Wig Curling Tutorial
Now, we've all had the problem. You wear a wig several times, and after brushing it, the curls start to wilt. While this often results in a nice wavy look, sometimes you just want those pretty curls back. No fear, because it is possible!
This method works on both heat resistant and non heat resistant wigs. The wig in this tutorial is non heat resistant. It's been worn and brushed a lot, and I wanted to get the curls back.
What you need:
~Heat set curlers (You want the kind that sit in a caddy and heat up)
~A brush
~A wighead, or something else to put the wig on (I've used a lamp before, just make sure it's not on!) You just need something to hold the wig with the fibre hanging down.
~Hairspray (Optional, it really depends on how stiff you want the curls to be)
Step One
Brush your wig. I use a lot of detangler and just go to town to get all the tangles out. Otherwise, there will be problems while you curl. You'll then want to pin the wig onto your wig head, or set it up wherever you're going to be curling it.
Here is my wig, brushed out and pinned to the wig head. As you can see, the curls have relaxed due to being brushed several times.
Step Two
Heat up your curlers. Most have an indicator that will let you know when they are fully heated, though this depends on the set you are using.
Step Three
Time to curl! Take a brush or comb and separate smaller pieces and brush them out nicely, without tangles. If you're using hairspay, mist the piece before you put it on the roller. I always start from the top using the smaller sized rollers and get bigger as I go towards the base/neck area of the wig. Carefully wrap the piece of hair around the roller and roll up. Be sure to keep it taught as you roll the curler up.When you reach the top of the wig, use the clip to hold the curler in place.
Piece of hair, you want it smooth like shown here
Rolling the hair. Make sure to keep it tight!
You'll want to do this with all the hair on the wig. Take your time and be careful. If you find that one of the curlers doesn't look right when you roll it up, pull it out and redo it (if the curler seems like it has cooled, pop in back in the case and let it reheat).
Once you've done the whole head, it should look like this:
Step Four
Wait. You need to let the curlers cool completely. The heating and then cooling of the fibres is what allows the curl to hold. This will probably take 30 minutes to an hour. Go watch a TV show, check facebook, make lunch, whatever.
If you're using hairspray you might want to do a light misting while it's cooling, but don't do too much.
Step Five
Remove the curlers.
Do this carefully. Remove the clip and gently allow the hair to loosen and then pull the curler out gently. If possible, don't unroll the curler, since it can cause the curl to get wonky. If anything, hold the curler vertical and then unroll the curl while keeping it vertical to preserve the shape of the curl.
Ta da! Your wig should be curled like new!
You may want to mist the wig with hairspray to help hold the curl, but this depends upon your personal preference.
As long as you're careful, you should be able to do this multiple times on the same wig. I've done wigs several times with no real trouble with the fibres.
Bonus:
Here's a pic of me wearing another recurled wig, this is in the evening after spending the day at Disneyland, so as you can see, it holds up well.
I hope this was useful! Thanks for looking!