetrating into the hair. So if your hair wasn’t clean when it was dyed this may be the problem. Instead of working properly, a lot of dye is left just coating the hair shaft and then rinses off in the shower.
Henna
If you’ve used henna or another plant-based hair stain on your hair, you are going to have problems using synthetic dyes on it. This is because henna coats the hair shaft, preventing chemicals from getting deep into the hair. If your synthetic hair dye can’t get deep into the hair’s cortex, it’s going to wash out in the shower.
How to Keep Hair Dye from Washing Out
Whether you have manic panic, purple, brown, auburn, red, or black hair dye, here’s some tips to stop it from washing out everytime you shower.
When You Dye Your Hair
The best way to keep hair dye from washing out is to dye it correctly. Here’s some tips so that your next dye job doesn’t leave you with color washing out everytime you shower:
Be Gentle
Hair dye will penetrate and stay in your hair best if your hair is healthy. Therefore, in the weeks before you dye your hair, you should avoid doing anything that will damage your hair.
Some things you should stay away from include bleaching, highlighting, perming, and chemical straighteners. These chemical processes damage the protein bonds in your hair.
Repair Hair
If your hair is damaged, you can take some steps to repair it before you use hair dye.
How do you know if your hair is damaged? First of all, it’s likely to be damaged if it tangles or snarls really easily.
However, you can also check if your hair is damaged by feeling a hair strand. Grab a strand between your fingers and move your fingers up towards your scalp. If the hair strand feels rough, then it’s likely damaged or too porous to retain hair dye well.
To repair damaged hair, use a protein filler such as Sally Beauty Neutral Protein Filler. You can use this before you dye your hair or just add it to your hair dye. However, if your hair is really damaged, you may want to use it before you dye your hair and add it to your dye as well.
Get Squeaky Clean
People are often told to dye their hair when it’s dirty, but the main reason for doing this is so that your natural oils will protect the skin on your scalp. It actually doesn’t help with the dyeing process. In fact, products on your hair may inhibit penetration of the hair dye.
So if you are having problems with dye still coming out of hair and you don’t think you’ll have a skin reaction from doing so, you should get your hair as clean as possible before you dye it.
To start with, you should avoid most styling products and heavy conditioners for a day or two before dyeing. Then on the day you dye your hair, wash it really well with a cleansing shampoo and skip conditioners.
Try a Different Hair Dye Brand or Process
When it’s time to dye your hair, consider a different brand or dyeing process.
Perhaps the brand you used is just not a good one or isn’t the best fit for your hair type.
And if you’ve tried several brands, you may just want to consider a different process entirely, such as Henna, which uses a plant to stain the hair shafts. Just do your research first and understand the consequences. For example, once you use henna on hair, you can’t use chemical dyes on it again.
Use Heat
Heat opens up the hair cuticle, which helps the color penetrate the hair strand better. While wearing your plastic cap and waiting for the hair color to develop, blow dry your head until all the hairs have had time to warm up.
Consult a Professional
If you’re having problems with color fading or washing out, it’s best to just let a professional handle it. Find a reputable salon and have them do the work for you.
Coloring hair is a much more complicated process than the drug store hair dye companies want you to think so sometimes it’s best to just pay up and get it done right.
Wait 72 Hours to Wash
So how long should you wait to wash your hair after highlights or dyeing?Can you rinse your hair the day after coloring? Girl, you need some patience if you want your color to last.
Typically you should wait at least 36-48 hours before washing your hair after getting highlights or dyeing. But if you’ve had problems with dye fading or washing out, you should wait longer.
It can take up to 72 hours for the cuticle layer of your hair to close after dyeing and confine the hair dye inside of the hair. If you wash before this, you’re likely to wash some dye out of your hair.
After You Dye Your Hair
Once you’ve dyed your hair, there isn’t a ton you can do to stop color from washing out. A lot of the advice you’ll find on the internet is aimed at getting you to buy products and has been debunked by scientists like Perry Romanowski.
For example, protecting your hair from UV radiation or using sulfate free shampoos have little effect on color fading, according to research. So be wary of advice that tells you to buy more expensive products.
However, there are a few things you can still do that should help:
Reduce Shampooing
Studies have shown that the main cause of hair dye loss is washing hair. Shampoo and water strip the hair shaft, which will strip color as well.
To avoid this problem, your best bet is to shampoo your hair less frequently. Washing your hair every other day or just once or twice a week can make a huge difference.
If you are used to washing your hair every day, this may seem like a crazy bad idea because your hair feels dirty after a day. But the truth is that your scalp adjusts to how much you wash it. If you wash less frequently, your scalp will start to produce less oil over time, which will make your hair feel less dirty.
If you just can’t get into the idea of washing your hair less, then rinse your hair in the shower and use a cleansing conditioner instead of shampoo.
Avoid Heat
Heat opens your hair’s cuticles, which makes it easier for hair color to leech out. So to help prevent hair dye from washing out in the shower, you should definitely avoid hot water in the shower. Use lukewarm or cold water on your hair instead.
Another thing to avoid is heat styling such as flat irons and blow dryers. These can contribute to hair color fading as well.
Use Products for Color-Treated Hair
When you do wash or style your hair, make sure you are using products designed for color-treated hair. These are specially formulated to protect hair color and reduce fading.
Tresemme Color Revitalize shampoo and conditioner are great for color treated hair, especially red shades. L’Oreal Color Radiance is another good option.
Soften Your Water
An often overlooked cause of hair fading and washing out is hard water. If your hair dye is washing out, you may want to check the pH of your water and see if you have hard water. If so, you can fix this by installing a low-cost hard water filter in your shower like this one.
Final Takeaways
Hair dye shouldn’t be washing out everytime your shower! Unfortunately it still happens, especially with red shades of hair dye.
Why did my red hair dye bleed out every time I showered for months? It was likely due to the small molecules of red hair dye combined with my frazzled over-processed hair, thanks to my previous addiction to dying my hair.
If you have this same problem when you wash dyed hair, the best way to deal with this is to dye it correctly in the first place, wait at least 72 hours to wash your hair initially, and then wash your hair as little as possible from there on out.
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References
Actas Dermo-Sifiliográficas: Hair Cosmetics: Dyes
International Agency for Research on Cancer: General Introduction to the Chemistry of Dyes
International Journal of Trichology: Hair Cosmetics: An Overview
Perry Romanowski: Why Does Red Hair Dye Fade so Much?
Perry Romanowski: 5 Tips for Coloring Your Hair