ARGH! Wig Detangling

I suppose there may be no hope for me, but I just figured I'd put in a last-ditch effort in search of some helpful advice on what to do with a hideously tangled wig.

I have a long, long straight dark brown wig that I always use for my ANH Leia buns--I previously used a waist-length wig, but I found that the buns came out too small and pointy (think Madonna bullet bra). This neverending wig I use now, which is almost knee-length on me, has enough hair to make them the right size. Unfortunately, I could never prevent unholy frizz from springing up. And circumstances always had me manhandling the hairdo--as in stuffing it in a loaded suitcase, usually. In a nutshell, I always wind up having to redo the buns to get them decent again, and by now the wig has become a terrible mess of snarls. I can't get a brush or a comb through most of these knots at all, and more tangles just form as I try to fix them. And if I attempt to ignore them and just put the hair up again, the frizzes are extreme and painfully visible. (I called myself Trash Compactor Leia the last time I used it at ComicCon.) Yes, the wig is synthetic with fine plastic fibers.

It wasn't very cheap and it's going to get a lot more mileage, as I'm asked to be Leia very often. It's a great wig, but I don't know how to salvage it! If anyone here has had the same problem and somehow solved it, please be a sweetheart and let me know! I've seen photos of many Leias with perfect, frizz-free hair, some of which belong to this board, and I'd love to know your secrets to avoiding that nightmare. (Besides hairnets! I haven't been able to find any colorless ones...)

I even joked to the head of Master Replicas about when would they finally come out with MR Leia buns, so we wouldn't have to kill ourselves making that damn 'do anymore.

 

I've never used any of these products, but a quick google turns up plenty of synthetic wig shampoos, conditioners and, yes, detanglers. http://www.glamourboutique.com/access/wigcare/ for example. Be sure to use a wide tooth comb or a pick. Definitely use hairnets when you pack the wig to travel. Of course, failing all else, a quick google also reveals that you can replace the wig for around $50. Good luck.

 

Humm, I hadn't tried detangling a wig. I've very gently combed my extensions while there was conditioner in them. I'm unsure if this'll work for a wig.
FOr wig transport, I'd probably put it on a head form with a hair net, then place that into a box.

 

Sally's sells wig shampoo and conditioner made specifically for synthetic hair. They're both by Revlon. I also bought a comb with wide tines. I think it only has 6-8 tines. It will probably take a while, but if you are slow and gentle when you comb through the wig, the tangles should eventually come out. Just like real hair, start at the ends and work your way up. You might wet/and or wash a small section and see if combing while it's wet is any easier.

I use this method every few wearings with my Padme Picnic hair. I'm always amazed by how much better it looks.

Hope that helps!
Regards,
M.

 

Thanks Mirax,
That's a very good tip. I'm going to be using it when I encounter a particulary gnarly wig.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. I actually do have a foam head form and regular hairnets, but when I've had to pack up my costumes AND regular clothes, they take up so much room in my luggage that I can't even take the head form, much less a box to hold it in. I don't plan on going to any more cons for a long time, though, so I may not have to worry about that at least.

 

You can still use a hairnet, even if the wig is not on a foam head. For my Mirax wig, I just put a wadded up ball of tissue paper in the head and then stretch the net over the length of the hair. Then it goes carefully in a zip-lock bag with a long strip of cardboard around the circumference of the wig to keep it from getting crushed. It fits an a flat box which I can put in my costume tub without worrying about it.

Regards,
M.

 

Yep, that's exactly what I do, with the balled up paper and hairnet. It's not really the travel itself that messes it up, it's just that it makes the buns saggy, which in turn forces me to uncoil them and retwist them up--THAT'S what seems to cause the most damage. I wish I could get them perfectly one last time and just shellack them in place.

 

Ohhhh, I gotcha. I've seen a couple things mentioned around here about sewing hair into place. I haven't tried that myself, but it might be a good solution for you? Maybe someone who's tried that will speak up.

Regards,
M.

 

ThePariah - one thing I was told by people working in wig shops is not to wash your wig when it is tanled up. Washing it while tangled often worsens the problem. If you do wash your wig, they say to only dunk it gently in water to minimize tangling.

