How To Get Rid of Brassy Hair with Vinegar

Going blonde is a fun but tedious process. Depending on what your natural hair color is, you may have to go through multiple lightening sessions to get to your desired lightness. After the process is complete, you leave the salon feeling great. But after washing your hair a few times, you may notice some orange hues sneaking into your gorgeous blonde color. So if you’re a blonde who hates getting brassy, this trick is for you.

Believe it or not, a quick fix to eliminating brassy tones is soaking your hair in vinegar. It sounds too good to be true, but it’s not! Here is your full guide on how to get rid of brassy hair with vinegar.

How To Get Rid of Brassy Hair with Vinegar

If you struggle with your blonde hair turning brassy, look no further. Try this method of using vinegar to tone out the brassy hues. Everyone probably has it already in their kitchen cabinets. The great thing is that it will eliminate you having to deal with brassy hair in between salon visits. Now, let’s get into the steps on how to do it effectively.

Ingredients

  • Vinegar (apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, etc.)
  • Water
  • Bowl
  • Red and blue food coloring

Step #1 – Mix the homemade toner

First use about two or two and a half cups of whatever kind of vinegar. Then use a ratio of 4 drops of blue food coloring to 1 drop of red food coloring. This is the best ratio to make a perfect purple color. If you remember the color wheel from middle school art class, you’ll know that purple cancels out yellow. Those brassy tones have a lot of yellow in them, so purple is the best shade to get rid of that.

Step #2 – Shampoo your hair

It is so important that you shampoo your hair to the best of your ability. Scrub your scalp for a good amount of time and make sure it is all rinsed out. For best results, you may want to even shampoo it twice. This will get rid of all the product and dirt on the first shampoo and then deep clean it on the second shampoo.

Step #3 – Apply the homemade toner

The next step is to apply the homemade toner. First, make sure you squeeze all the excess water out of your hair so that is is lightly damp. This will ensure that the toner soaks into the hair the most. Otherwise, the excess water would just dilute it making it not work as effectively.

Then, massage the mixture into your hair. Spend a few minutes making sure that it has reached all areas of the hair to avoid any patchiness. For it to be the most effective, leave it on for a few minutes but no more than 10 minutes. If you leave it on for any longer, you run the risk if it either staining or drying out your hair.

Step #4 – Rinse it out and condition

Finally, you want to rinse all of the mixture out of your hair. Make sure you do this thoroughly, as you don’t want any residue left on your hair or scalp. Then, use a deep conditioner to bring back to moisture to your hair. Sometimes the vinegar can make your hair feel a little on the dryer side. So using a deep conditioner is important.

Final Thoughts

There are many ways to use vinegar on your hair, but this method is what has worked the best for a lot of people. We don’t recommend doing this too often. Otherwise, you run the risk of it drying out your hair. But doing it once in between salon visits won’t hurt your hair and it’ll help keep those brassy tones away!

Frequently Asked Questions

How often do you have to repeat this process?

We recommend repeating this process once every 2-3 months. If you do it more frequently than that, it’ll overtone and dry out your hair. Also, you should be going to touch up your hair at the salon enough that you don’t have to do this too often. Consider this process a last resort if you really cannot stand the brassiness in your hair or if you can’t make it to the salon.

What is the best vinegar to use for this method?

You can really use any type of vinegar for this method to work. If you use white vinegar, it’ll work the best because it has that white base. But apple cider vinegar is great too because it has a ton of hair health benefits that’ll prevent it from drying out. We say just use whatever you already have in your home!

Why does blonde hair get brassy so quickly?

When your hair stylist tells you that blonde hair requires a lot of maintenance, they mean it! This is because blonde hair is very porous, so it soaks up whatever is around it. So if you’re out in the sun a lot or if you swim frequently, your blonde hair is destined to get brassy. Even the minerals in the water you shower with can make your hair turn brassy faster. The best way to maintain your blonde hair in between salon visits is using a purple shampoo and conditioner.

Does this vinegar method work for all blonde hair?

All hair is different, so this method is going to more effective on some people and less effective on others. Some people may see a difference in one session. Others may not see a difference at all. It also depends on the condition and tone of your hair already. If your hair doesn’t respond to this method, keep using a purple shampoo and see if you can take a trip to the salon for a quick toner.