Can Shampoos Strip Haircolor From Your Hair?

When researching shampoos, a common question arises regarding their compatibility with hair color dye. Here are some frequently asked questions:

Despite our best intentions, daily haircare habits can inadvertently damage our hair color. For instance, neglecting to use a heat protectant or over-washing with harsh clarifying shampoos can significantly affect the vibrancy and longevity of your hair color.

Taking just 10 minutes to read this article will provide you with essential insights and answers to these pressing questions about shampoo and hair dye. Learn how to maintain your color-treated hair while keeping it healthy and vibrant.

• Does Shampoo Remove Haircolor?

• Can You Remove Hair Dye With Clarifying Shampoo?

• 5 Habits That Are Potentially Damaging Your Haircolor

• Does Sulfate Damage Your Hair?

• Does Water Play A Role In Healthy Hair?

Does Shampoo Remove Haircolor?

Shampoo can indeed impact the longevity and vibrancy of hair color, especially when it comes to color-treated hair. Here’s a detailed look at how shampoo interacts with hair color, supported by data and research.

Key Factors Influencing Hair Color Retention

Sulfates in Shampoo

Sulfates are surfactants commonly found in shampoos that create lather and help remove dirt and oil.

The two frequently encountered undesirable sulfates, namely sodium laureth sulfate and ammonium laureth sulfate, can be quite harsh. They have the potential to completely remove moisture and nutrients from your hair, resulting in brittleness, which ultimately leads to color fading.

Impact on Hair Color: Studies indicate that sulfate-based shampoos can strip hair color more quickly than sulfate-free alternatives. A study published in the Journal of Cosmetic Science found that sulfates can cause significant color fading in dyed hair after just a few washes.

pH Levels of Shampoo

Acidic vs. Alkaline: The pH level of shampoo can affect the hair cuticle’s ability to retain color. Acidic shampoos (pH 4.5-5.5) help seal the cuticle, while alkaline shampoos (pH above 7) can open the cuticle, leading to color loss.

Research shows that using a shampoo with a pH close to that of natural hair can help maintain color. A study in the International Journal of Trichology found that using pH-balanced products resulted in less color fading compared to high-pH shampoos.

Frequency of Washing

Washing Habits: Frequent washing can lead to faster color fading. A survey conducted by a leading hair care brand found that individuals who washed their hair daily experienced a 50% increase in color fading compared to those who washed their hair 2-3 times a week.

According to a report by Consumer Reports, using color-safe shampoo can extend the life of hair dye by up to 30%.

Heat and Environmental Factors

Heat Styling: Heat can open the hair cuticle, allowing color molecules to escape. A study in The Journal of Investigative Dermatology noted that excessive heat styling could lead to a 25% reduction in color retention.

Sun exposure and chlorine can also contribute to color fading. Research from Dermatology Research and Practice indicates that UV exposure can degrade hair dye, leading to noticeable color loss.

What are Shampoos that Strip Hair Color?

Shampoos that strip hair color are typically clarifying or anti-dandruff shampoos. These shampoos contain strong cleansing agents that can remove build-up and residues from hair, but they can also strip away artificial hair color. Ingredients like sulfates (such as sodium lauryl sulfate or ammonium lauryl sulfate) are known for their ability to cleanse deeply but can also fade hair dye.

If you want to maintain your hair color, it’s best to use shampoos specifically formulated for color-treated hair, which are gentler and help preserve the vibrancy of the color.

• A study published in the Journal of Cosmetic Science found that shampoos containing sulfates can lead to significant color fading after just a few washes. The research highlighted that sulfates penetrate the hair cuticle, stripping color molecules along with dirt and oil.
• Research in the International Journal of Trichology showed that using high-pH (above 7) shampoos resulted in increased color fading due to the opened cuticle allowing color molecules to escape.

Buying natural shampoo bars for your hair can significantly improve the health of your hair and reduce the chances of damage. 

What Ingredient in Shampoo Strips Color?

