A little Wig-speriment

[Karrot]

I've been meaning to try this for a while now, and finally got my arse in gear to give it a go.

So from this (Little Miss in her normal straight brown locks)



To this, using only 15 bobby pins, a kettle, and about an hour of my day.



Now this isnt to show off Xiaoli with a new hair style, nor is it to show off a success, personally I hate what I've created. No this is to show that with a little work and some steam you can restyle your ladies old wigs in to something new and, here's the beauty of it, you can undo a failure like this by simply resteaming the wig and brushing it straight again.

So how did I get to this puffball of a mop? I sectioned the hair off into pieces about 2 inches wide around the top of her head, then simply twisted each section around itself until it bunched up against the head, then rammed a bobby pin in. Repeat on the next section. I then did a second layer using the hair from lower down the head.

Once it was all pinned, I put the kettle on. Once the kettle was at a rolling boil I held each coil in the steam to allow it to heat up, this is the key, you have to get it hot enough to allow the fibres to take the new shape, but steaming will never over heat the wig. (and no I didnt have Xiaoli in a firemans lift over my shoulder, I have a separate styling head for this sort of thing.) You could use any steam source provided it can produce a lot of high temperature steam.

Next, let everything cool down, then remove the bobby pins and open out all the coils, then brush.

Rollers, round brushes, clips, pins, anything used for styling real hair can be used, the difference is you steam the wig once they are in, rather then use chemicals or hair driers to set the style.


Later that day.........

Right, 5 more minutes work with the steam, gravity, and some targetted finger brushing........

THIS is what I was hoping for.







This is the same technique I used on Faiths Afro wig to pull the spiral coils out and give her that mane of golden curls. Same thing, just hold the wig in the steam and let gravity pull the hair a little straighter. Anything that had too sharp of a kink to it got a gentle finger brushing whilst still warm until I was happy.


Happy Karrot, Happy Little Miss, probably going to get to touch her boobs later..........

K

[mandos]

This is actually a really really great tip. I did this a couple of years ago to a curly wig I never liked, and after seeing a steam wig tutorial on youtube, and the result was stunning and what used to be a cheap ugly wig is now my go-to wig when I really want that "real" look.

The result on Xiaoli's hair is great!

My only problem with the steam method is that it needs a bit of space on the kitchen, especially under the range hood, and that the steam needs to really get in there and get the wig wet and warm before the magic starts to happen.

[Dongo]

Very instructive posting. I might try something with an old wig.

[Dale66]

Is it just me, or do the last 3 photos look like Karrot had already had a session touching her boobs??

[cuddly]

Originally Posted by Dale66

Is it just me, or do the last 3 photos look like Karrot had already had a session touching her boobs??

right: "THIS is what I was hoping for."
RAWR awesome mane! Any hints on how to transfer this into plush?

CU cuddly and Lian

[harleyhahn]

I like this hair so much...its a little bit freaky

[Wulfie]

Monsieur K never ceases to amaze me



Cool


.

[Saxen]

hmmm. I think I shall be trying a few steamy things with my girls' hair in the near future

[Ursa_Major]

Great tip Karrot, I might try it with one of my girls' old wigs.

[poppy70]

Thank you for sharing this knowledge with us.
I’ve got a portable steam cleaner, let’s give it a try if it works.

poppy