How Do You Style/Maintain Your Doll's Wigs?

I'm wondering what everyone does to maintain and/or style their doll's wigs.

What might you use to keep the wig smooth and mostly without tangles and flyaway hairs? Or do most people not use any products and just brush the hair? I've seen that Volks has a few products in their store, but their products don't ship outside Japan according to their product page. Are there any alternatives to these? I'm not looking for a magic solution to anything, just wondering what other people do, or if people do anything at all with wig maintenance aside from brushing.

I'm also wondering how people tie their doll's hair? Just for simple ponytails or twintails and the like, maybe simple braids too. Nothing high tied as I've heard that can damage wigs quite easily. Do you just use some rubber bands? How big are they if so? Or what else might you use to tie hairstyles like these?

Thanks for any help 🙂

Perhaps not the most helpful, as I haven't tried any of these personally yet, but I have heard that toothbrushes make decent doll brushes, and that fabric softener (heavily diluted in water) can be used to wash/detangle them. 

  On 3/17/2024 at 3:26 PM, Imawerecat said:

Perhaps not the most helpful, as I haven't tried any of these personally yet, but I have heard that toothbrushes make decent doll brushes, and that fabric softener (heavily diluted in water) can be used to wash/detangle them. 

I’ve already been using a soft toothbrush for a hairbrush and it works well enough. I did pull out a few stands while brushing it after I did a windy day photoshoot though (never doing that with loose hair again lol). Might have to try the fabric softener if that happens again.

  On 3/17/2024 at 11:42 PM, Azurluna said:

I did pull out a few stands while brushing it

If it's a relatively new wig, they often still have a few loose strands that will come out over time. If it's not bunches, that's nothing to worry about.

 

  On 3/17/2024 at 3:26 PM, Imawerecat said:

but I have heard that toothbrushes make decent doll brushes

In my experience, toothbrushes tend to make more of a mess than a comb. I usually use one of these small Azone combs, but a new/clean human sized comb should do just fine.

If i have too much static build-up (mostly long wigs with very thin strands), I use some wig oil (Azone, Volks and Dollce basically offer the same product here). I spray it into the comb and then comb it in.

  On 3/18/2024 at 1:21 AM, Tierparkzone said:

If it's a relatively new wig, they often still have a few loose strands that will come out over time.

I was wondering if this was the case,  good to know it’s not something to worry about. I’ll have to see if I can find some sort of comb too, looks like a good idea. I’ll have to keep looking for the oil though, seems a bit hard to come by. Out of stock on Azone’s website for now and Volks doesn’t seem to ship it outside Japan.

  On 3/18/2024 at 10:15 PM, Azurluna said:

I’ll have to keep looking for the oil though, seems a bit hard to come by. Out of stock on Azone’s website for now and Volks doesn’t seem to ship it outside Japan.

A lot of places won’t ship it overseas because of the ingredients, even though they’re not actually flammable or restricted. Azone’s doll oil mist is literally just rebranded Aerobon, so if you can find that, you can use it instead since it’s the same thing.