Silicon Spray Detangling Method [Image heavy]

By **JVCA**. 16/01/10, 01:25 pm

So, I promised a few weeks ago that I'd take some photos when detangling my Flonne wig, so you guys could see how effective it was, and what the end results look like - so here it is!

Silicon Spray Detangling Method [Image heavy] Pc080014

Silicon Spray Detangling Method [Image heavy] Pc080014

The before photo - note how it looks like an atrocious monster? This is the result of TWO DAYS of wear - admittedly each at a con, but gwarsh! I blame the fact that it is a curly wig we tried to straighten a little...

First thing I did was to pin the wig to the wig head VERY securely - a pin in the top, a pin in each ear tab, and a pin at the nape of the neck (you can just use normal sewing pins for this. Wink

). If you're able to, I highly recommend sticking a stick of dowel in a Christmas Tree stand or an Umbrella holder (something that will keep it upright), and sticking your wig head onto the stick of dowel. It would make it MUCH easier, especially for a longer wig! By doing this, you have a way of holding the wig head in place, so you can use both hands. I didn't have this available, so I had to hold the wig head onto the table with one hand, and brush with the other.

Once you have your wig set up, start working! Work in sections (or else you'll feel like you're not getting anything done, and you'll run the risk of the freshly detangled stuff getting consumed by the still messy stuff) of however large or small you feel necessary. My sections ranged from 5 to 10 centimetres, depending on how knotty that part was. If you're having difficulty, make your section smaller.

Following the instructions on the can, spray the top side and underside of your section (keeping the rest of the wig separated - a claw style hair clip will be useful here if you have one) with the silicon spray, and gently comb the section through with your fingers, easing out any knots you find. If you're having trouble, separate the fibers as much as you can, then spray them again - some of the fibers may not have gotten any of the spray the first time round as they were sandwiched in between other fibers. Very Happy

When you're able to comb the section with your fingers with ease, move onto the comb/brush, and keep working at it until you can brush that section with ease. When you're done with this, move that section aside (keeping it separated from the tangled part of the wig!), move onto the next section, and so on, until you've done the whole wig.

From here, you want to check that the underside of the wig isn't tangled - this is hard to see from the back of the wig, so pick your wig head up and look at the underside of the hair. If you can see tangles, deal with them as above. If you can't see any tangles, run your fingers through the underside to double check - sometimes tangles are easier to find with your fingers than with your eyes. :)

Once the underside is detangled, you'll be finished with the silicone step! Below is how my wig looked after this process - sorry I forgot to take any photos during. D:

Silicon Spray Detangling Method [Image heavy] Pc080015

Silicon Spray Detangling Method [Image heavy] Pc080015

My god, it actually looks like a quality wig - which it should do for the price I paid for it! [grumbles about over inflated TradeMe wig prices] Please ignore the apparent colour change - that's just the lighting, as it got darker (seeing as it took me somewhere between two and four hours to do - it was a while ago now, so I forget how long).

And here's a photo of the back. Note how even though it's no longer tangled, it looks kind of frizzy at the ends? I suspect that this is due to the knots creating kinks in the wigs, but if anyone knows I'd love to hear it.

Now if your wig doesn't look frizzy - fantastic! You're done! Go and do something rewarding, because by god you deserve it. [dies a little inside from the memory] You might want to rinse your wig to get rid of some of the excess silicon, but that's up to you. If you only used a comb (like I did), you'll also want to give the wig a brush - you can see why at the end of this post.

If your wig DOES look frizzy, you have a little more to do I'm afraid - but this is MUCH easier. If you've dealt with wigs before, you've probably heard of the hot water straightening method. Well, we're going to use this method now to defrizz. Why? The reason why hot water can straighten a wig is because the hot water relaxes the fibers. Kinks in the wig are just wound up bits of fiber - so if we relax those bits of fiber, then we relax the kinks. You follow? Very Happy

The original hot water straightening method can be found here: http://www.pettingzoowigs.com/wigtutorial_straightening.html For me, I wasn't terribly fussed about getting it straight, so I just stuck the shower on as hot as it could possibly go, and rinsed the wig in the shower. I combed it whilst I was rinsing it, and then left it to drip dry in the shower.

Silicon Spray Detangling Method [Image heavy] Pc080018

Silicon Spray Detangling Method [Image heavy] Pc080018

Protip: If drip drying a long wig, putting your wighead on a stick of dowel will help keep the wig straight - or at least help to avoid weird kinks (think bed hair) forming at the point where hanging fiber meets the floor.