If you’ve ever dyed your hair, you know how important it is to keep that vibrant color looking fresh. Unfortunately, some ingredients in shampoos can strip color from your hair, leading to fading and dullness. Let’s explore some of these ingredients and why they might be problematic for your beautiful locks!

Sulfates

While you mentioned wanting to know beyond sulfates, it’s important to note that these are common culprits. Sulfates, like sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth sulfate (SLES), are powerful cleansers that create a rich lather. However, they can be too harsh for color-treated hair, stripping away not just dirt but also those precious color molecules.

Alcohols

Some shampoos contain certain types of alcohols, such as isopropyl alcohol and ethanol. These ingredients can be drying and may cause your hair to lose moisture. When your hair dries out, it can lead to color fading. Look for products with fatty alcohols (like cetyl or stearyl alcohol) instead, as they can actually help moisturize your hair!

Harsh Cleansers

Ingredients like sodium chloride (salt) and certain aggressive surfactants can be too tough on your hair. These cleansers can lift color molecules from the hair shaft, making your dye job fade faster than you’d like. Opt for gentle cleansers that are specifically formulated for color-treated hair.

High pH Levels

Shampoos with high pH levels can open up the hair cuticle, which is the outer layer of your hair. When the cuticle is raised, color can escape more easily. It’s best to choose shampoos that maintain a balanced pH, helping to keep your color locked in.

Synthetic Fragrances and Dyes

Some shampoos use synthetic fragrances and colorants that can interact with hair dye. These ingredients might cause unexpected reactions, leading to color loss or changes in tone. If you’re concerned about preserving your color, look for shampoos with natural fragrances or those that are fragrance-free.

Benzoyl Peroxide

Often found in anti-dandruff shampoos and acne treatments, benzoyl peroxide can be quite effective for its intended purpose. However, it can also bleach hair and strip color, so it’s best to avoid it if you have dyed hair.

Can You Remove Hair Dye With Clarifying Shampoo?

Clarifying shampoo is a potent cleansing product aimed at eliminating buildup in the hair. Unlike conventional shampoos, it features ingredients that thoroughly cleanse the hair shaft, removing residues from styling products, hard water, and environmental pollutants. This makes it a crucial tool for anyone seeking a fresh, clean foundation for their hair, helping to maintain its vibrancy and health.

Removing Hair Dye With Clarifying Shampoo

The effectiveness of clarifying shampoo in removing hair dye can be attributed to several key factors, primarily its unique formulation and elevated pH level. Clarifying shampoos are purposefully designed to provide a more intensive cleansing experience compared to standard shampoos.

One of the defining characteristics of these shampoos is their inclusion of strong detergents, such as sodium lauryl sulfate or ammonium lauryl sulfate, which are known for their robust cleansing properties. These surfactants work by breaking down the bonds between the color molecules and the hair strands, effectively lifting the dye away from the hair. This mechanism is what distinguishes clarifying shampoos from regular shampoos, which are often milder and formulated to retain hair color and moisture.

In addition to their detergent content, clarifying shampoos typically have a higher pH level compared to regular shampoos. The average pH of most hair care products falls between 4.5 to 5.5, which is slightly acidic and helps to keep the hair cuticle, or outer layer, smooth and closed. However, clarifying shampoos may have a pH that ranges from 7.0 to 9.0, making them more alkaline. This higher pH serves to open the hair cuticle, which allows the shampoo to penetrate deeper into the hair shaft. By opening up the cuticle, the shampoo is able to access the dye lodged within the hair more effectively, leading to a more thorough removal process.

Due to these properties, clarifying shampoos are particularly beneficial for individuals who have recently dyed their hair and are looking to remove unwanted color, whether from a mistake in application or simply to change their look. It’s important, however, for users to exercise caution, as frequent use of clarifying shampoos can strip not only the dye but also natural oils and moisture from the hair, leading to potential dryness or damage. Therefore, they are often recommended for occasional use rather than as a regular part of the hair care routine.

