When deciding to bleach wet hair, it’s essential to consider the pros and cons. Get it wrong, and you could end up with a brassy color, dry and brittle hair, skin irritations, and in the worst case, hair loss. Get it right, and you’ll save yourself a pretty penny by not needing a salon visit to lighten your hair.

Can You Bleach Wet Hair without Professional Help?

The fast and straightforward answer regarding bleaching damp hair at home is: Yes, you can.

Of course, salon professionals would never recommend using bleach to color your hair at home. Still, with the right tools, preparation, information, and self-confidence, there should be no reason not to go for an attractive blonde hue on your own.

And you’ll be in good company. Plenty of people wonder if they have the skill to bleach wet hair by themselves, and they end up thrilled with the results. So, go ahead and take the plunge (pun intended!) to brighten and lighten your look.

Benefits of Bleaching Wet Hair

Bleaching or lightening hair can be damaging because the process lifts the hair’s outer cuticle and allows the bleaching solution to penetrate the shaft. If your hair is already wet, the water dilutes the potency of the chemicals, and the color lightens more slowly.

Another thing that influences the effectiveness of a bleaching solution is the amount of water in the mixture itself. The more water, the weaker the bleaching power. And that’s one of the chief benefits of lightening wet hair with bleach; you can pace the processing and not end up with a drastic result too quickly.

Understanding the Bleaching Process

Bleaching hair involves oxidation, a chemical process that strips out the color from the strands. If you’ve ever had your hair colored to a lighter shade, you were using a bleaching agent (probably hydrogen peroxide and ammonia) even if you weren’t aware of it.