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Has your doll bestie been out again in the humidity or rain and acquired frizzy hair as a result? Is she too embarrassed to meet ‘Ken’ with her bushy hair?
Like us, a doll’s hair can easily become tangled over time. Yet, unlike us, they require a different special kind of care and products.
So, read on to find out the different common doll hair types and simple steps on how to fix frizzy doll hair. Plus, things to avoid with doll hair and human products that can be used on dolls.
Different Types of Doll Hair
Depending on your doll’s hair type, it can affect how you should relax doll hair and to maintain it. The most common doll hair types include:
Human Hair
People’s hair can be harvested after haircuts for many purposes, including the use of it to make doll hair. The human hair strands are usually sewn into a wig-like cap or base made of mesh material.
Dolls with human hair are generally expensive and require delicate maintenance because their wig base usually requires removal from the doll’s head to straighten or clean it.
Mohair
Originating from the skins of Angora goats, mohair is commonly considered to be almost human-like due to its similar structure and consistency.
Therefore, mohair is usually styled and cared for in the same way as human hair but with more caution, and mohair is usually glued onto the doll’s head instead of on a wig base.
Plus, do not cut mohair because it is expensive to replace.
Mohair is often used on reborn and silicone baby dolls.
Synthetic Hair
Fibers that have been spun into a particular shape are referred to as synthetic fibers. They are made to look like human hair.
Most modern dolls carry this hair type including Baby Alive and many inexpensive reborn dolls.
Caring for a doll with a synthetic wig requires separating the wig base from the doll’s head.
Wool Hair
Also known as caracol hair type, this style appears as short fur with curls and is glued to a wig base. The wool hair originates from the skins of Persian lambs and Karakul sheep.
It is commonly used for infant dolls and male toddler dolls.
No liquids should be used to clean wool doll hair because water can cause matting of the hair and weaken the glue. on dolls but rather, consider talcum powder or cornstarch for the doll’s hair.
Then, a clean toothbrush can gently scrape away the powders.
Yarn Hair
Most dolls that were made during the 70s and 80s carry yarn-like hair, such as Cabbage Patch Dolls and many rag dolls.
Such yarns are typically woven into the doll’s head or glued on and the yarn types include those that feel coarse and those that are finer and thinner.
Heed extreme caution when caring for yarn-hair dolls because they should never be brushed since the yarn fibers will loosen up.
Also, sometimes yarn doll hair can develop mildew when wet. If washing is needed, use Woolite or fabric softener on the yarn material.
Things To Avoid With Doll Hair
It can be easy to forget that our unblinking pal is essentially not a person. Yet, keep in mind that not everything we use for our hair should be applied to a doll’s hair, including:
- No human hairbrush: People’s hair naturally produces oil and by transferring our brush onto a doll’s hair, it can create more dirt and bacteria on both our hair and the doll’s. So, any small hairbrush is recommended for your doll.
- No warm water: It is recommended to stick with cool water instead of warm water to wash or detangle your doll’s frizzy hair. Warm water may make curls fall or weaken the glue on the doll’s wig base.
- No high heat: Hairstyling tools, such as hair straighteners, blow dryers, and curling irons, can potentially melt or harm the doll’s hair. Also, for dolls with human hair, heat tools should be cautiously applied with very low heat.
Products To Use for Doll Hair
There are some common household products to consider to help you straighten doll hair, including:
- Baby detangle spray can be used for dolls with minor hair tangles or frizz
- Baby shampoo and/or conditioner are mild soap solutions that are gentle on the doll’s hair.
- Fabric softener is often used as a ‘shampoo’ to relax doll hair, especially if it is intensely damaged, tangled, or frizzy.
- Baking soda: For dolls with smelly hair, a teaspoon of baking soda added to a bowl of mild soap and cool water may help to eliminate the odor.
- Haircare tools that are metal, such as wide-toothed metal combs, soft bristle brushes, and metal bristle comb and brush (e.g. fine tooth), are sturdy and effective in detangling frizzy dolls hairs as they don’t easily get stuck in the mess, unlike weak plastic bristles. Although metal clips are prone to breaking synthetic doll hair.
8 Steps On How To Fix Frizzy Doll Hair
As modern-day dolls are more popular in the playpen, this section lays out eight steps on how to fix frizzy doll hair for dolls with synthetic hair.
Step 1
Whether you’re simply brushing through your doll’s hair to eliminate the frizz or giving her a bath to also straighten out her hair, remove all her accessories and clothes.
You don’t want any hair stuck to her fabric while cleaning her.
Step 2
Lie down your doll with her hair stretched out on the surface. Part her hair into 2 or more parts to prepare for easier detangling. Dolls larger than a Barbie may require 4 or more sections.
Step 3
Mix cool water with liquid fabric softener and pour into a spray bottle. The mixture should be half and half.
Alternatively, you can consider baby shampoo or conditioner to make combing through your doll’s hair easier.
Step 4
Using the home mixture, shake well and then spray on each section of the doll’s hair until they feel damp.
In this manner, the specially formulated moisture will soften the synthetic hair for easier brushing.
Step 5
For each divided hair section, brush one at a time. Using a small comb or brush with soft or metal bristles, start brushing upwards from the lower hair ends while holding down the doll’s head with your other hand.
Otherwise, you risk pulling out some of her hair. Ultimately, you will know if your doll’s hair completely detangles when you work your way back around to brush smoothly through all the sections at once.
Step 6
Afterward, make sure you rinse out your doll’s hair thoroughly with cool water to remove the fabric softener.
You should do so by holding the doll’s hair under the running faucet and use your fingers as a comb to remove any chemicals and dirt.
Step 7
Proceed to formally wash your doll’s hair with a bowl of cool water mixed with gentle or mild soap. The bowl must be large enough to dip the doll’s hair into.
A few drops of the soap will do and don’t forget to mix her ‘bath’ well.
To wash the doll’s hair with the bowl of water and soap, simply dip the doll’s hair into the mixture and swish her hair around underwater (Tip: Too much swirling of the doll’s hair in water will have little to no effect).
At the same time, comb through her hair in the water to detangle some more and lather in the soap. It should be about 30 seconds or until the entire hair is wet.
Step 8
Repeat step 6 with the rinsing of the doll’s hair to now remove all the soap. Use cool and clean water.
Let the doll’s hair air-dry overnight while lying her down on a small towel. However, midway or while her hair is still damp, brush through it once more to further remove any leftover tangles.
Otherwise, brushing doll hair that is dripping wet will be harder to glide through (Tip: After all the washing and rinsing, your doll may still carry some split ends.
So, consider trimming it with any scissors or curling the ends to hide the frizzy bottom.
Related Questions
Can you curl a doll’s hair?
It is possible to curl a doll’s hair with a curling iron but only if done in an extremely cautious manner. Otherwise, the risk of curling a doll’s hair with the high heat tool is much bigger.
The high level of heat can burn, melt, or damage the doll’s hair.
Can you straighten a doll’s hair?
It is possible to straighten doll hair but only if done very cautiously and properly, including using the lowest heat setting.