Wet Your Hair

Begin by completely soaking your hair with warm water. Warm water is effective in opening the hair cuticles, which aids the clarifying shampoo in penetrating deeply and doing its job well. A thorough soaking will enhance the even distribution of the shampoo.

Apply The Clarifying Shampoo

Evenly apply a generous amount of clarifying shampoo throughout your hair, focusing on the areas that require the most attention. Gently massage your scalp and hair to create a lather, ensuring that the shampoo penetrates thoroughly to eliminate the dye.

Place A Plastic Cap Over Your Head

After applying the shampoo, cover your hair with a plastic cap. Allow it to sit for approximately 10 minutes, which lets the shampoo work effectively, leveraging the steam to help lift the color. This ensures a deeper removal of the dye.

Remove Cap And Rinse

After 10 minutes, take off the plastic cap and rinse your hair thoroughly with warm water. Ensure that all the shampoo is washed out, and you should notice some dye washing away with the water. Keep rinsing until the water runs clear.

Add The Moisturizing Conditioner

Apply a moisturizing conditioner to your hair to replenish moisture. This step is essential to avoid dryness and maintain your hair’s smoothness and manageability. Be sure to coat every strand and leave it in for a few minutes before rinsing out.

How Much Time Does A Clarifying Shampoo Need To Remove Hair Dye?

Using a clarifying shampoo to fade hair dye is a gradual and methodical process that requires patience. Typically, you might need around five washes to start observing significant fading of the color. However, it’s essential to keep in mind that the effectiveness of the clarifying shampoo can vary based on several factors.

First, the type of dye used plays a crucial role in how quickly the color fades. Permanent dyes are generally more resistant to fading compared to semi-permanent or temporary dyes. Therefore, if you’ve used a permanent dye, you might find that it takes longer to see noticeable results.

Second, the condition of your hair at the time of using the clarifying shampoo also significantly impacts the fading process. If your hair is in good health, with less buildup from products, the shampoo may work more effectively. Conversely, if your hair is damaged or heavily coated with styling products, the fading might take a bit longer.

Additionally, consistent use of the clarifying shampoo is vital. It’s recommended to use it regularly, but not excessively, as overuse can lead to dryness and damage. After washing, it’s beneficial to follow up with a nourishing conditioner or deep conditioning treatment to maintain the hair’s moisture and health.

Will Clarifying Shampoo Eliminate Permanent Hair Color?

Although clarifying shampoo can gradually diminish permanent hair color, it is unlikely to remove it entirely. Since permanent hair dye penetrates deeply into the hair shaft, complete removal can be difficult. Clarifying shampoo may help to lighten the color, but professional help might be required for total removal.

Is It Safe to Use Clarifying Shampoo on Colored Hair?

Yes, you can apply clarifying shampoo to colored hair, but it’s crucial to do so in moderation. Clarifying shampoos are strong cleansers that can eliminate both buildup and color, potentially leading to color fading with frequent use. For optimal hair health and to keep your color vibrant, it’s recommended to use a clarifying shampoo only occasionally.

5 Habits That Are Potentially Damaging Your Haircolor

Shampoos can cause color-treated hair to fade, as all shampoos can strip some color over time. Using sulfate-free shampoos is gentler and slows color fading, but some fading will still occur when washing with any shampoo.

Here are 5 habits that are potentially damaging your hair:

Using the wrong type of shampoo

Not all shampoos are created equal. The type of shampoo you use can significantly impact the appearance of your hair color due to ingredients like sulfates and other powerful cleansing agents. To keep your hair looking vibrant, you need to choose a shampoo formulated to protect, preserve, and amplify your hair color.

If you don’t use a color-safe shampoo, your hair color could fade. Opt for shampoos labeled as color-safe, sulfate-free, or made for color-treated hair to help prolong the life of your hair color.

