Over the years, the quality of synthetic wigs have improved immensely.
They’ve gone from super shiny, cheap looking replicas of human hair wigs, to wigs that are actually comparable—and sometimes even better—than their more expensive counterparts.
But no matter how great they are, they still have the tendency to become tangled, matted messes after just a few months of regular wear.
This, of course, can be fixed pretty easily.
With a little bit of this and a little bit of that, you can restore your synthetic wig right back to its former glory.
Here are 6 tips to make your old, worn out wig look good as new.
Invest in a good hair dryer brush.
Since synthetic wigs are now being made with premium fibers, them not being able to handle heat is quickly becoming a thing of the past.
However, there are still a few limits around how you should apply heat when it comes to properly restoring your wigs.
A flat iron on low heat is fine, but when you have a whole lot of matting and tangling going on, a hair dryer brush is your best bet.
You’ll be able to simultaneously straighten the wig and loosen up all tangles and knotting in the process.
Try the fabric softener to soften synthetic fibers.
Using fabric softener to soften up a stiff wig is actually one of the oldest tricks in the book.
Think of it like this: fabric softeners to synthetic wigs are what deep conditioners are to natural hair.
Simply put, hair products might not work how they’re supposed to on your wig because the hair is not human—but the fabric softener knows what to do with plastic fibers.
All you have to do is do a quick soak like you would with a small load of clothes, rinse, and then air dry.
If you’re not a fan of your hair smelling like fresh laundry, try a hypoallergenic or unscented fabric softener, instead.
Revive curls with flexi and perm rods.
A lot of synthetic wigs these days take to curling irons and wands very well, but just in case yours doesn’t—have some flexi and perm rods on hand.
This gives you the opportunity to be super versatile with the type of curl you put in your wig.
Plus, if you don’t like how it turned out, you can brush them out and try again.
Keep in mind that synthetic hair will not set like human hair, so you’ll have to go the extra mile of securely rodding your and then dipping it in boiling hot water so that the curls can form.
As long as you let it dry completely, you’ll be good to go.
Use crochet hair to your advantage.
Sometimes synthetic wigs thin out as you wear them.
Of course, you can just throw them out once they get to this point, but if you’re really in a bind, don’t hesitate to crochet some additional hair into the empty or sparse spots.
This method wouldn’t work so well with a human hair wig, but because there’s nothing but artificial hair fibers involved, you should be able to add more strands and style it afterward.
Just make sure you invest in a higher quality crochet hair if you plan to style with heat, hair products, or boiling water afterward.
Fix torn lace with iron on fabric patches.
Ripped lace is like the ring of death for a synthetic wig because most of us operate under the assumption that it can’t be fixed or disguised.
Lucky for us, that’s not at all true! Depending on how big the tear or hole is, you should be able to patch it up with fabric.
Go to your nearest arts and crafts store and invest in small, iron-on fabric patches.
Cut them as small as you need them and iron them to the inside of your wig cap.
Voila! Your lace is foundational repaired! For some extra security, you can glue the patch on.
You see? All is not lost with your old synthetic wig! Follow these 5 steps and you’ll be back in business in no time!
Oh and if you want to see how Fehinti in our lead picture slayed her wig, watch below:
