Curling Wigs

Alexandra Jordan forwarding a question for Lena
For a costume I am doing, I found a wig at the Salvation Army, lovely dreadfull red, shoulder length with a slight curl. I want more curl. I want him to have that Durer self portrait look. Can I just curl it with curlers? I know I can't use heat. Anyone played with synthetic wigs?

Karen Dick
Pass on to her that synthetic wigs want to retain what curl (or lack thereof) they have, and that any restyling will be difficult, if not impossible.

I don't mean to sound discouraging, but whatever curl is in the wig was heat-set in the factory, and just wetting the hair and using ordinary curlers is not going to accomplish anything.

She can try using a curling iron, but I would recommend not leaving the synthetic hair in it for long, as I don't know at what point the fiber will frizz / melt / fuse.

My only experience with synthetic wigs was trying to take the curl *out* of a pageboy style wig (i.e., make it straighter). We tried wetting it, combing it, ironing it, and drawing the fibers through a warm curling iron. We only managed to get out about half as much curl as we'd wanted to.

Mysteri
As a doll maker, I have found the following procedures work best.

Pin the wig or piece to a styrofoam head or "block" so you can work on it.
Select rollers of the proper size to re-set your wig's curls. Wire mesh rollers are best.
Wet the entire wig with lukewarm water and set the curls. Use perm papers, which you can get at a beauty supply house or wig salon, to protect the ends of the wig hair. Use plenty of rollers with a little hair in each for best curly wig results.
Take the pinned up wig to the sink basin. If you have a spray nozzle at your basin it is best to "spray" the hottest tap water on each set curl for about 3-4 seconds. This process, relaxes the wig hair without damaging the wig like a curling iron.
When you are done relaxing all the wig's curls, immediately spray each curl, in approximately the same order as you "relaxed" them with icy cold tap water. You can also use a mist bottle, filled with some ice and water. This "freezes" the wig's curl into a new semi-permanent curl pattern.
Allow your wig hair to air dry overnight, and when dry, take down the rollers. Now you've re-set your wig's curls the most professional way possible.

Another way to go about it is to set the hair on rollers and then using your iron shoot a burst of steam at the hair. Let it cool before removing rollers. I have done this to synthetic wigs and hair I have wefted before and it works well.

If you are leery about using the steam from your iron, you can place it in the bathroom with hot water running close by and use the steam from that, but it doesn't work as well as the steam from a steam iron.

Hope this helps

Janice Dallas
For theater, when we want to reuse the wigs later in their normal state, we're more apt to use an extremely firm-hold hairspray to set the curls, as well as control them after the rollers come out. I use smaller, smooth rollers (hair won't rip or stick) and make sure that the wig hair is dry before removing them.

If you have any further information to share about this topic, please e-mail Carole Parker for inclusion.