So, lately, I've been seeing a lot of people using human hair products to wash and care for their dolls' hair...and I mean, I will preface this by saying you do you and I'm not going to stop you from doing whatever you want with your own dolls.
But I will give you the lowdown on why this is a really bad idea for most dolls and which playline dolls have which hair fibers.
You want to be very careful which dolls you use human shampoos on and which shampoos you choose to use on them.
Synthetic doll hair is plastic. Coated plastic. Nylon, Saran, Kanekalon etc.
Human shampoos, particularly cheap ones, are apt to be very, very harsh and will in fact strip the coating of the synthetic hair. This will dry it out and leave you with frizz. Specifically if you're using shampoos from the dollar store. If you want to spend the money on salon grade shampoos to wash your dolls' hair, be my guest. I do, I have high quality conditioners I use on my American Girls and baby shampoos I use for some of my porcelains and vintage dolls with more delicate hair.
If you have a doll like Rainbow High that has an absolutely ridiculous amount of gel in the hair, you can use:
- Dawn or other dish washing detergent, this will take out any unwanted crap without ruining the hair.
- Turpenoid Natural paint brush cleaner that has a conditioner built in - this will take the glue and gel out and eliminate the conditioning step from your routine. Stay away from straight turpentine and other paint thinners unless you're trying to remove your doll's facepaint though.
- Goo gone - While this does work for getting stubborn "goo" off your dolls, it does have an odor to it and it can be harsh. Use this one sparingly, don't make it your go to unless you have no other choice.
- Hand soap...it will actually clean the hair although it's more mild and less likely to work on things like Mattel's glue-hair-syndrome.
- Fabric softener in place of conditioner, it's literally meant for use on synthetic fibers...Just avoid this one on dolls with human hair, mohair or human grade Kanekalon hair, it doesn't rinse out as nicely as it does other fibers. Sticking to actual human hair conditioners for these guys is probably best.
If you're just working with cleaning your dolls and don't really have stubborn gel, glue etc. to wash out, you can simply use:
- Hand soap; this one is a good all purpose disinfectant/cleaner for dolls in need of a little TLC
- Dish detergent in small amounts; this is just a good one in general with no ill effect on any of the dolls I've used it on.
- Baby shampoos; these are made to be far more gentle than adult shampoos, can be bought at the dollar store and work well for washing dolls' hair. They can also be used on mohair, human hair and human grade Kanekalon without hassle. This one I recommend without fail for reborn dolls, you only need a little bit and a soft bristle brush to clean a reborn doll's hair just like you would an actual baby's hair.
- Salon quality shampoos, these will cost more but as they're better for your hair and not meant to strip your hair, they're less likely to strip your dolls' hair and leave them frizzy. Especially if you happen to use the companion conditioner.
- White vinegar mixed with water; This one is good for the body more than the hair, but it can and will help eliminate odors and generally clean dolls both body and hair. Good for older dolls that you don't want to use harsh chemicals on.
- Oxy clean - Another good one for working on glue hair, but a soak in this also has the potential to deal with odors and take stubborn goop out of doll hair without ruining it.
If you can't identify your doll's hair to be human grade Kanekalon, human hair or high quality Nylon fibers, stay far away from heat styling. You'll want to use the boil methods for other fibers like Saran and lower end Kanekalons...the water keeps the heat from permanently damaging these more sensitive fibers.
For the fibers that can stand heat styling, you really should have a curling iron or straightener with adjustable settings and try to avoid going over about 250 degrees Fahrenheit and remember to move very quickly, don't let the heat sit too long on the hair. Anything above that still has potential to melt high quality Nylon and Kanekalon.
For certain Nylon haired dolls like Rainbow High and LOL OMG, you want to avoid boil washes - for whatever reason, high quality nylon hair doesn't love boil washing and will be apt to frizz a little if left in the hot water too long.
And for Barbies 2012-2018, Monster High, Ever After High and Disney in about the same time frame that are Mattel made, you want to avoid hot water/heat in general if the head can't be easily squeezed. These dolls are apt to have glue inside their heads which will seep out the rooting holes and cause the dreaded glue hair syndrome if heated whether it be water or dry. It can be washed out, but if you were heat styling, the wash out process will undo your style anyway.
For reference:
- Barbie (Wavy Hair 2000s and onward, straight hair 2015 onward) - Usually Saran
- Barbie (straight hair pre-2015, wavy hair 1980s-90s) - Usually Kanekalon
- Barbie Dreamtopia (Pre 2018) - Saran
- Barbie Dreamtopia (2019- and Fashionistas with fantasy hair) - Polypropelene
- Bratz (Pre-2010) - Saran
- Bratz (2010 onward) - Low Quality Nylon
- Moxie Girlz - Low Quality Nylon
- Moxie Teenz - Saran
- Liv World - Kanekalon
- Snapstars - Kanekalon/Nylon depending on the doll
- Creatable World - Saran
- My Scene (Wavy Hair except Barbie) -Saran
- My Scene (Wavy Hair Barbie; white blonde) -Kanekalon
- My Scene (Straight Hair) - Kanekalon
- LOL Surprise/OMG - High Quality Nylon
- Rainbow Surprise - High Quality Nylon
- Rainbow High - High Quality Nylon
- NaNaNa Surprise - High Quality Nylon
- Disney Princess (Mattel) - Saran
- Disney Princess (Hasbro) - Nylon
- Disney Princess (Disney Store/Parks) - Saran/Nylon depending on the doll
- Disney Attractionistas - Low Quality Nylon
- Disney Animators - Nylon
- Disney Descendants - Nylon
- American Girl - High Quality Kanekalon
- Our Generation - Saran/Nylon depending on the doll
- My Life As... - Kanekalon
- Monster High - Almost Always Saran
- Ever After High - Almost Always Saran
- Fail Fix - Nylon
- WWE Superstars - Saran
- Superhero Girls - Saran
I'll add more to the list as time goes on and I remember more doll lines, but this is what I got for now.
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