How to Wash Bleach Out of Hair Like a Pro? Should You Use Shampoo?

 

You have bleach in your hair this very moment.

The time has come to wash it out, and a life-altering question pops into your head: “Should I use shampoo?”

And, of course, Google has your back and brought you here.

 

 And, now I am here to tell you that you can go ahead and wash the bleach out of your hair with only cool water. 

Take your time and wash the bleach completely out of your hair. I’ll still be here when you’re done.

 

In the meantime, I’ll tell you why it’s important not to use shampoo for washing out the bleach.

And I’ll do that by telling you Maria’s story. She’s one of my best clients. But, as great as she is, she’s also stubborn. Why do I say that?

 

About 20 days ago, Maria visited me at the salon because she wanted to do a complete and total color change. And, to do that, we had to bleach her hair.

Since her hair wasn’t in great shape, I told her that we’d need to make the changes gradually through a few sessions of bleach. Of course, Maria wasn’t happy with my answer, so she ended up just asking me for a trim instead of going through with making the change.

 

I thought she’d understood what I told her and that she just wanted to sleep on it before deciding to go through with the change.

So, imagine my surprise when Maria came back into the salon two days later, desperate, with her hair burned and turned a horrible carrot orange color?

What happened?

 

 A series of errors added up to the catastrophe because she didn’t leave the bleach in her hair long enough. She washed it out too soon. And on top of that, she washed her hair with shampoo and conditioner before using a toner on it. 

Do you want to know more about each of the different errors Maria made?

 

If so, stick with me, because I’ll tell you:

 

How to wash the bleach out of your hair the right way

Maria made many mistakes during the bleaching process. And, unfortunately, she had to face the consequences of those mistakes. What were they? Burned and damaged hair.

 

And if you don’t get rid of them, then you’ll never get to the color you were hoping for.

 

Because using those products closed her hair cuticles.

And since she closed them, the toner couldn’t neutralize the unwanted colors in her hair. The result?

 

Carrot-orange hair, in her case.

If she had at least left the toner in her hair for longer, she might have been able to get rid of those orange tones, but since she didn’t have the necessary background knowledge, she didn’t do that.

 

Because all you’ll end up doing is closing your hair cuticle which stops the toner from working properly.

 

That’s why, when you’ve got the base color you’re looking for with the bleach, all you need to do is wash the bleach out of your hair using plenty of cool water. I repeat: all you should use is cool water.

But, you should be sure to get rid of all of the bleach with the water because if you don’t, the toner or dye you’ll use to tone your bleached hair won’t work.

 

Now that you’ve washed the bleach out with just cool water, you probably want to know when you should use the shampoo. And that’s what I’m about to tell you about.

 

When should you use shampoo after washing out the bleach

Once you’ve bleached your hair and washed the bleach out of it with cool water, you should use your chosen product for toning your hair and leave it for the amount of time the instructions indicate.

In the salon, we usually mix a few dyes depending on what color your hair is after bleaching it, but thankfully, these days there is toner to do the job.

 

Toner works to get rid of unwanted tones that appear in bleached hair. This product comes in several different colors, so it’s also important that you choose one in a color opposite to the one you want to neutralize.

 For example, if you want to get rid of a chicken yellow color, you should opt for a purple toner, and if you want to get rid of orange, then you should use blue toner. 

 

Once you’ve toned down those unwanted yellow or orange colors and your hair has the perfect color you were dreaming of, that’s when you can finally wash your hair with shampoo.

So, that means that in the bleaching process, the only time you’ll use shampoo and conditioner is after you tone your hair.

 

Conclusions

Now you know that all you should use to wash the bleach out of your hair is cool water.

That step is an important one, so the toner you use afterward can work on your hair correctly to get rid of unwanted colors in it. So, make sure you wash all of the bleach out of your hair.

And lastly, you should always use shampoo and conditioner after you tone your hair.