Asking for a friend 
So I followed a tutorial for bleaching my grey horse’s tail. Everything went according to plan, then the last step was to cover the newly bleached tail with purple shampoo and leave for 30 minutes. So I did…and now it’s lightly tinted purple. Since purple directly clashes with my XC colors, I really need it out. Any suggestions?
Wash with dish washing soap maybe?
I once got that purple thrush buster in my hair. That does NOT come out.
No great solutions - other than lots of non-purple shampoo. I will say (sorry OP) that I don’t get why people try too much to change nature. I have a gray-white horse. It would never occur to me to bleach or otherwise try to color his tail. It sometimes gets a yellow tinge; good scrubbing and some conditioner gets it pretty enough for compliments. Its a horse, not a fashion model, so why put yourself in a position to have this problem? Down off my soapbox now.
30 minutes? Yikes! No wonder! 
Check YouTube - “remove purple tint from gray hair” and there are all sorts of recipes.
One is 2 parts regular shampoo and 1 part 3% hydrogen peroxide.
Try the shampoo, water and peroxide in a bucket so you can soak the tail
Happy for ya, that scrubbing and conditioner work for your horse. My horse, however, goes out of his way to find the biggest manure piles in his stall or pasture and then makes sure he really grinds it into his coat/tail. While I do a lot of preventative grooming- purple shampoo/regular conditioner, etc, I wanted to test this out, as friends have had success. I just happened to get a bit zealous with the purple shampoo.
Im not sure why people say “sorry” then go on to criticize. My question was not, “would you
bleach your horse’s tail?” it was “I did this, now it’s slightly purple. Any suggestions?” I’m sure I’m not the first person to leave on purple shampoo long, but it is a first for me.
I know :no: In my years of using the stuff, I’ve never left it on nearly that long. But that was what the tutorial said so I did. Thanks, I’ll try that!
Happy for ya, that scrubbing and conditioner work for your horse. My horse, however, goes out of his way to find the biggest manure piles in his stall or pasture and then makes sure he really grinds it into his coat/tail. While I do a lot of preventative grooming- purple shampoo/regular conditioner, etc, I wanted to test this out, as friends have had success. I just happened to get a bit zealous with the purple shampoo.
Im not sure why people say “sorry” then go on to criticize 
My question was not, “would you
bleach your horse’s tail?” it was “I did this, now it’s slightly purple. Any suggestions?” I’m sure I’m not the first person to leave on purple shampoo too long, but it is a first for me.
I’ve used leave on shampoos too but it’s rinsed off. maybe the tail is more porous but I’ve had this problem with legs on occasion
Baby powder for the show if you can’t get it out.
I had a grey pony in red clay mud when I was a kid. I did that once and couldn’t get the purple out for the life of me. We just used baby powder on his tail for the show and nobody was the wiser :lol:
A yellow tint will turn the purple to gray. Try a tinted shampoo for yellow horses on a small piece of the tail first.
OP - I apologized to you because you said you were asking for a friend…so I presumed you were the messenger…
Been there. Done that. Showed a grey horse with a purple mane after an ooops moment with Laundry Blueing. I couldn’t get it out but it eventually faded on its own.
I use the white coat spray from Shapley’s. I think it’s called “touch up”. It’ll cover up blue/purple stains on the coat. I’m sure it’ll work on the main and tail too.
Get some Shapleys or grooming chalk.
So in case anyone does a search, I found what actually works. I finally broke down and called a friend that owns a hair salon.
Baking soda and Dawn Dish liquid soap. Combine the two, scrub the tail, and voila- no more purple.
I love Goop (and similar products) and use it for lots of things.
My worry with using it regularly on my horse is that Goop removes oils, even good oils. It will dry the hair and the skin.
This was my experience too (though the horse is not grey, but has a very light tail). Did not mix the blueing into the shampoo well and ended up with one purple spot. Thankfully it was right in the middle so it only showed sometimes.
I wouldn’t use it on a super regular basis. I’ve used it on a friend’s grey horse who had really bad stains in his tail before his first show. He was a 4 year old and the stains had probably been there for at least a year. Whitening shampoo didn’t do anything. Then I used it another time on a really gross paint gelding for one bath then made an effort to keep him clean. I do know of people that use it before every show. They just follow it with conditioner to keep from drying the hair.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
