How to Get Hair Dye Out of Clothes

I had my hair dyed recently and some got on my green graphic tee. How can I remove this stain?

Hair dye is quite a problem because it is so concentrated, and since your shirt is colored, you are probably limited to treating the stain with products that contain hydrogen peroxide, like Clorox 2® for Colors Stain Remover and Laundry Additive, which works very well on concentrated stains when used as a pretreater.

To use it on your shirt, apply a little of the product directly to the stain and wait 10 minutes before washing in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and more Clorox 2® for Colors Stain Remover and Laundry Additive. Air dry and check for success — because hair dye is pretty concentrated, it’s likely that you will need to repeat the treatment for complete removal — keeping the shirt out of a hot dryer will increase your chances of getting the stain all the way out. Note that you don’t want full-strength product to stay on the shirt too long, and it should never be allowed to dry on the fabric.

Because your shirt is a graphic tee, you may also be able to use a regular bleach presoak if the green dye used to color the shirt is a pigment dye, but you’ll need to check for colorfastness to bleach first and make sure it can be safely bleached. We have an easy test for this: add 2 teaspoons Clorox® Disinfecting Bleach to ¼ cup water and apply a drop of this solution to a hidden part of the shirt; wait 1 minute and then blot dry; no color change means you can safely bleach the shirt.

If the shirt passes the bleachability test, then prepare the bleach soaking solution using ¼ cup Clorox® Disinfecting Bleach per gallon of water, and fully submerge the shirt, weighting it down with a dishwasher-safe dinner plate if necessary so it stays all the way in the soaking solution. Allow the shirt to soak for up to 5 minutes and then wash it in the hottest water recommended on the care label using detergent and ⅓ cup Clorox® Disinfecting Bleach. Air dry and check for success — as mentioned above, it’s important to keep the shirt out of a hot dryer until the stain is all the way out. It’s also important to note that rather than go with a stronger bleach solution, it’s better to repeat the soak since this is such a challenging stain and you may need to repeat the treatment for complete success.