How To Remove Hair Dye Drips & Spills

Below are tips and ideas for how to remove hair dye drips and spills that land on all kinds of hard surfaces while applying your hair color, such as your sink or counter.


I'm not going to lie to you -- removing these stains is very tough, and not always possible. Some of them are permanent, especially if you were using a permanent dye.

The best thing to do is to prevent these drips and spills from getting on things in the first place, but I know life isn't always that easy.

Therefore, I hope these tips below will give you some ideas of what to do if that little accident does occur.

One word of caution for all of the suggestions below though. Because this is such a tough thing to get out, some of the suggested remedies are quite strong. That means they could also potentially harm the surface you're using them on.

To keep that from happening always test the remover in an inconspicuous area of the surface before applying to the stained area!

Further, there is almost always another method that will work for removing these stains, and I would love to collect even more. Therefore, if you've got a technique or home remedy that works for you I'd love to hear about it and add it to the page. You can share your tips here so you can help others in need of some assistance.

Hair Stylist Recommends Rubbing Alcohol

Marge says:

As a hair stylist I use alcohol. Inexpensive and takes it off Formica, and foreheads.

Kristen says:

Rubbing alcohol removes hair dye off counters and skin. I found this out yesterday when my neighbor was helping dye my hair.

Taylor says:

Thanks ladies! I love simple solutions, and it's always great to hear what stylists use. They'd know, they deal with it all the time!

Rubbing alcohol is great stuff. Here's a collection of stain removal and cleaning uses for rubbing alcohol that I've rounded up.

Remove Hair Dye Stains From Sink With Acetone

Here's a video demonstrating how this girl removes all types of colors of hair dye stains from her sink with acetone.

The instructions are pretty simple -- wet a cotton ball with acetone and rub it into the stained area of the sink, and the stain should disappear. Then, rinse with water to remove the acetone residue.

Here's the video for the full demonstration:

Acetone {Referral Links}

I'd love to hear from you sharing any other uses you've got for acetone around your home. You can click the link to share your own or read other tips and ideas that have already been submitted.

Photo by angstdei

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser To The Rescue

Jennifer says:

A magic eraser will take away even older dye stains on linoleum and wood tables.

SR101 says:

Mr. Clean magic erasers work wonders on countertops for removing hair dye spills.

Taylor says:

Thanks ladies for these quick tips!

You can read more about Magic Erasers here in my article. I would suggest caution when using this product on any hard surface.

Yes, it works really well, but it does it by working as extremely fine sandpaper so it is removing a bit of the finish from the hard surface and you don't want to scratch or dull it. So always test first in an inconspicuous area!

Removing Hair Dye Stains From Various Surfaces - Video

Below is a video giving tips for removing hair dye stains from various surfaces, including clothing, carpet and hard surfaces, such as tile.

The suggestions, she says, will work only if you catch the hair dye right after it drips onto the surface.

That is how she explains that vinegar and water will remove hair dye stains from clothing, for example -- if you start removing it as soon as it drips onto the fabric.

I tend to think vinegar and water might not be strong enough to remove hair dye stains, which are, after all, meant to permanently stain your hair.

She also suggests using rubbing alcohol on hard surfaces, like tile, if they get a hair dye drip on them.

Photo by Orin Zebest

Use Facial Astringent For Removing Hair Dye From Countertop

by SR101 Reader

SR101 Reader says:

Hair dye can stain countertops and be very resistant to cleansers.

The method I stumbled upon that totally removed hair dye stains was facial astringent and cottonballs.

Generously apply astringent to the cottonball and the stain, and just scrub with the cottonball until it's no longer visible.

It's pretty amazing how it will get rid of the dye when commercial cleaners won't. It's also a little scary that people put it on their face.

Astringent will also do a good job of lightening dye stains on the skin.

Taylor says:

Thanks so much for this tip!

You're right, once you know it can remove these stains so well it does seem a bit scary to put this stuff on your face, doesn't it?

If you've got more tips for how to remove stains from hair color, please share them with me here.

In addition, you can check out this page about removing hair dye from skin here.

Finally, countertops can get stained with lots of things. If you've got this problem check out all the tips from the site about removing countertop stains.


Top photo by julesjulesjules m

Related Pages You May Enjoy

Stain Removal Tips & Tricks For Busy Moms

Lots Of House Cleaning Tips

Go From How To Remove Hair Dye Drips & Spills From Hard Surfaces To Home Page

There are affiliate links on this page, and if you purchase a product through them I receive a small commission. Purchasing through my links costs you nothing extra, but helps support the free information provided on this site and my family. To learn more please see my product review disclosure statement.