Wetting Your Hair In The Shower

The water in your shower, if unfiltered, may contain hard minerals that can accumulate in your hair, causing your hair color to fade faster than expected.

To protect your strands, wear a shower cap or tie your hair in a top knot when you don’t shampoo, preventing the water from directly contacting your hair and minimizing mineral buildup.

Your Styling Products May Contain Alcohol

Alcohol-based products can dehydrate your hair, leading to split ends, breakage, and a dull appearance. To maintain vibrant hair color, sparingly use alcohol-based products like hairsprays or gels, and opt for color-safe, alcohol-free alternatives.

You Need Protein Treatments

Your hair requires protein to be robust, much like your body. For those with color-treated hair, protein treatments are crucial for restoring damage from chemical services.

Each time you color your hair, the cuticle lifts to allow the color molecules to deposit. Protein treatments penetrate and help strengthen the hair, enabling it to repair itself after these services.

Sun Damage

The sun can also harm your hair color if you don’t take precautions. Wearing a hat when spending extended time outdoors can help protect your hair color.

Does Sulfate Damage Your Hair?

It’s not the shampoo doing all the stripping of the color; it’s the water! Turns out that sulfate, which gives most cleansers the ability to effectively remove dirt & oil, has been getting a bad rap of stripping the color from color-treated hair.

Sodium laureth sulfate (SLES) and ammonium laureth sulfate (ALES) are two prevalent sulfates found in many shampoos and cleansing products.

These ingredients are known for their strong surfactant properties, which allow them to create a rich lather that many users associate with effective cleansing. However, while these sulfates can remove dirt and oil from the hair and scalp, they also tend to strip away the natural moisture and essential nutrients that keep hair healthy.

But sulfate is not the only culprit for why hair dye fades at different rates.

What Is 18-Mea?

18-MEA is part of a complex structure within the hair cuticle known as a cell membrane complex. This structure is made up of intricate layers of cell membranes and fatty acids like 18-MEA. The complexity of this structure is the reason why the loss of 18-MEA is essentially permanent.

This fatty acid is covalently bonded to the hair and is an integral part of its structure. Simply applying 18-MEA to the hair does not allow for the reformation of these complicated structures, and it will just wash off with the next shampoo.

Some companies have created cationically charged forms of 18-MEA and similar fatty acids, which, like all cationic conditioners, will selectively adhere to damaged areas of the hair. However, these ingredients will still rinse out over a few shampoos, making it a temporary solution. Truly replacing lost 18-MEA is not something we currently have the technology to do.

Hair is primarily composed of protein, notably alpha-keratin.

Why does 18-MEA Matter?

The hair’s natural lipid layer, called 18-MEA, acts like a traffic controller, directing the rate at which water moves in and out of the hair shaft. The lipid layer balance can be easily upset and permanently damaged.

During the coloring process, the natural lipid layer is destroyed. Therefore, the recommendation is to add extra conditioners to the hair care routine to dyed hair, to provide a kind of artificial layer of 18-MEA, the layer stripped away during the dye process.

When we lose this layer, hair tangles easily, appears dull and brittle, and even feels coarse to the touch. 18-MEA gives hair its water-repellent property to keep the hair soft and shiny, by allowing water to roll right off the shaft.

This natural water barrier in hair is easily broken down by external factors such as light (both UV and visible), chemicals (hair dye), and high pH products (like baking soda).  So, wearing a hat not only protects your face from sun exposure, but it can also protect the damage to the 18-MEA layer on your hair.

Possible Solutions To Save Your Hair From Damage

Back to the question about sulfate shampoos stripping hair color.

To get the hair color to last as long as possible, people are usually instructed to avoid the use of the ingredients SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) and SLES (sodium laureth sulfate). Both these ingredients are very effective at the job to remove oils and build-up from hair styling products, which means they can also remove other things like hair dye.

