A fiber-optic-assisted, charge-coupled device spectrometer was used to monitor the color of molten polymer concentrates during extrusion. Color coordinates L*, a* and b* were calculated from each of the reflectance spectra as polyethylene color concentrate was replaced by a purge material and as the purge material was replaced by another color concentrate. A method of calculating replacing component residence time distributions and component washout residence time distributions from the spectra was developed and applied. Results with a red and a blue concentrate showed that dimensionless time (time/average residence time) superimposed both residence time distributions and color coordinate variations during changeover from two different extruder screw speeds.