To detangle a wig it takes a lot of patience. Lay the wig flat on a table and use the wide tooth comb (I have one made by Revlon) to gently comb out the tangles working from the ends up to the roots as suggested earlier in this thread. But you need to keep your hand firmly on the hair near the cap of the wig so you aren't pulling the hair out by the roots if you know what I mean You might also try a spary-in detangler to help. Some of those shine products for the hair with glycerine and oil work well if you spray just a small amount of that in. Make sure you don't use too much or you get an oil slick. Also, don't use ones with alcohol (I was told alcohol is bad for synthetic hair). I Use Kerastase Soleil Huile Genereuse, but that stuff is expensive and I'm sure there is cheaper alcohol free stuff out there.

Good luck! I've been spending all day combing through my synthetic hair trying to make the darn Leia buns with no luck so far I keep getting a tangled mess. I've used clear thread to sew together braids before, but these huge twists are just so flimsy compared to tight braids.

- Kay Dee

 

Oy, yes, I hate the fact that the buns are made with twisted hair rather than braids. It's so hard to get them to stay tight as you're going around and pinning. In order to stablize them I tried a little experiment of wrapping the hair around a pantyhose stuffed with batting before coiling them up, but it didn't work. It just didn't want to cover the hose completely.

 

When I made my Leia buns-- just hairpieces, no wig-- I twisted them with the bun flat on the floor. I twisted a section the hair with my right hand, held it in place with my left, then picked up the needle and clear thread with my right hand and sewed a fairly big chunk of hair, but loosely. All the sewing was on the "wrong side" of the bun, so it didn't show through. Once I'd sewn the whole bun, I immediately put a hairnet over the whole shebang to keep it from moving around. It also helped, I think, that I used the el-cheapo jumbo fake hair that's super rough and textured, so it was happier to twist and stay put than nicer hair would have been.

 

Yeah, that jumbo braid stuff seems to have enough texture to it so the coils don't slip and slide around. It took me all afternoon to comb all the tangles out of my silky synthetic hair before I could spiral it. And I honestly don't know how many wearings I'll be able to get out of these buns before they look trashed. Caitlin did I remember you saying you sewed a hair comb to your buns? I've got one bun soaked with synthetic wig hairspray right now and in the morning I'll play with attaching it to my head. I was just trying to figure out if I should sew a little netting (or maybe a little buckram frame?) to the underside of the buns and then secure a comb to it? I guess I'm getting off topic here - probably should be in the Leia help me obi-wan thread.

- Kay Dee

 

Yep, I just sewed two plain combs about an inch down from the top of each bun. Sewed 'em right to the bun. Worked quite well, although I should probably have placed them so they were a little further in on the sides. You could sort of see the ends of the combs poking out from the buns.

 

I've rescued a few hairpieces that have been abandoned by their preious owners due to tangling.

I do wash the wigs, but I don't aggitate the wig in the water. It's the aggitation that causes most tangling. It's part of the problem of why you shouldn't brush hair when it's wet. It's because we aggitate hair to get it clean with the soaps. I don't so much because my hair is so long and I find my conditioners make it so slick it's best to comb when wet. As it's not too tangled from washing, this is fine.

I generally only wash as a last ditch effort though Or if the wig is also sticky from say a drink spilled on it while tangled.

I use human hair conditioners. When it's made for dry hair it's going to give more moisture than a regular conditioner, adn even more than fabric conditioners. What I have been using has avocado oil in it if that helps Salon stuff as well.

I start with seperating it as much as it wants to and work from the bottom of the sections, holding tightly just above where the comb is working to minimise any stretch that could happen if held further up and to stop the hair pulling out full stop.

I wish I had before and after photos, as I did some serious work on two hairpieces in particular, one of which was curley and actually matted. The other which had some small plaits some large ones and in a pretty notted state.

Unfortunately I haven't found a good way to store the pieces long term that prevents tangling. I have two wigs that were worked on but keep getting more knotty because I need to put them away after a few hours work.

One is curly so I can't just plait it.

Because they are synthetic they seem to find plastic bags particularly fn to play around in I'm thinking paper bags maybe.