Your kid is super excited and you don’t want to break their heart.
They really want to color their hair and as a parent who loves their child, you just can’t say no.
But chemicals are a strict no-no because your child is young and you don’t want to damage their hair.
This is why this method became so popular – it was invented by a mom who wanted to dye her child’s hair without any chemicals or bleach.
This method has taken the internet by storm and even adults are trying it!
So, in this post, I’m going to explain how to dye your child’s hair with tissue paper or crepe paper.
The only downside to this is that sometimes the color can stay in for a long time – maybe 2-4 weeks depending on the brand of tissue/crepe paper so please be aware of this before you use this method.
Let’s begin!
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What do you need to dye your child’s hair with tissue paper?
- A large bowl or mason jar – if you use a mason jar, it’s easier to dip your child’s hair into the jar and soak the hair into the color.
- Tissue paper/Crepe Paper (get one that bleeds color easily to get a stronger and deeper color that will show up in the child’s hair)
- Towels (to make sure that you don’t stain your child’s skin)
- Gloves so that your hands remain color free during the whole process
- Hair clips (to clip the hair after it’s been dyed)
- Hot water
When getting tissue paper, if you are looking for colors that will actually show up on the hair, please go with pink, purple or blue.
According to most moms who have tried this process, these colors show up beautifully on hair while other colors like orange and green hardly show on the hair.
Also, make sure that you are using crepe paper that bleeds color very easily – this will help you get out all the color of the paper.
How much time will this take?
It will take 10 minutes for prep – which includes preparing the paper and soaking it in hot water.
It will take another 10 minutes for the hot water to extract the color.
You will need another 10 minutes to dip your child’s hair into the water.
And another 30 minutes for the color to dry.
And 10 minutes to dry and style.
Overall, this tissue-dying process will take 1 hour, and 10 minutes.
How to dye your child’s hair with tissue paper
You can do this activity with your child and ask them to help out because it’s a lot of fun and really easy to do.
Make it a parent-child activity and I guarantee you, your kid is going to have oodles and oodles of fun.
Step 1: Cut up the tissue paper into small bits
Using a normal pair of scissors, cut up all the tissue paper into small bits.
The idea is to make the bits small enough so that they’ll fit snugly into the bowl or mason jar. You can also cut it into little strips.
If you are using 2-3 colors, then please have different jars of different colors. For example, if you’re using pink and purple, put the purple color pieces in 1 jar and the pink in another jar.
If your kid is old enough, you can give them a pair of kid scissors and ask them to help you cut the paper into small pieces.
Step 2: Add 350 ml of hot water to the jar
In the same jar of tissue paper, add about 300-350 ml of really hot water into the jar.
The water needs to be really hot or boiling to extract the color of the tissue paper and help it bleed.
If you use lukewarm water or cold water – this method will not work.
Step 3: Add a teaspoon of salt to the jar
Now to help speed up the process and help extract all the colors more effectively, please add 1 teaspoon of table salt to the jar of hot water and tissue paper.
Leave it aside for 10 minutes so that all the color is extracted into the water.
This process is so much fun to watch with your kid.
Step 4: Remove the tissue or crepe paper from the bowl
After 10 minutes, remove all the tissue paper from the bowl.
Please wear gloves while doing this because you don’t want to stain your skin – it will stain and not be easy to wash out.
You can squeeze the paper to help extract more color into the water before taking it out.
You can also drain the water into another bowl using a colander so that the tissue paper is completely set aside but squeeze it so that you get out more color.
Throw it away after this, you no longer need this paper.
You should have a nice jar with a beautiful colored liquid.
Step 5: Dip dye your child’s hair
Now comes the fun part!
It’s time to dye your child’s hair.
Please make sure:
- Your child’s hair is dry. If it is wet, this technique won’t work well
- Your child is wearing an old tee shirt, to ensure that their clothes don’t get ruined
- Put a towel around their neck so that nothing drips on the child’s neck
Dip the child’s hair (that you want to be dyed) into the jar for 10 minutes.
The hair needs to soak in the colored liquid for 10 minutes so that the color gets absorbed well and the hair is coated with the color properly.
Ensure that you are wearing gloves and that the color doesn’t end up anywhere else.
Step 6: Leave for 30 minutes and style
Once ten minutes are over, just clip the hair into 2-3 sections and let your kid do their thing for 30 minutes.
Don’t shampoo the child’s hair.
The color needs some time to sit.
After 30 minutes are done, dry your child’s hair using a blow dryer on the cool setting and style it with a hair brush.
Voila!
You’ve just dyed your child’s hair with tissue paper. Congratulations!
Please note that the color may not be as vibrant – this is to be expected since you are not using hair dyes or permanent hair colors.
You also have to understand that different people have different hair porosities. If your child’s hair is low porosity, it may not absorb as much color as someone else.
So the results can vary extensively.
What are the best colors to use for tissue paper dying?
Some colors aren’t as effective and even if the water looks very bright and vibrant, it just won’t stick to the hair or stain it well.
According to moms who have tried this tissue-dying technique with their kids, pink, purple, and blue show up the best on children’s hair.
Whereas orange, green, and others are very light and don’t show up as much.
Please keep this in mind when buying tissue/crepe paper.
If you are looking for a good staining effect, then get pink, purple, or blue tissue paper – this will show up so beautifully on the child’s hair.
Is it safe to dye your hair with tissue paper?
Yes.
This is not a box dye or permanent hair color that is changing the structure of the hair or compromising it.
The melanin in the hair which contributes to the original hair color will not be affected in any way.
You are in no way bleaching the hair or messing with the chemical structure of the hair.
You are simply coating it with color – think of it like coating your hair with colorful wax.
You are just staining it.
There is no harm and this method is completely safe for both kids and adults.
How long does tissue paper dye last on hair?
It may last a week or two depending on the brand of tissue or crepe paper used and it should come out within 2-4 washes.
There is no fixed answer because this is highly dependent on the dye that is used to stain the tissue paper.
If your kid has dark hair, the color may disappear more easily. For light hair, it will take 2 weeks give or take.
Takeaway
This is a fun and safe way to color your kid’s hair.
It involves no chemicals, bleaching, or dying and you’re only using tissue paper so enjoy!
