Caring for your european hair wig   by Christine Hanson

What can I say, as usual I am swimming upstream, going against conventional "wisdom" because I think about things and they don't make sense to me...

The other day I did an informal search about caring for expensive wigs, and came across several sites that suggested the wig be pinned to a styrofoam head before washing, then sprayed with warm water, shampoo applied to the hair, rinsed thoroughly, conditioned and dried on the head.

It has been my experience that this method carries great risk in stretching the fine net of the cap of the wig, first by pinning it to the head, then by applying the water and products to the wig as it is pinned.

Not only has a lot of money been invested in having a custom wig made, but also there is a time investment in waiting for your wig to be created for you and I would think one would want to protect that investment and not wear it out unnecessarily. For this and other reasons I suggest the following:

1. Gently brush (with wig loop brush) your wig so that all tangles are removed.

2. Take a covered elastic band, gather the hair together just below the cap area and secure with the band. There are bands that one can purchase that have 2 hooks and secure easier that the usual round band. If the hair is short, just gather the base of the wig and secure at the bottom.

3. Dilute shampoo for color treated hair with 50% water, then using a tint bottle apply the mixture directly to the cap and hair, saturating thoroughly. Gently work shampoo mixture through cap and loose hair always working from the cap to the ends.

4. Once hair has been cleaned,release the elastic band, rinse with cool water spraying down from the cap to the ends of the hair.

5. Follow shampoo with diluted (50/50) conditioner (for damaged hair) and water, saturate all hair. Leave 5 minutes. Comb conditioner/water mixture through with a wide toothed comb.

6. Rinse again thoroughly with cool water, working from base to ends.

7. Wrap wig in an absorbent towel and twist the towel gently to get as much water as possible out of the hair. Sometimes I stand on the towel to blot out as much water as possible.

8. Hang the wig clipped to a hanger with clothes pins and allow it to dry so that air will circulate throughout the base of the wig. Drying the wig this was not only allows the cap to retain its shape, the wig will dry much faster and can not mold as it can if the wig is dried on a head.

Protect your investment, keep your wig in shape, and have it ready to wear in no time!

www.chrisforhair.com