Food Coloring on Skin: How to Remove the Toughest of Stains

You like baking and cooking. But you don’t want bland, colorless food. You enjoy experimenting with different food colors.

Unfortunately, your hands and arms can look like they have been dipped in a rainbow. How do you get the food coloring off your skin?

There is a range of options available to remove food coloring from your skin. You can use:

• Soap and water
• Shaving cream
• Hand sanitizer or rubbing alcohol
• Toothpaste
• Vinegar and Baking soda

You will want to take action immediately. The staining from food coloring occurs when you let it dry. 

Let’s take you through the different methods of removing food coloring from your skin.

There may be affiliate links in this article. You can read more about this in my disclosure.

10 Ways to Get Food Coloring Off Skin

There are a variety of ways to take care of the issue. Everyday items in your home are more than enough to clean your skin with.

Try these options and settle on the one(s) that you find most effective.

1. Wipe your hands

While using the food coloring, constantly wipe it off your skin using paper towels or baby wipes. Getting onto the situation while the coloring is still wet makes cleaning yourself a breeze.

2. Soap and water

This method can take some time before all the food coloring is removed. Lather your hands and any stained skin with soap.

Rinse away the soap and repeat until the coloring is gone. 

3. Scrub away the stains

Similar to option number 2 above. However, you are going to need to use an exfoliating sponge or a cloth to rub at the stain.

Lather up the sponge with soap and then rub vigorously at the food coloring. 

If you have sensitive skin, then avoid this method. There are several other ways that you can try.

4. Rubbing alcohol

Dab some alcohol onto a cotton ball and then rub at the food coloring. You may need to repeat the process if it is a stubborn stain. 

An alternative to rubbing alcohol is nail polish remover. Use the same process as above and watch the food coloring disappear. 

Don’t use this method if you have sensitive skin or cuts. 

5. Toothpaste

You can use whitening toothpaste or a non-gel variety. The best option is to use toothpaste that contains baking soda as the soda is a natural bleaching agent. 

Apply a small amount of toothpaste to your hands. Rub your hands together for a couple of minutes.

Work the toothpaste into the skin, between your fingers, and under your fingernails.

Rinse your hands under warm water. Check to ensure the food coloring is gone.

Repeat the process if necessary.

6. Vinegar with baking soda

There are a couple of approaches to this method. The first just uses vinegar (with baking soda added later).

The second has you creating a vinegar/baking soda paste. Let’s take you through each procedure.

Vinegar only

For this, it’s best to use white vinegar. This is because, like baking soda, white vinegar is a natural bleach.

Dab a cloth into the vinegar and then rub at the food coloring. If you experience any irritation, then dilute the vinegar. 

Slowly add the water. You don’t want to affect the concentration levels of the vinegar to the point it’s not effective.

Baking soda paste

Add two tablespoons of baking soda and one tablespoon of vinegar into a bowl. Mix the ingredients to form a paste.

Massage the solution into your hands and fingers for a minute. 

Wash off the paste with warm water. Repeat this process if needed.

7. Shaving cream

This is a quick, simple solution for removing food coloring from your skin. 

Spray a small amount of the shaving cream onto your hands. Rub your hands together for at least 30 seconds, then wash off the cream with warm water. 

Check to see if all the coloring has been removed. Do the process once more if there is still a stain.

8. Oxiclean

Oxiclean has a variety of household uses. One of these is as a stain remover, so that makes it an option worth considering to get rid of food coloring stains off your skin.

Before using Oxiclean, read the manufacturer’s recommendation for the correct amount to use. Add the required amount of Oxiclean into a bowl of warm water. 

Wash your hands in the solution to remove the food coloring. Rinse your hands and look to see if the stains have gone. 

9. Lemon Juice

The acidity within lemon juice is an effective stain remover. However, just like the rubbing alcohol and vinegar methods, you shouldn’t try this if you have sensitive skin. 

To try this solution, mix the juice from half a lemon, a teaspoon of sugar, and some dish soap into a bowl. Stir everything until thoroughly combined.

Apply the mixture to your hands, rubbing energetically at the food coloring. 

Rinse your hands under some warm water. If you see that there are still some stains on your skin, then repeat the process. 

10. Hydrogen Peroxide

You can use hydrogen peroxide to remove food coloring from your skin. Hydrogen peroxide with a concentration of 3% is ideal for safe home use. 

There are two ways you can get rid of the stains on your skin using hydrogen peroxide.

Use a Q-tip

This is a straightforward solution.

1. Pour some hydrogen peroxide onto the end of your Q-tip.
2. Rub the Q-tip over the food coloring, then wait for 10 minutes
3. Rinse off the hydrogen peroxide with warm water. You want to thoroughly wash your skin to remove all traces of hydrogen peroxide.
4. Dry your hands

Combining hydrogen peroxide with soap

For this method, you will be creating a paste to apply to your skin.

1. Grate or flake 30 grams of soap into a container.
2. Add 30 milliliters of hydrogen peroxide.
3. Mix the soap and hydrogen peroxide until it forms a paste.
4. Apply the paste to your hands and wait for 10 minutes.
5. Wash away the paste with warm water. You may have to scrape off the paste with your fingers. Do so while your hands are under the running water.

Getting the food coloring out from under your fingernails

You may find that some of the food coloring has made its way under your fingernails. It’s easy to take care of the issue. 

Use any of the methods we have given you, combined with a toothbrush. Dip the toothbrush into your solution and then scrub under your fingernails.

Wash away the solution and you should find that your nails look clean and white. 

Enjoy playing with food coloring

Food coloring can stain your skin, but that doesn’t mean you need to avoid using it. Allow your creative juices to flow while being confident you can remove the stains on your skin.

If you have sensitive skin, then avoid those options we provided that can irritate your skin. A good option is to wear gloves.

Prevention is always the better choice. Have fun experimenting with your food coloring!

Last update on 2023-06-04 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API