Wigs+Hairspray?

By sakura-uchiha. 12/03/12, 12:09 pm

So... i know like to keep your wig untagled, you comb it well until it's nice an smooth and all then spra it lightly with hairspray...
BUT...
apparently the alcohol in almost all hairsprays can damage wigs.....
:/ so is it ohhk? or do i get non alcoholic hair spray(is that even possible?) and if it's is possilbe where can i get it(easily..)
>A<
thanks >AAAA<

By Highlander. 12/03/12, 12:48 pm

I don't think the alcohol will actually damage wigs much. It will help dye penetrate the wig!

By kouya. 12/03/12, 12:58 pm

recommend you to use the comb which is made of metal because plastic one can causes static electricity on wig.

you may use bodyspray like LYNX instead of hairspray.

By sakura-uchiha. 12/03/12, 01:15 pm

Highlander wrote:: I don't think the alcohol will actually damage wigs much. It will help dye penetrate the wig!

what does "dye penetrate" mean? >A< (sorry i'm reaterded)

kouya wrote:: recommend you to use the comb which is made of metal because plastic one can causes static electricity on wig.

you may use bodyspray like LYNX instead of hairspray.

Yeah

i use a metal comb... but does like actually work :O???

By Squishy blob. 12/03/12, 01:33 pm

Personally, I (and thousands of other cosplayers, I'm sure) have used hairspray on wigs many times, and not found any 'damage' to speak of. With some wig dye methods you literally put rubbing alcohol all over the wig, and a combination of heat and hairspray would damage some wigs, but since there are so many kinds of alcohol and wigs, I wouldn't rule it out for sure.

I know non-alcoholic, homemade and vegetarian hairsprays exist and can be made, but you could have trouble getting some of the natural ones out of your wig, I imagine. If you're worried about wig damage from hairspray, try googling 'non-alcoholic hairspray' perhaps and test a few of the methods + products?

By Highlander. 12/03/12, 01:48 pm

But remember that wig fibres are plastic not hair, so we can't say if 'other' hairsprays work on plastics? People usually use as much hairspray as needed to hold crazy styles, so much it's not funny, and once it dries it's fine and strong.

The dyes often used to dye wigs are alcohol soluble. Alcohol is used to dilute the dye to colour and it soaks it into the fibre. You get enough inside the pores of the fibre to change the colour of the fibre. And being inside the fibre it will stay. Conversely if you ever expose the wig to too much alcohol it can leech the dye right out.

By sakura-uchiha. 12/03/12, 01:50 pm

Ohhhhh because i was worried it get all yucky and frizzy forever sort of thing because i heard from some where that it'll kill it
but i'll try it out anyways seeing so many others do and alcohol can be useful Very Happy

thanks for the help guys :)) xx

By Highlander. 12/03/12, 02:15 pm

I'm not sure if this is a good idea, but you can wash it afterwards, so it doesn't keep building up every time you use it/spray it? (Warm not hot water.) If you can get water warm enough without getting it too hot, for whatever fibre you are using, (about 80 degrees, depends?) you can use warm water and a brush to straighten wigs. If it's really tangled you can buy silicone wig detangler spray which is suppose to help. Never had to try it myself. Of course none of this advice is going to be much use on a styled wig.

By Kicho. 12/03/12, 03:41 pm

I just did a bit of research. Alcohol (specifically 70-99% isopropyl alcohol) is often used in wig dyes. The dye does indeed dissolve in the alcohol, but the reason why the wig is dyed is because the alcohol slightly dissolves the wig plastic themselves.

So when you pour rubbing alcohol onto a wig, technically some of the fibres are being dissolved off. However, there is no real "damage" as it only dissolves the fibres very slightly. That's why the wig loses some of it's shiny sheen.

The only other damage I can think of is that 90% alcohol may dissolve the dye right off the wig.

Having said that, hair spray contains very very little alcohol each time you spray.

By cxcoser. 20/09/12, 01:43 pm

human hair?

By Highlander. 20/09/12, 02:00 pm

cxcoser wrote:: human hair?

What was the question?

I have rarely seen human hair wigs cheap enough to cosplay with, and only short ones. Then I guess you treat them similar to human hair, but probably need more care since they have no natural conditioning any more.

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