What is the difference between ammonia and ammonia-free hair color?

Why is ammonia or an ammonia substitute needed in the hair color process?

Dr. Hayel Said, one of the foremost experts
in the Country answers your Color and Product Questions

Ammonia is a chemical agent that provides alkalinity and raises the pH of hair color. It swells the hair and allows for more penetration of color dye intermediates inside the hair shaft to achieve deeper and more permanent hair color. It also enhances the action of peroxide in lightening melanin and hair color. Ammonia is a very small molecule, which evaporates rapidly (hence the strong odor) and rinses out quickly from the hair.

Hair coloring products labeled as "Ammonia-Free" utilize other chemical agents to provide alkalinity. It is important to remember that “ammonia-free” does not mean "alkalinity-free". These other chemical agents are close relatives of ammonia, and include the ethanolamines such as monoethanolamine, which is larger than ammonia, less volatile (it does not evaporate as rapidly and therefore it does not smell as strongly), and may be harder to wash out of the hair than ammonia. In other words it leaves a chemical residue in the hair.

By most scientific evidence available today, ammonia presents no serious health risks to hairdressers when used according to instructions and under normal salon conditions (which include some form of ventilation, non-prolonged exposure, and controlled salon temperature). Nonetheless, a few people may develop some degree of allergy or other reactions to ammonia, in the same manner that some individuals develop allergies or reactions to certain foods or medications. Because of the relatively short track-record of monoethanolamine in hair coloring products, it is not possible to judge its long-term safety.

Ammonia levels in hair color vary not only among different manufacturers’ lines, but also within the same manufacturer’s line. In general, deposit shades require as little as 1% of ammonia, while the high-lift shades of permanent hair color may use about 3%. Some color lines even go as high as 5%. On the other hand, demi-permanent (or deposit-only) color lines use little or no ammonia (or other alkalizing agents) at all. But their permanency is not as good as their alkaline counterparts.

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