If you’ve been keeping up with our blog, you’ll have seen our recent post on how to remove paint from skin. Today, we’re taking a look at an even more problematic issue that often accompanies DIY interior painting:
When you accidentally get paint in your hair.
Donning the right PPE and adopting a careful approach is the best way to prevent paint from getting in your hair in the first place. Even so, it’s practically impossible to avoid the occasional splash or splatter when painting your home.
The truth is all paint formulations are different, and therefore respond differently to the various removal methods on the table. If in doubt, the best advice is to consult with the manufacturer directly, and ask them for their own advice.
But looking at things in a more general sense, there are several tried, tested and (supposedly) trusted ways to get paint out of your hair – safely and without fuss.
We can’t personally vouch for any of the following, but anecdotal evidence suggests that these are the best ways to remove paint from hair:
- Use Your Fingernails
Simple yet effective, using your fingernails to gradually scrape paint from your hair is a good place to start. You simply hold the hair firmly in one hand (so as not to tear it from your scalp) and use the other to pinch and pull away at the paint, carefully but firmly.
The idea is that you don’t attempt to pull all of the paint out of your hair in one go. You work at it gradually, removing a little at a time, and being careful not to damage your hair in the process.
- Use an Anti-Tangle Brush
The same approach can also work with an anti-tangle brush, if you have one at your disposal. Again, you simply pinch a lock of hair firmly in one hand, and gradually work at the paint with your brush.
Using a conventional brush or comb isn’t recommended, due to the higher likelihood of breaking or damaging your hair. If the paint doesn’t slowly and gradually come away as you work at it gently, you will need to try something else to soften and loosen it.
- Soak Your Hair in Water
If your interior painting project involves the use of water-based paints, loosening up the paint in your hair a be surprisingly simple. All you need to do is to soak your hair for a sufficient length of time in warm water (not hot), before shampooing it clean in the normal way.
A warm shower (of a fairly generous duration) should be more than enough to get the job done. By the time you have finished washing the rest of your body, the showerhead should have worked its magic on the paint in your hair. Though of course, this method isn’t going to help if you were painting with oil-based paints.
- Try Rub Coconut Oil or Olive Oil
Where oil-based paints are concerned, fighting fire with fire is apparently the way to go. It may seem counterproductive, but applying liberal quantities of coconut oil or olive oil (or any other type of standard vegetable oil) to the affected area could get the job done.
Soak a cotton ball in your preferred oil, before applying it to the paint in your hair, and give time to get to work. Leave it for a good 45 minutes to penetrate, before slowly and carefully brushing/combing it out. At this point, the paint should have loosened enough to come free, and you can wash out the residual oil with shampoo in the normal way.
- Try Toothpaste or Dish Soap
Two alternatives worth trying are dish soap and toothpaste, which quite a few DIYers swear by. It is the same basic process – you apply a liberal quantity to the affected area, before giving it half an hour or so to get to work.
If all goes to plan, this should be sufficient to begin breaking down the paint to such an extent as to make it easy to remove. Use an anti-tangle brush to carefully begin removing as much of the paint as possible, for shampooing your hair in the normal way to get rid of the rest.
- Use Apple Cider Vinegar
Last up, reservations regarding this particular hack are understandable. After all, not many people get a genuine kick out of the smell of vinegar. Even so, the naturally acidic properties of vinegar can make it great for breaking down paint, without causing damage to the hair.
It’s a case of taking a liberal quantity of apple cider vinegar, applying it to a cloth, and soaking the affected area fully. Leave it in place for an hour or so, and the acid in the vinegar should work its magic on the paint. As for the good news – the vinegar smell will completely disappear, just as soon as you wash and condition your hair.
For more information on the services we provide or to discuss your requirements in more detail, contact a member of the team at Homm CPS today.