How to Dye Synthetic Hair
By Cynthia Taylor
For whatever reason you choose to wear a synthetic wig, sometimes you are not able to obtain one in the exact shade you want. The alternative is to buy a wig and dye it. Choose a good quality hair piece, the price will be well worth it.
Difficulty: Moderately easy
Things you will need:
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A plastic bowl, don’t use a metallic bowl
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Plastic comb
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Disposable gloves
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A nylon brush
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An apron or overall to protect your clothes
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A waterproof wig stand or place a piece of plastic over a conventional head block before placing hair piece on it
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Pins to secure the hair piece
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Plastic clips to secure hair
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Cream color developer from any leading brand such as Revlon, L’Oreal, Clairol etc.
Choosing the synthetic hair piece you wish to dye:
Step 1:
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Choose a good quality synthetic hair piece.
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Choose a shade lighter than the shade you desire
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Or choose a light shade synthetic hair piece. You cannot lighten dark synthetic hair but you can darken light synthetic hair.
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Price is usually a consideration when choosing a quality synthetic hair piece. The cheapest hair pieces will usually be of poor quality. A middle of the range price you should be able to pick up a reasonable quality hair piece.
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When Looking for quality a synthetic hair piece check the weft of the piece, good quality hair piece will be finely wefted, this means that hair is sewn and evenly distributed throughout the hair piece. A poor quality hair piece will have the hair sewn in an uneven distribution.
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Shop around and don’t settle for the first hair piece you see. If you examine different hair pieces you will notice differences in quality.
Dying the hair piece:
Step 1:
Preparation:
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Put on deposable gloves and apron to protect you.
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In a plastic bowl mix the cream color according to manufacturers instructions.
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Secure the hair piece to the head block with pins.
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Using the plastic comb, comb through the hair piece to remove any tangles.
Step 2:
The dying process:
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Starting from the top, section off the hair piece into sections to be colored. Secure each piece with plastic clips.
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Starting from the base of the neck area, removing the plastic clips from one section at a time, using the plastic brush, brush cream hair color beginning at the root and brushing out to the end of the fibers.
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Do each section layering it over the previous section until all sections are completed.
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Run comb through to evenly distribute the color through the fibers.
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Wait 10 minutes for color to set.
Step 3:
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Rinse under faucet until all crème color is removed from the hair, don’t rub or tangle the hair.
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Shampoo and condition in the normal way
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Put back on head block and leave to dry naturally.
Tips:
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Adding a few drops of “Red out” to the dye mixture will eliminate unwanted red tones.
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Use a platinum blond hair piece, this will give you a good base to work from is it will have minimum ‘color clash’ than if you use a darker shade.
Warnings:
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Use latex gloves when using cream colorings particularly if you have sensitive skin.
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Don’t mix different dye products, different chemical compounds in the various dyes can result in potentially harmful reaction which could be dangerous to your health.
References:
Choosing hair pieces and dying process: Hairdresser friend Carol.
Resources:
Cut out and keep project:
cutoutandkeep.net/projects/how_to_dye_a_synthetic_wig
Wigs hairpieces to choose from: bestwigoutlet.com/
Photo Credits
imarketingbiz.net/wp-content/themes/revolution_tech-30/images/Hairdye.gif
Keywords
Synthetic hair
How to dye synthetic hair
How to dye a synthetic hair piece