Avoid the following in your hair shampoo:

Harmful Ingredients
– Sulfates
– Silicones
– Parabens
– Phthalates
– Formaldehyde
– PPD, or para-phenylenediamine
– Propylene glycol
– Synthetic fragrances
– Alcohol
– Coal Tar
-Triclosan

Toxic Chemicals: Chemicals such as DEA, TEA, and MEA are harmful surfactants that may cause skin irritation. Prolonged exposure to these substances can disrupt the skin’s natural barrier, leading to dryness, redness, or allergic reactions.

Additionally, some studies suggest that these compounds may release toxic byproducts when combined with other ingredients, raising concerns about their long-term effects on health.

Synthetic Additives. Synthetic fragrances and artificial colors are often derived from harmful chemicals that may disrupt hormonal balance, irritate the skin, or even contribute to respiratory issues. Opting for natural alternatives not only minimizes health risks but also supports environmentally friendly practices.

Dye stays attached to hair due to its size.

Hair dye has large polymers that essentially get trapped in the hair, allowing the color to stick. The polymers remain trapped until the hair opens up wider than the polymer, and then they escape.

Hair Damage Cause	Possible Solution	Benefit
Excessive Heat Styling	Use a heat protectant spray before using heat tools	Minimizes heat-induced breakage and dryness
Frequent Chemical Treatments	Limit coloring, bleaching, or perming	Preserves natural texture and reduces brittleness
Over-Washing	Wash 2–3 times a week with a mild, sulfate-free shampoo	Retains natural oils and prevents dryness
Rough Towel Drying	Use a microfiber towel or air dry	Reduces friction and breakage
Tight Hairstyles	Avoid tight ponytails or braids	Prevents tension-related hair loss (traction alopecia)
UV Exposure	Wear a hat or use UV-protectant hair products	Shield your hair from sun damage and color fading
Lack of Moisture	Deep condition weekly or use leave-in conditioner	Enhances softness and prevents split ends
Poor Diet	Eat protein-rich, vitamin-packed foods (e.g., eggs, nuts, spinach)	Supports healthy hair growth from within
Brushing Wet Hair Aggressively	Use a wide-tooth comb on damp hair	Minimizes breakage when hair is most fragile
Skipping Trims	Get regular trims every 6–8 weeks	Prevents split ends from traveling up the shaft

Does Water Play A Role In Healthy Hair?

What makes hair open up like a flower to the sun? Water.

When hair encounters water, it causes the hair shaft to swell and the cuticle opens, making space for dye to immediately exit. Since it is impossible to wash hair without water, unless you use a dry shampoo – but that’s for another article altogether, there is no way to keep the cuticle closed all the time.

When the natural lipid layer is damaged or removed, the hair loses its ability to repel water. So, no matter what shampoo, low pH or high pH, sulfate or sulfate-free, the cuticle will open, and the color will continue to strip from the hair when it gets wet. Environmental factors of the sun and heated styling compound the fading.

Once the natural protective layer of lipids is stripped away, there is no way to replenish it naturally. The only option is to artificially replenish the layer with specific repair products or reduce the hair’s exposure to damaging effects.

Most people who stop dying their hair and let the gray color grow naturally report a softer feel to their hair, and the dullness is replaced by shine and more manageability.

There really is no true color safe shampoo available which uses water.

To reduce the number of hair washings, a dry shampoo without baking soda is the perfect tool.

Can Hard Water Affect Your Hair?

Yes, hard water can affect your hair! It contains high levels of minerals like calcium and magnesium, which can lead to dryness, brittleness, and dullness. These minerals can build up on your hair, making it harder for moisture to penetrate. You might notice increased frizz and difficulty in styling. To combat this, consider using a chelating shampoo or a water softener to reduce mineral buildup. Regular deep conditioning treatments can also help restore moisture and keep your hair looking healthy and vibrant!

The best way to reduce the effects shampoo has on stripping the color from hair is to use milder, less harsh ingredients, to slow the fading process. Reducing hair’s exposure to environmental damage is the second-best way to extend the color of dyed hair.

Frequently Asked Questions About Fading Hair