Thursday 21 April 2011

Dyeing a Wig for the First Time

So, last week I blogged about giving my Odeco the BLEACH dip-dye look and I got around to it this week...



I actually selected a Dylon hand-dye colour called Tropical Green and as you can see it hasn't taken especially well. I'm not sure if this is down to whatever has set the hair in its crimped style or simply because this dye isn't made for synthetic materials. 

I used plenty of salt to set the dye and also added some vinegar as recommended by a member of BK. The vinegar did make it go weirdly frothy and smell awful though! It took a lot of dipping and washing to get this pale colour so next time I would definitely get hold of a dye suitable for synthetics to see if I can get a bolder colour. I had been considering ipoly but I have since read that acid dyes are much better for dying nylon, which is what I am intending to practice dying next.



Having said all that, this pale colour is really growing on me and makes me think of how a mermaid might style her hair, if in fact they existed! It's lovely and soft but I veer between "it looks pretty" to "it looks dirty". 

If you have any tips for dyeing synthetic doll hair please leave them in the comments section - thanks in advance!

2 comments:

  1. First of all: I love the pale pastel look!

    Second: I only use Rit Dye for synthetic hair. I use LOADS of salt (a whole cup) and a few splashes of vinegar essence (!). And laundry detergent! Some people use clear dish soap instead of laundry detergent, but I have only found colorful dish soaps around here, so I couldn't try it yet. The vinegar opens the fiber for the dye, so it's essential! Smells awful, but you'll get rid of the smell eventually. The salt and laundry detergent help sealing the dye, so it doesn't bleed out afterwards.

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  2. Hi Becca - thank you for your advice! It is just what I need! I can't wait to give dyeing another go and fingers crossed it'll work out better next time :D

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