Bleached Hair Turned Green (What To Do)
Bleached hair can sometimes turn green, and this could be quite a stressful situation when you wanted to end up with cool, light blonde hair, and instead,
your hair has a greener, slimier tone.
A reason your bleached hair might turn green is that you got into a swimming pool within 24 hours of having your hair bleached.
You may also have bleached your hair incorrectly, or something else may have gone wrong along the way.
Whatever the reason, you would want the green out of your hair as quickly as possible!
So, what do you do when your bleached hair turns green?
This depends on how it turned green. Hair that turns green after a swim in the pool can be fixed with baking soda. Ketchup, or lemon juice. Hair that has turned green from blue hair dye needs to be bleached and toned again.
Below, we’ve covered all the reasons why your hair might turn green, and how you can fix it to ensure you have the hair color you want instead of the one you’re stuck with!
Hair Turned Green From Swimming
You are not supposed to get into a swimming pool within 24 hours after bleaching your hair.
Bleached hair does not turn green in a swimming pool from the chlorine, but rather because the hard metals in the water oxidize and bind to your hair, creating a green hue.
As alarming as it might be to get out of the pool to see your beautiful blond hair looking like it’s been dipped in toxic waste, there are some simple ways to fix it!
1. Baking Soda
Baking soda fixes just about anything, and it can be used to fix green hair, too!
You need to mix baking soda with water until you form a paste.
Take this paste and massage it into your hair, especially where the green is the worst.
Leave the baking soda on for a few minutes, then rinse it out with shampoo and conditioner.
You might need to do this a few times if the green is very intense, but it will remove the green color from your hair. Just make sure to condition your hair after.
2. Ketchup
Now, it might seem a little weird to put ketchup in your hair, but the red helps cancel out the green, and it is a reasonably safe product to use.
Massage the ketchup into your hair, focusing on the green areas, and then wrap your hair in aluminum foil.
Please leave it on for 30 minutes, then wash it out with shampoo and nourish your hair with conditioner.
3. Lemon Juice
Lemon juice works similarly to baking soda in this regard.
Just be careful about applying lemon juice to your scalp if you recently bleached your hair, as your skin might still be sensitive and the lemon juice could sting.
Saturate your hair with lemon juice, then leave it on for about 5 minutes.
Wash it out thoroughly with shampoo, then use conditioner. You might have to do this twice to remove all of the green.
Hair Turned Green From Toner
Sometimes, toner can turn your hair green.
Ash toners can contain green tones mixed in with the blue, and when this is placed over the yellow tones in your bleached hair, it could stick and turn your hair green.
This happens pretty often and can be fixed! Here is what to do:
1. Change Toners
The last thing you should do is use the same toner again to try to cancel out the green.
It will just make it worse. Instead, you should opt for a warm toner, something that will work towards a golden color, and which does not contain green undertones!
However, if you do not want warmer tones and are looking for something more extraordinary and ashy, look for a purple toner and do a strand test first to see what the result might be.
Remember that red cancels out green, and purple cancels out yellow. Keep this in mind when deciding on the toner to use!
2. Use A Color Corrector
If you are having trouble getting the toner green out of your hair, you could use a color corrector to neutralize it.
These can be pretty damaging to your hair, so only use them if you think your hair will be fine after the process.
Once you have stripped the color from your hair and the green has been removed, do not go back and use the same toner again, as the process will then have to be repeated.
Look for a toner that does not contain any green or blue tones.
If all else fails, you could apply a darker dye to your hair to try to cancel it out or cover it!
Hair Turned Green From Blue Dye
Many blue hair dyes have green bases, and sometimes, instead of your bleached hair turning blue after dyeing it with blue hair dyes, it turns an extraordinary green.
This isn’t always a pleasant green either – mixed with the blue, it looks moldy and swampy, which isn’t a look many people go for.
When bleaching your hair before dyeing it blue, your hair needs to be very light or even white for it to turn light or medium blue.
If any orange or yellow remains in your hair, it will mix with the blue and turn your hair brown and green.
This isn’t necessarily an easy fix, and a salon would be able to help you best, but if you are intent on doing it on your own, here is what you could do:
1. Re-Bleach and Tone Hair
Chances are that you did not bleach your hair light enough before placing blue dye over it. If you think your hair can handle it, try bleaching it again.
Use a volume 10 developer to lighten your hair. You might have to do this twice to remove the color and lighten your hair more.
You should then use a purple or violet toner to remove yellow and orange tones.
This process should remove the green tones and lighten your hair, so you can then apply the blue dye on top and get the blue you were after in the first place.
2. Go With Green
If you do not want to risk any further damage to your hair by bleaching it again, you could change your plans and go with green hair instead of blue.
You would need to purchase a darker green hair dye to place over the color you already have.
This might not be the look you were after, but with some good green hair dye, it could be a great new look!
Final Thoughts
There are a few reasons why your hair might turn green after bleaching, and as unfortunate and disappointing as this might be, don’t stress, as there are ways to fix it!
The method you should use to fix your green hair will depend on why it turned green in the first place.
It is either because you went swimming too soon, you used a blue dye, or you used the wrong toner. Each way can be fixed!
The best advice we can give is to chat with your hairdresser or visit a salon if you are not comfortable fixing your green hair at home.
You don’t want to be in a position where not only is your hair still green, but you have damaged it more than you needed to!
Related Questions
Why Does My Bleached Hair Turn Green When Swimming?
Copper is found in most pools, and this metal is oxidized by chlorine, which then binds to the proteins in your hair strands, and this is where the green color comes from.
It is advised to avoid swimming for 24–48 hours after bleaching your hair, to prevent this from happening.
Will A Purple Shampoo Fix Green Hair From The Pool?
Purple shampoo will not help fix hair that has turned green from swimming pool water.
This is because purple does not cancel green out.
The right color to cancel green out would be red, which is why some people choose to use ketchup on their hair when it has turned green from the pool!
This brand on Amazon is salon-quality and offers a wide variety of colors, including red.
It’s definitely worth checking out!
Can You Dye Over Green Hair?
You can dye over green hair, but the best color to use is red, as it will cancel the green tones.
Pink and purple also help cover green, but make sure these dyes do not contain hydrogen peroxide or ammonia, as this could make things worse.
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