Have you ever tried Kool Aid hair dye? Summertime is a great time for tweens and teens to try out new looks. My daughter and her friends had a blast dip dying their hair at home with various flavors and colors of homemade Kool Aid hair color. Want to try it yourself? Here’s some simple instructions for how to dip dye your hair with Kool Aid.
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Supplies you will to make Kool Aid dye:
- A large mug or other container suitable for hot water, preferably with a handle
- 2 packets of Unsweetened Kool Aid per color choice
- Hot water
- Flat iron
- Old towels and an old tee to wear while working
- Rubber gloves
- Ponytail holders
How to Dye Hair With Kool Aid – Simple Instructions:
Note: It’s fairly simple to do, but because you will be working with boiling liquid and flat irons I recommend some adult supervision.
For each color of Kool Aid dye you will need two packets of unsweetened Kool Aid. It’s important to use unsweetened or you will be dealing with an awful sticky mess.
It’s not safe to use a flat iron on hair that has been drenched in sugar water. So make sure that you are using the unflavored packets. Go bright!
Colors/Flavors of Unsweetened Kool Aid
- Cherry – deep red
- Strawberry – bright pinky/red
- Tropical Punch – orangey/red
- Lemon Lime – yellow/green, best for very light colored hair
- Grape – purple
- Orange – orange, best on light hair
- Blue Raspberry – blue
- Boil two cups of water and add the two packets, stirring carefully.
- Pour the liquid into a mug and set the mug on a table. Sit down, lean over and dip the ends of your hair into the mug. TIP: If you have very long hair, it is a good idea to put it in a ponytail first.
- Leave hair in Kool Aid for up to 10 minutes. Squeeze out excess moisture and allow hair to dry completely before flat ironing to set the color.
This is a very messy activity and you might want to do the dipping outside. Wear rubber gloves, old clothes and have an old towel on hand. The dye stains clothing too!
Kool Aid Hair Color Works on All Hair Types, Differently
It’s important to note that Kool Aid acts as a color depositer. If your hair is dark, this process will not make it lighter. Kool Aid Hair Dye contains no bleach or peroxide or other toxic ingredients that are commonly found in hair dye and adult hair coloring products. This is why it is safe to use on kid’s hair. But it is not going to make dark hair lighter. It will make light hair darker, however. It shows up very prominently on light colored hair. Because of the lighter base, and bright color contrast, the effect of Kool Aid hair dye is most dramatic on light blond hair. This doesn’t mean it won’t work for brunettes… Darker colored hair will also absorb the dye, and reflect the color but it will be a more subtle effect.
Check out our Chalk Dying Hair Tutorial for more dramatic effects on darker hair.
How to Remove Kool Aid Hair Dye from Your Hair
The color from this method of Kool Aid Dying your hair will last from 3 to 6 weeks. It will naturally fade and wash out from your hair. If you feel like you are done a little before that, however you can use lemon juice and/or Prell shampoo. This can help to remove Kool Aid Hair color a little faster. Baking soda dissolved in water also reportedly works to clear the color faster.
Here’s a short video with full instructions for dying hair with Kool Aid:
Really works!
So do you put the lemon juice in the koolaid or do you use it when you wash your hair?
Do you wash your hair?
Wait when your done witht the koolaid dye do you wash your hair is what im woundering?
You wash your hair as needed, as usual. There is no need to wash it immediately after dipping and drying and flat ironing. If you want to speed the process of the dye fading, at a later date, you can use a little lemon juice in your hair before you wash.
Do you put your hair in when the water is still hot or do you wait for it to cool?oh and by the sixth week would all the color have dissapeared and your hair color will be back to normal? Please answer because my school doesnt allow colored hair and I was planning to dip dye for my 1 and a half month holiday so if it isn’t fully gone by the time my school re-starts I will be DEAD so I really need to know.thank you!
My Dd dip-dyed her light blonde hair a couple months ago, and the color is still in. How long it stays in really depends on your hair color. I once tried it on someone with dark hair, and it didn’t even show up. Chances are that it won’t come out before your break is over. Also, you hold your hair in the kool aid while it is still hot.
Let the water cool first
And it shouldn’t last an entire month, it just depends on how long you let it sit
No you do it whe the kool-aid is still hot
Will it work on dark hair
will it work on dark hair?
You can do it when the water is hot too, matter of fact it works better, and it will come out as you shower so nothing to worry about
if u put lemon in your hair will it make it stay in longer
I’m not that much of a internet reader to be honest but your sites really
nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your site to come back later on. Cheers
Does it work on dark hair
yes it does work on dark hair – the results are less dramatic though!
