Sharing is caring!

When you choose to lighten your hair color by a shade or two using a combination of shampoo, developer, and bleaching powder it is called bleach bath hair. It lightens your hair gradually over time without your hair going through the full-blown damage of regular bleaching.

The less harsh alternative to hair bleaching is to bleach bath hair.

What Is Bleach Bath Hair?

A bleach bath hair is an alternative to regular hair bleach to lighten your hair by a shade or two. It is a process where you dilute bleach with your shampoo and soak your hair in the said mixture for the desired time to remove your hair color and lighten your hair strands gradually one shade at a time.

Bleach wash lightens your pretty locks without dealing with the actual bleaching process at your hair salon. It helps get rid of the remaining hair dye on your strands and you can bid goodbye to those unwanted tones too.

If you want to remove your current hair color, then this is one of the gentle ways to proceed.

A bleach bath hair is also popularly referred to as a bleach wash or a soap cap. Even though a bleach bath is a gentler way to lighten your hair as compared to your regular bleaching process and is extremely easy to DIY at home but if you are a beginner, I would recommend you to please proceed with caution.

How To Bleach Bath Hair At Home?

Now that you are aware of why you should opt for a bleach bath to lift your hair color, let’s get into the step by step instructions on how to bleach bath hair the right way:

Ingredients:

A quick tip: Don’t prepare more than you need as the leftover mixture won’t be useful afterward. Having said that, let’s check out the ingredients list for the bleach bath hair at home:

• A plastic container
• Clarifying shampoo to remove hair color
• Developer
• Bleach powder
• Old t-shirt (so you don’t end up ruining your favorite one)

You can pick any clarifying shampoo but these are the ones that we recommend the most:

• Manic panic prepare to dye clarifying shampoo

Last update on 2025-04-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

• Biolage clean reset shampoo

Last update on 2025-04-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

• Neutrogena anti residue shampoo

Last update on 2025-04-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

• Nexxus Clean and pure clarifying shampoo

Last update on 2025-04-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

We found these developers to work best:

• Oreor Líquido de L’Oreal Paris

Last update on 2025-04-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

• Schwarzkopf Professional Blond Me Premium Developer

No products found.

• Clairol Professional Hair Coloring Developers

Last update on 2025-04-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

These developers are better in quality, have a creamy formulation that spreads evenly and they protect your hair better compared to others that we have tried.

For the bleaching powder, we recommend:

• L’Oreal Quick Blue Powder Lightener
• Wella Blondor Multi Blonde Powder Lightener

No products found.

• Clairol Professional BW2 Hair Powder Lightener

Last update on 2025-04-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Bleach Bath Hair Recipe

Before we proceed, I have a quick tip for you guys:

Do not wash your hair for at least 48 hours before you do a bleach bath. The natural oils that will develop in these two days will help to enhance the effects of the treatment.

Bleach Bath Ratio For Hair

Although there is no rule of thumb and every hairstylist prefers their own way but we have found this ratio to work best for bleach bath hair at home: 3:2:1

• 3 measures of clarifying shampoo
• 2 measures of developer (volume 20 works well but if you want to go lighter choose a developer of no more than vol 30)
• 1 measure of the bleaching powder

Start by mixing the developer with the bleaching powder and mix well. Now add the required amount of shampoo to it. Mix it well for a minute before you proceed with the application.

How To Apply Bleach Bath Mixture On Your Hair The Right Way?

• Always start by doing an allergy test especially if this is your first time. You don’t want to end up with a terrible reaction.
• Wet and towel dry your hair. This will make your hair wet enough to apply the mixture and you won’t be dealing with the bleach bath dripping from your strands.
• Start by detangling your hair and parting them in equal sections. Apply the bleach bath hair mixture generously covering your hair strands well from the roots to the ends. I prefer using my hands but you can also use a brush.
• Once you have evenly covered your hair strands, wear a shower cap and wait for at least 15 minutes. If you want to go lighter, wait for 45 minutes. But don’t overdo it by keeping it for more than 45 mins.
•  After the desired time, it’s now time to rinse your hair. Wash your hair with just water, ideally cold water. After you feel the entire bleach wash residue is rinsed off, proceed with your favorite shampoo preferably a moisturizing shampoo.
• Condition your hair for 5 minutes and then rinse it off. For better hydrating your hair strands, you can also use coconut oil as a leave-in conditioner.

For a better helpful guide, here is how long you can leave the bleach bath mixture on your hair:

• Already light hair: 10 minutes
• Semi-permanent dye or permanent dye: 20-30 minutes
• For dark-colored hair or you want to go two shades lighter: 45 minutes

That’s it.

Pat your back because You have successfully done a bleach bath hair at home.

Is A Bleach Bath Better For Your Hair?

When you decide to finally go through with your hair resolution and color your hair with the shade that you have always desired, you are bound to deal with the hair lightening process. But the major side effect that you deal with is dry brittle hair that breaks easily.

A bleach bath is comparatively less damaging to your hair health because we dilute the chemical formulation with shampoo and use a less damaging peroxide.

You should opt for bleach bath hair especially if you have a sensitive scalp or if you are dealing with dermatitis or other skin conditions and are willing to go for lighter hair color. But I would still recommend you to talk to your doctor and hairstylist first to better protect your health.

Pros of bleach bath

• Gentle on hair compared to regular bleaching
• Easy to do at home
• Does lighten hair

Cons of bleach bath hair

• Only lightens hair and lifts color by one or two shades
• It is still damaging to your hair health, so make sure you pamper your hair with a lot of deep conditioning treatment afterward
• Might be hard for the beginner

Over To You

Bleach bath hair is an effective and gentle way to lift your hair color at home. It’s easy to do and with less damage, you will end up protecting your hair length.

Do share your experience with bleach bathing your hair via comments. And before you go, don’t forget to read:

• How To Stop Hair From Falling Out After Coloring? 13 Effective Tips
• Hair Color Changer Apps: Treat Yourself with a Makeover for Free
• Hair Color Tips: How To Keep Hair Color From Fading?
• Dutch Braid vs French Braid: Which One Gives The Best Waves?
• 5 Best Non Binary Haircuts For A More Androgynous Look
• Revlon Outrageous Shampoo For Color Protection Review

Citations: 1 2 3

Have a lovely day.

For FREE Hair Care Tips & Home Remedies Join Now!

* indicates required

First Name 

Email Address *