How to Wash and Care for Your Synthetic Hairpiece

Synthetic Hair. Photo: AliExpress

What is Synthetic Hair?

Before finding out what synthetic hair is, start with a brief background of human hair. As can be known, human hair is made from a protein, called keratin. And, the keratin is known as a natural polymer.

In contrast, synthetic hair contains man-made fibers. But it nearly looks like human hair and is quite hard to differentiate between them. However, different from human hair, synthetic hair is created from man-made polymers and plastics instead of keratin.

They come in ponytails, clip-in extensions, and funky and natural colors. They can be worn every day for full, luxurious hair or for that occasional night out. Synthetic hairpieces and wigs come in all shapes and styles. If you're like most people, you've bought one of those cute, cheap little things in the mall at least once and worn it until it began to resemble a rat's nest. Or maybe that was just me. But whether you bought a $20 or a $2,000 hairpiece, there is a level of care that must be maintained in order to keep it looking (and smelling) beautiful.

Synthetic Hair Care

Imagine you woke up one morning and realized that there isn’t a single hair on your head! How tragic will it be? The idea itself can be scary. A head full of hair at night but nothing but barrenness in the morning! Utterly traumatic!

This idea may seem far fetched and ridiculous, a hyperbole you could say. But is it really that far from the real picture? Though we deny it and pretend to not acknowledge this problem, it doesn’t make the problem go away.

A lot of us face this problem. In today’s age, individuals are stressed. There is an imbalance in our diet and our sleep. Sometimes it’s genetic or due to a medical condition. But the problem of alopecia or losing our hair, be it a couple of strands daily or a more acute hair loss, It is happening and it is quite real.

Hair is not just an extension on our head. It is a part of our personality. It has importance for our positive self image. It is not only to look attractive for others but to feel attractive to ourselves. To feel confident and take pride in the way we look. Hair loss can have a great impact on a person’s psyche and personality. We need to understand its importance in social interaction and self esteem.

As of today, to minimize the effect of this problem there are some solutions like hair implantation, hormone therapy, use of human hair wigs, synthetic wigs and hair pieces. A lot of research is being conducted in this field. Out of these the use of wigs and hairpieces are the safest and have no side effects or health hazards, as cited by Prohairlabs.

How to Take Care of Synthetic Hair?

Washing Synthetic Hair

Shampooing your synthetic hair once per 2 weeks is proper. But, if you don’t apply any hair styling products like hairspray, you can completely wait for a month until the next washing.

At first, before shampooing, you need to brush the synthetic hair carefully. Prepare a sink full of warm or cold water. What about hot water? In fact, hot water can change the style of synthetic hair, so avoid it when washing.

Add a little of shampoo into the water you have prepared, then wash your synthetic hair gently.

Avoid brushing your hair with your fingers since it can change the texture of the synthetic hair. Wait for around 10 minutes after removing and rinsing gently. Always be sure that you rinse your piece in the same direction as the synthetic hair lies.

Conditioning Synthetic Hair

Synthetic hair is not like your own natural hair. Synthetic hair fibers are smooth and do not have any way to hold moisture. In order to keep it looking and feeling great, you must use a conditioner, and a light leave-in conditioning spray is recommended. Without conditioner, the hair gets a dry and crunchy feeling. It will stick up all over the place and become difficult to brush or comb out.

Some leave-in conditioners for synthetic hair also contain UV protection to keep the color true for longer. They come in travel sizes, so you can give your hair a little spritz anytime, anywhere.

You should purchase an oil conditioner. Then rinse off 90% and leave just a little of the conditioner to stop tangling.

Drying Synthetic Hair

Photo: Lush Wigs

It is the fact that no drying methods are better than air drying for synthetic hair. Never blow dry the synthetic hair despite any reasons. Firstly, blow drying the hair can change its textures forever. Besides, it also leads to a variety of damages like tangling or even destroying the extensions completely. So, all you need to do is just to put the hair in a towel and then wait until it is dry.

Style Synthetic Hair

In fact, there is still a few of synthetic hair specially made to be able to use with hoot tools. If you are possess such synthetic hair, be sure to turn on a cool setting or a low temperature setting when using flat irons or curling irons. If not, the hair will be actually melt. How terrible it is! Therefore, you need to be careful with these hot tools if you want to style your synthetic hair.

Brushing Synthetic Hair

Photo: Wigs

After you synthetic hair is dry totally, brush it with a bristle brush to get rid of knots. If you want to make the hair extension softer, use some leave-in conditioner. What’s more, it is necessary to apply an oil-shine spray that is formulated for synthetic hair. This will contribute to stopping the synthetic hair from dry and dull.

Use Heat on it or Not?

Synthetic hair cannot handle heat, so turn off the curling or flat iron and be careful of ovens and barbecue grills! Tiki torches have also been known to cause heat damage to synthetic ponytails. A good wig stylist may be able to salvage a hairpiece with minimal heat damage, but for the most part, it's best to just keep your head away from any heat source, according to Bellator.

How to Store Synthetic Hair

Photo: Bellatory

If you are going to put your hairpiece away for any considerable length of time, you should wash and thoroughly condition the hair before storing it.

Once it is completely dry, store it in a box (a plastic bag is not a good place to store a hairpiece) with a lid in a place that will get no warmer than 78 degrees Fahrenheit.

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