Will it work when you use 2 different packets
I HATE MY HAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!
will it work for all types of hair i have light brown with blond high lights will it work and what colors would be good for my hair do u think?????
I thought it would stay on longer than that BC my friend did it like a year ago and it is still in.
does it work on dark hair?i have medium brown hair with dirty blonde or blonde highlights. and if it does wwork on dark hair,what colors will work? people say i look good in blue so would blue work? please answer in the best way!! thanks uzz!!!! 🙂
This rely works!! I have brown but before I kool aid it I had 2 bleach it… Besides that it rely works
i died my hair today and my friends are very jealous of me but i don’t care but i am alyssa Sanchez and i don’t care
I have dark brown hair and I used red kool aid. It looked really good and it lasted for a weeks. Can’t wait to do it again. 🙂
im about to dip dye hair so exited
Cant wait till summer im gonna try
If u wash your hair does it come out?
i have dark brown hair with light gold highlights when the sun hits it.and i have tanned skin what color would look best on me?how long does it last in dark hair?what colors are available?and why do u have to use a flat iron after words?
The heat sets the dye. It can last for a long time, particularly on highlighted hair.
omg thats so awesome
I have done this before. I have really dark brown hair and i did red. i just tired purple and it didnt work. the best color for dark brown hair that ive found is redish.
I have literally black hair. will it work for me? I don’t want it to stay for like a year, preferably 1-2 months
It will work!
do i wash my hair after i set it because its kinda stickey
If you used unsweetened kool aid it should not be sticky. I’d say wash it!
how long did the color end up lasting on the girl with the dark hair?
I have dirty blonde hair. Will the color come out after the first wash? And will it be sticky at any point after I have set the color in?
Also do I wait for the kool aid to cool before I dip my hair or do I dip it while its still warm/hot?
It will not come out for a long time. It should not be sticky if you use an unsweetened packet.
dip it while it is hot, and be careful!
what do they mean by unsweetened
like sugar-less or just unsweetened?
I have blonde hair like blonde blonde hair and this worked great, I actually did this in mid February and it is still in. It has faded but it still looks great! My friends that I did it with have darker hair (brown) and theirs only stayed in like a month.
Do u wash u hair right before or like just in the morning before and then sometime in the afternoon dye it with the kool aid???
it’s not so important!
no sweetener – no sugar or other stuff
so I have really dark brown hair and wen im not in the lite its black I REALLY want to dipdye my hair will this work 4 me too or is there some special way I have to do it id prefer not to bleach it and also how long does it last?????????? thx a ton pls answer fast!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this is seriously the cutest thing to do to your hair! i <3 that i can change the color and style of my hair with not having any permanent damage! i recommend that is your hair is dark brown to add an extra packet of kool-aide mix!!! (:
WARNING: Sometimes. It does NOT come out at all. After trying everything suggested–baking soda, vinegar, clarifying shampoo, dandruff shampoo, tea bath, tempoary (wash out) color that matched my hair, etc.–I had to go a professional. They used varying strengths of soap/bleach baths, and it finally faded a little, but they could not get it out either. Finally, it was covered with my color hair glaze; then, they applied a combination of my color and green hair glaze. (red and green make brown concept) The red still came through. In the end, they added straight green hair glaze. This worked best. You can still see hints of red, but it blends. We also layered my hair and cut out as much as we could. I have spent over $150 dollars getting a 10 cent pack of Kool-Aid out of my hair. I will spend more when alll the hair glaze fades.
Does it work on natural redheads?
That’s a good idea
Thank you I did it and it came out perfect
will it wash out with chlorine?
If you mean in a pool, not really. It might change color.
thanks
I had Dip-dyed my hair with koolaid about.. maybe… 9 months ago (My hair is strawberryblonde) and it’s still in!!!! I was soo happy…
All I did was..
·Boil one packet of red koolaid until I thought it was good
·pour it in an old up
·Soak my hair for 30 min.
·Put my hair in tin-foil for 15 min.
·Then rinse!
How long do you have to let it siT?
I have dirty blonde hair and i was wondering if it will still show up. and if i leave my hair in there longer will the die stay longer?
just a minute or so!
i will try it today cause I am gonna go to school tommarow I go to middle school
dissolve a teaspoon of baking soda in water it gets it out really easlily
How long does the dye sta u in your hair…? 🙂
Can we use sweetened kool-aid
No! It will be a sticky mess if you do!
4-6 weeks on med/dark hair. It stays in longer on lighter and color treated hair – may fade but never completely.
Can i take a bath after i dye my hair?
I have blond hair and I just dip dyed it about 20 minutes ago do I leave it in over night or just a few minutes?
how long do you leave it in before you take a shower
it doesn’t really matter!
How long will it last