This'll take a few hours to dry, so go and do something else for a while - maybe even leave it overnight if you can. Watching a wig dry is slightly more exciting than watching paint dry, but not enough to make it actually interesting. (Unless the paint you're talking about is that cool stuff that starts one colour and dries another colour, in which case watching paint dry is more interesting than watching a wig dry.)

Silicon Spray Detangling Method [Image heavy] Pc080019

Silicon Spray Detangling Method [Image heavy] Pc080019

The wig from the front, once it's fully dry! :) Notice how it's a lot less frizzy?

aaaaaaand from the back~! Note that it looks kind of 'separated sections'-y, unlike real hair. Time to fix this!

You're almost done! The last thing we're gunna do is deal with the 'separated section'-y-ness - and to do that, all we're going to do is give the wig a brush - not a comb this time, but a brush.

Silicon Spray Detangling Method [Image heavy] Pc080022

Silicon Spray Detangling Method [Image heavy] Pc080022

See how much better it looks now?

And tada~! You're done! I usually store my long wigs by putting them into a loose plait (so it's harder for the fibers to tangle themselves together), then flipping the wig inside out, and tucking the plait inside the wig. Pop the hairnet over the wig, and stick it back in the plastic bag. You should be able to give it a quick brush next time, and it'll still be nice and tangle-free. Very Happy

Any questions? Feel free to ask in this thread. n_n

By neimhaille. 16/01/10, 04:34 pm

Another option to help with the non-kinking while drying thing is to use cold water to set the fibres (it stretches when hot thus it pulls curls/frizzes out).
If using the shower slowly turn the water to cold and if using a kettle well you can mix hot and cold water for a few pours ;)
The reason I suggest slowly is so you don't shock the fibres. It's worse for things like wool but it's still not a good idea for fake hair either ;)

I first learnt this years ago from doll restoration people as well as doll customisers ;) I remember setting ringlets on a doll using straws as curlers... I think I even used round matchsticks for an even smaller doll (1/12 scale).

By **JVCA**. 17/01/10, 12:20 am

That's well worth knowing - thank you. Very Happy

By Rosenquarts. 20/01/10, 07:10 am

what kind of silicon spray is used for wigs?

By azeria. 20/01/10, 07:46 am

^This is the one I use

Spoiler:

It was $8 from Bunnings.
However there's loads of different brands, I got this one since it said for use on plastic since that's basically what wigs are.

By Rosenquarts. 20/01/10, 07:52 am

i'll se if the local hardwaRE has some.
thanks ^^

By Static. 22/04/10, 03:02 am

I just used this tutorial to detangle my Claire wig - oh my god, silicone spray is my new BFF. It wasn't badly tangled, so took about forty minutes to complete, and I've just hot watered it :) Thanks Jess!

By **JVCA**. 22/04/10, 04:06 am

No worries! Very Happy

I'm glad someone found it helpful. n_n

By Lumissne. 04/05/10, 01:47 pm

Thank you so much for the advice! I seriously need to give my wig a good detangling X.X Now just to find some of that silicon spray...

By **JVCA**. 04/05/10, 01:50 pm

I actually discovered that they sell it at the supermarket today. o_o; In with the duct tape and such. Probably cheaper from a hardware store though. C:

By Huntress. 04/05/10, 05:33 pm

Thank you also using this method to detangle wig and yes - it is cheaper from a hardware store by a dollar or two. But if you're feeling lazy it's good to know you can get it whilst grabbing food.

By Hannah. 05/05/10, 08:45 am

use this method on my BRS wig it is godly
only thing is after too much silicon you need to wash it as it goes gunky...>_<

By HawkTnz. 16/10/10, 02:45 pm

Yay, learned another new thing.. thanks for the tutorial, I've got a huge wig that I've just finished glueing, now will try your methods to get it looking sweet like yours! Awesome... thanks so much! :)

By Koemix. 10/08/11, 09:31 am

what is the name/brand of spray you used? D|
i have a miku wig that i dont want to rip the hair out of...

By **JVCA**. 10/08/11, 09:37 am

I don't know what the brand was, sorry - it was just one my dad had lying around. sad

If you just ask at your local hardware store for "Silicon Lubricating Spray", any of them should be fine. :)

A few other tips I've learnt:
• When detangling wigs, start by finger combing and work from bottom to top until it seems reasonably untangled
• After this, brush top to bottom gently with a wide toothed comb (I have a wooden one from The Body Shop which is great!)
• Then use a wig brush to brush gently from top to bottom
• After you've got it untangled, if it's still really frizzy use the hot water straightening method
• If it's still frizzy after that at the ends of the wig, cut the ends off. The 5-10cm you will lose in length will make the wig a million times more managable, because once the frizzy nasty stuff is gone, it doesn't tangle nearly as easily. Very Happy

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