Question about wig staining?

Hello! Recently, I've been thinking of putting my Standard Model Miko's original wig back on (it's Volks' choco purple color), but I was worried about staining from the wig. I got a wig cap for her to prevent stains from the dark cap in the wig, but I was wondering if the bangs are also a stain risk as well? Has anyone experienced staining from the hair fibers themselves instead of the wig caps? If so, is there anything to do to prevent it instead of trying to remove the stains afterwards? (I would be worried about stain removers like Dream Rescue damaging the faceup)

Thank you!

I could be wrong so please take this with a grain of salt, but if I’m correct, generally synthetic wig fibers do not stain because the pigment is “baked in” the plastic? So it should probably be fine, I haven’t really heard many concerns about the fiber staining as opposed to the wig cap (when it is dyed).

Howver, my understanding that wigs made of fur/alpaca/mohair/etc. are much more likely to stain because they’ve been dyed and thus the color can transfer a lot easier.

Edited November 8, 2022 by chantelle

33 minutes ago, chantelle said:

I could be wrong so please take this with a grain of salt, but if I’m correct, generally synthetic wig fibers do not stain because the pigment is “baked in” the plastic? So it should probably be fine, I haven’t really heard many concerns about the fiber staining as opposed to the wig cap (when it is dyed).

Howver, my understanding that wigs made of fur/alpaca/mohair/etc. are much more likely to stain because they’ve been dyed and thus the color can transfer a lot easier.

Thank you for your reply! This generally is what I've seen on other threads about staining, that the wig cap is the main culprit behind stains. I just wanted confirmation since most people will just say that a wig stains without showing pics of the stain, so I was always a bit worried about bangs. This makes me much more comfortable about putting her original wig on ☺️

Also I didn't know that about natural fiber wigs though, that's good to know! I'm assuming that also probably applies to yarns made of those materials as well, so I'll have to be careful when crocheting stuff for my girls. Thank you!

I don’t know about Miko’s wig, but I’ve heard and seen pictures of Alice Kuonji’s wig staining, particularly the forehead where the bangs are, so it seems like it is possible for the fibers to stain.

It’s the number one reason I won’t use her original wig and instead got her one in a similar style from Dollce.

Synthetic fiber wigs only stain in the cap area and not from the hair strands themselves UNLESS the wig has additional color added with chalks. I believe Leeke did this at one point with a few of their art wigs, but they generally said if they were made like this. Volks notably did this with Chihaya Kisaragi's default wig, but it was an unpopular move due to the staining. A normal chocolate purple wig should only be an issue in the cap, but if you're worried you could try rubbing the hair on something to see if any color comes off. If not you should be good. I don't personally have their choco purple color but I do use one of their natural colored wigs on one of my girls and the issue is only in the black wig cap.

My Standard Model Mirai wears her standard dark brown wig. She's wearing a headcap because the wig cap itself is a similarly dark color and while I didn't have her out on display for very long (a few weeks in total maybe) she's second hand and has, as of yet, not been stained by the fibers of her wig whatsoever!

Personally, I was under the impression that the fibers don't/can't stain. Whenever I saw pictures of stained heads it often showed a dark circle or halo around the head, where the elastic of the wig cap pressed against the vinyl.

Not my picture

Even on this otherwise pretty badly stained head you can see that the staining 'stopped' with the wig cap. There are one or two tiny splotches on the forehead, but it's hard to tell if those are stains or just some dust/debris/picture grain.