It's a question that at first seems trivial but is in fact actually very relevant—can you bleach wet hair? The answer to this question in its most simple form is yes, you can bleach wet hair, but there are reasons that it generally isn't usually preferable, as well as specific circumstances where it is exactly what you should be doing depending on the condition of your hair and the results you're trying to achieve.
In order to determine whether you should be applying bleach to dry hair or damp hair in your own individual situation, it's important to understand a bit about how the treatment works. This will enable you to decide yourself what kind of application to use and minimise potential mistakes.
What happens when you bleach hair?
The active ingredients in hair bleach consist of alkalising agents and lightening agents in the form of a powder, cream, or oil-based product that is intended to be mixed with hydrogen peroxide developer. Developer itself is a form of lightener but it's only when both products are mixed together that the true magic happens and the chemical reaction starts to occur. This is also why there is a limited time of effectiveness after mixing a fresh batch of hair bleach because the reaction starts and then drives to completion over time.
Now, developer is in actuality mostly water with conditioning agents and other nourishing ingredients added to it. Only a small percentage of the solution is actually hydrogen peroxide. In most cases, this will be at a concentration of 3 - 9 percent peroxide (10 - 30 vol).
This means that when you apply bleach to your hair, you are already wetting your hair because of the water in the developer. In other words, hair is always wet when you bleach it, but it's the amount of water that matters in this case.
If your hair is already wet, this adds additional water into the bleach mixture, diluting it down significantly. Bleach that is added to wet hair becomes much weaker than it would have been otherwise and this can present a problem if you need greater lightening power. There are of course circumstances where you do want to weaken the product though.
Bleach washing
Bleach washing is an alternative application technique where bleach is mixed with shampoo and applied to slightly damp hair. In this case, the bleach formula is not meant to be strong enough to significantly lighten your hair. The primary purpose of the bleach in this situation is for colour correction or soft lightening. It can also be used to great effect on damaged hair where a regular application could be too harsh.
When applying bleach in this way, having wet hair is beneficial not only for the dilution but also because the shampoo that is added to the bleach is able to penetrate the hair a lot more effectively when the hair is slightly damp. This speeds up the stripping process and allows for better removal of stubborn dye when used for colour correction and other processes.
If you have to correct or soften a bad dye job, it's perfectly fine to bleach wet hair, but if you need decent lightening and more reliable results, it's always better to apply bleach to dry hair so that the strength isn't diluted down unpredictably.
More information:
- How to bleach your hair - Find out how to use bleach to lighten your hair at home...
- Can you bleach damaged hair? - Wondering whether your hair shouldn't be bleached? Find out how much damage is too much, and how to analyse your hair condition...
- Bleaching FAQ - Answers to some of the most common bleach questions, misconceptions, and myths...
My hair is bright orange. I went from dark Brown and bleached once. Im at a level 6 or 7 now. If I bleach while my hair is damp will it still lighten it to my desired color? I'm going for a level 8 or 9. Would it be best to wait til my hair is dry?
ReplyDeleteHi Miranda,
DeleteFirst question, was your dark brown colour from a dye, or natural. If it's natural, it will generally look more of a golden colour, the closer it is to a level 7. With dyed hair, this isn't always the case and it can still look orange at lighter levels. This is just to give you an idea of how light it is so far.
If it is in fact at close to a level 7 at this point, you know that the bleach lifted 3 - 4 levels, and this will serve to illustrate how effective it is on your hair. To get to a 8 - 9 at this point, it would be fine to apply the bleach to damp hair if that's what you would prefer because you really only need 2 more levels of lift to get it light enough. In most cases, expect application on damp hair to decrease lightening by about a level less than what it would have been otherwise. Of course, this can vary and it often comes down to how your own hair reacts because all hair is different.
Once you do get it light enough, you'll need to tone it to get it to a nice blonde colour, as you likely already know. If it still looks orange at this point, even though it's light enough, you may need to adjust the toner you use to neutralise it properly for the best result. Blue-based shades are necessary for correcting orange, whilst violet is for yellow tones.
I just bleached my hair then put conditioner on it before dying it, will the dye take?
ReplyDeleteHi Eunice,
DeleteIf the conditioner was rinsed out before application of the dye, it will have little effect on processing. It's still generally best to apply permanent dye to dry, unwashed hair though for longer lasting colour and less irritation to the scalp whenever possible.
If your hair is damp during application of a permanent dye, this dilutes the colour of the dye, as well as the developer, making it less permanent. If there's un-rinsed conditioner present in your hair, this also acts to dilute the dye formula down, with the added issue that the conditioner tends to coat the hair shaft and can decrease penetration.