Well, well, well, see who’s made a mess of themselves and got acrylic paint on their hair. Using acrylic paint can quickly get messy, and the paint can get to your hair. Fortunately, the steps on how to get acrylic paint out of hair are easy enough.
You just need your basic showering materials, and you are good to go. If you have water, shampoo, and conditioner handy, getting acrylic paint out of your hair is as easy as one, two, three.
How to Get Acrylic Paint Out of Hair (Step-By-Step)
This step-by-step process of getting acrylic paint out of your hair is not just easy and simple; it is also the safest way. Other guides will tell you to spray a strong solvent on your hair, such as WD-40, to loosen the acrylic. While that is undoubtedly effective and will remove the acrylic in no time, it will also damage your hair and scalp. No, that is not the best way to get acrylic paint out of your hair.
The best method only involves the following materials:
Materials Needed
- Warm water
- Small basin
- Shampoo
- Conditioner
- Fine-toothed comb
- Towel
As you can see, there are no highly harmful substances involved in this process.
Step 1: Soak Your Hair in Warm Water
Take the small basin and fill it with warm water. Then soak your hair in the warm water.
Acrylic or latex paint is not completely waterproof. And by exposing it to heat, it loosens up a bit. So by soaking your hair in warm water for a considerable amount of time, you break down the paint.
Weakening the paint’s hold on your hair is the first step to getting it out.So, how long should you let your hair soak in warm water? The longer you soak it, the more the paint breaks down. It really depends on how much acrylic paint is in your hair.
The downside to this step is that it might take as long as an hour to fully break down the paint enough for you to proceed to the next step. The waiting is what makes some people choose the WD-40 method over this process.
Step 2: Take a Warm Shower
After weakening the paint’s hold on your hair enough, it’s time to agitate it and get as much of it off as possible. Take a warm shower and massage your hair with your fingers. The massage will dismantle the paint from your hair, and the warm flowing water will carry it away from your hair.
Step 3: Apply a Generous Amount of Shampoo and Gently Massage
The warm water can get a lot of acrylic paint out of your hair. But it won’t remove it all. You still need something that vigorously cleans hair. And no, I’m not talking about something as harsh as WD-40; I’m talking about shampoo.
Apply a generous amount of shampoo to your hair and massage it until it lathers thoroughly. You don’t have to use any special shampoo. Your regular product should work just fine. When the thick lather forms, let it sit for 10 to 20 minutes to ensure it does its job.
Step 4: Comb Your Hair with a Fine-Toothed Comb
Without rinsing the shampoo off yet, comb your hair with a fine-toothed comb. This step should help you dislodge even the tiniest bits of acrylic shampoo off your hair. Try to target the areas of your hair on which the paint has considerably softened.
You may also want to periodically clean the comb with your fingers and keep the paint flakes from accumulating around the drain.
Step 5: Rinse and Repeat
When you think you’ve gotten all the paint off that the comb can get, rinse your hair thoroughly with warm water. While rinsing, comb your hair with your fingers or with a fine-toothed comb to dislodge stubborn flakes of paint.
If, after the rinsing, you still see acrylic paint on your hair, repeating steps two to five is necessary. Keep repeating these steps until there is absolutely no trace of acrylic paint on your hair.
Step 6: Apply Conditioner
Although mainly manufactured for cleaning hair, shampoo can still damage your hair because of its harshness. Its cleaning properties can remove oil from your hair. Therefore, thorough conditioning is in order.
Besides, the acrylic paint has indeed done damage to your hair. Whether your shampoo is harsh or not, you still need to restore your hair’s health.
Restore your hair’s health with a thick application of conditioner. The conditioner should restore your hair’s moisture and replenish its oils. Let the conditioner sit on your hair for at least a few minutes to achieve its full effects.
Final Word
There you have it: how to get acrylic paint out of hair step-by-step.
- Soak your hair in warm water for as long as necessary to soften the acrylic paint.
- Then shower with warm water while massaging your hair to dislodge softened-up paint.
- Apply a thick amount of shampoo to your hair to break down the stubborn paint.
- Comb your hair with a fine-toothed comb.
- Then rinse your hair and repeat the previous three steps if necessary.
- Finally, apply conditioner to your hair to restore its moisture and oils.
We hope that you found new insights from this post, and next time when dealing with paint in your hair or event your clothes, it won’t be a big problem.