So whatdya do with hair dye on carpet?

[Chris Howell]

So whatdya do with hair dye on carpet? Hair dye is one of the most difficult things to remove because the dye actually penetrates the fibers actually penetrates the fibers and goes inside the dye sites. Dye sites are like little pores or pockets on the fibers that hold the color molecules. The dye sites are accessed chemically and thermally. This is why juices such as Kool-Aid, red wine, etc. will frequently causes permanent staining, because these liquids contain a lot of acid which causes the color(s) to penetrate the dye sites. Of course a good red stain remover or heat transfer process will remove these, but much more difficult when dealing with hair dye.

Here's an example of hair dye on a high-grade of nylon carpet in an upscale hotel in Washington, DC.

Nothing would remove the hair dye stains from the carpet, so we applied a diluted bleach and gave it time to work. Once the spot had sufficiently faded out, we neutralized the bleach, then spot-dyed the area to bring it back to a perfect color match.

Note that the carpet was still damp in the last pic, so it looks a bit darker in the surrounding area.

We are able to guarantee the removal of any stain because we have the option of bleaching it out and re-dyeing the area. We are frequently called in to remove stains that no one else has been able to remove because of this option. Of course we are able to charge a premium because no one else was able to remove the stains, so our service becomes an alternative to having to replace the carpet.

Photos below:

1. Hair dye stain on Hotel carpet
2. Diluted bleach applied. Stain begins to fade out
3. Bleach removes stain and carpet's own color
4. Bleach is neutralized
5. Color is added
6. More color is added
7. Spot fully repaired and brought back to original color.

Note: Carpet not fully dry in the last photo

 

[Rick J]

multile trips.? time involved?
I know, when I have addressed bleach that is fresh (done by custy) it seems to be really difficult to neutralize.
even after a lot of neutralizing, flushing, time for the neutrizer to work, I often can still smell the bleach.
I use a crystal sodium Thiosulfate. When mixing it up I make it as strong as I can. (as much as the water will take into solution

 

[J Scott W]

One advantage in Chris' situation over correcting a customer bleach spill is that the use of bleach is controlled. Bleach can be properly diluted, applied in appropriate volume at the right location, left for an appropriate amount of time, etc. When the customer spills bleach it will be straight from the bottle and usually soak into the backing, cushion and so forth. That makes it much harder to neutralize.

 

[Chris Howell]

Scott is correct. I used a diluted bleach, so I was able to do the entire job in about an hour and had no problem fully neutralizing the bleach.

 

[ruff]

I'd love to see that process done on wool

 

[Chris Howell]

Ofer, I teach a different method for dealing with these types of issues on wool and silk.

Here's an example of a silk rug that had blue dye color bleeding all over it.

 

[Larry Cobb]

Chris;

I would disagree on the use of bleach to remove "hair dye and original color".

Actual Carpet manufacturers would use new strippers to remove the color without the "yellowing" discoloration left by chlorine bleach.

This process may require a steamer, but IMO it is less damaging to the fiber, and will give better results .

 

[Rick J]

new strippers???

yellowing?

So chlorine can actually yellow the fiber? (Add color chemially?) Or cause this discoloration?
I have thought this is the case. Only because sometime, when doing correction, it is difficult to achieve perfection. V. light almost creme color, or off whites. Almost like there is more yellow there , than was in the original color, that you need to overcome with the blues, and reds. .To the point of causing a slightly darker, dirty spot.
In many classed I have taken, often just to ask this question, it has never been confirmed.

Maybe because those teaching often do not want to confirm, it.
It has just been my experience.

 

[Chris Howell]

Thanks for your comments, Larry. Bleach should always be the last resort. We have tried other methods to remove the hair dye, but nothing would touch it. We used a diluted bleach so that there would be no fiber damage.

 

[Chris Howell]

Bleach will not add color to synthetic fibers. It will, however, accentuate the yellow since the blues and reds are removed. Having said that, bleach can certainly add color to natural fibers. This is a result of chemical burning.

 

[Larry Cobb]

I'd love to see that process done on wool

We have used the strong Reducing agents on wool as shown in the thread/photos I posted previously:

http://mikeysboard.com/threads/dye-bleeding-created-and-removed.284136/

 

[Chris Howell]

Very interesting article, Larry. I posted it in The Dye Lot on Facebook. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Chris Howell]

I'd be interested in trying the product. I'm not a fan of Chemmax's Rug Resurection as I've seen it destroy way too many rugs.

This is a Tabriz that was destroyed by someone who used Rug Resurection on it (the yellowish areas used to be red).

 

[Bob Savage]

A carpet knife, small piece of seam tape, glue gun, and 4 minutes of work.

Dye is GONE and no sign of an insert.

 

[Chris Howell]

That works.

We prefer an approach that will not involve structurally altering the carpet.

Cutting and patching would not be an option for a situation like this...

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Yes it would.

Would take Bob an extra 20 minutes.

 

[Chris Howell]

To each his own

 

[Cleanworks]

If you had something to patch it with that is.

 

[Chris Howell]

I agree. Not every job is a good candidate for patching, and not every job is a good candidate for dyeing.

Many times the customer does not have any leftover carpet to use for patching. This is especially true for commercial properties as was the case for each of these photos below ...