The bright colors of Halloween hair spray make your hair and costume stand out whether you are going door to door with the kids or to an adult party. While the colors are brilliant, they aren't as entrancing when they've transferred onto your outfit. Even when taking preventative measures, some colorful hair sprays don't stay on your hair all night, and your clothes may sport the green, blue, gold and glitter too. Still, with a few simple steps, you can wash the temporary color out of your clothes.
Prevent Stains During Application
Video of the Day
To prevent transfer of the hair color onto your clothing while you dress, put on your outfit before applying the green, pink or red hair spray. Cover your shoulders and outfit with an old sheet, plastic shower curtain or other protective covering. Use a clear hair spray product first so the Halloween spray-on color won't dry out your hair.
Video of the Day
Apply the color in the bathroom so you don't get any color on the carpet or nearby upholstery. Turn on the bathroom fan and then shake the can well to mix its contents. Carefully spray the color onto your hair. Avoid breathing in the spray.
Wash It Out Before Bedtime
When the party is over, slide out of your clothes and immediately shower to remove the colored hair spray. If you sleep with the temporary dye still in your hair, you risk staining your pillowcase, sheets and comforter plus waking to a tangled mess of sticky hair. If it also contained glitter, you'll find the shiny particles in your bed, bedroom and carpet long after Halloween is over.
Wash your hair thoroughly, shampooing two or three times with a clarifying shampoo and hot water. After shampooing, deep condition your hair, as many spray-in temporary hair color products will dry out your hair.
Treat Halloween Hair Spray Stains
If your outfit is machine washable, put on safety goggles and gloves and mix a solution of an oxygen-based bleach and room-temperature water in a bucket, sink or the washer. Immerse the entire outfit in the water and leave it soaking for at least four hours or overnight. Rinse with cool water and repeat the soaking process if necessary. Keep the soaking solution out of the reach of children and pets because a bucket of liquid is always a drowning hazard.
Once the hair color is gone, apply a liquid laundry detergent or dishwashing liquid to the stain to remove the oily or resinous component of the hair spray. Gently rub the detergent into the fabric with your fingers. Let the outfit soak for 15 minutes and then rinse thoroughly.
Put your clothes in the washer and wash at the recommended temperature according to the label. Hang up the outfit to dry because if it is dried in the dryer, the stains may become permanent. If you find that the treatment didn't get out all of the stains, soak and wash the outfit again.
Dry-Clean-Only Clothing
The Halloween hair spray removal process is different if the outfit is labeled "dry clean only." Take the clothes to the cleaners as soon as possible and point out the stains. Provide the hair spray can and any instructions so the dry cleaners can use the appropriate products to remove the stains. It's particularly important to get silk, wool, leather and natural furs to the dry cleaners before the alcohol and oils in the products damage the clothing.