Thread: Synthetic Hair Falls and Wigs: A How-To Guide

Hey there folks,

I've noticed there's alot of threads lately about synthetic hair falls/ extensions, and rather than repeat myself in all these threads, I thought to create one big one.

Feel free to add to this as well.

I've worked mostly with synthetic hair myself for various projects. From a wire headband and combs to create length to a dread fall peice to a styled wig. YMMV of course, but I can only talk about what I know.

Here are a few links if you decide to do DIY hair extensions/ falls:

Guide to synthetic hair extensions
Quinnster's Guide to Synthetic Hair Extensions. LOADS of information, not alot on Tutorials save for a few installation methods. Goes into great detail about the different qualities of synthetic hair.

fakehair - Community Profile
Live Journal Fake Hair community. Focus is mainly on dread falls (Which are great for tribal folks), as well as photo projects and ebay sellers.

Delic's Fake Hair Tutorial Page
Delic's Fake Hair Tutorials. On Live Journal, but most of the enteries are public as far as I can tell. Deals mostly with dread falls again.

Delic's Fake Hair Tutorial Page
Dr. Locks.net Hair Extension Supply Store. This girl has just about everything you need in terms of hair extensions and their shipping is SUPER fast. Dr. Locks is super easy to talk to, does colour matching and can provide expert advice on issues relating to hair extensions. She carries just about every type of hair imaginable in just about every colour of the rainbow. If you're local to her, she does offer hair extension installation services. Her pricing is also good too.

~Kaylin

Now that I have those out of the way, let's get into the meat and potatoes of synthetic hair.

All synthetic hair is made of plastic. It just ranges in quality, texture and look as you go up the rung.

Kankelon Hair: Also known as Jumbo Braid. Most synthetic hair is called this, but Kankelon is typically used for pinch braiding methods of hair installation. They're found typically in large, bulk bags at cheap prices. There's a reason for this. The hair quality is meant for braiding, hence is it very kinky and fluffy. You CAN get this stuff a little smoother than it is, but it requires alot of patience, a blow dryer and a brush that won't melt. To install them using the pinch braiding method, you also need at least 3 inches of natural hair.

Yaki Hair: Next up on the chain of quality. Yaki hair is smoother than Jumbo Braid, but still doesn't have as nice a shine to it as better quality stuff. Usually this stuff is used in hair falls (using the bun method) as bulk filler hair with silky yaki accents. Yaki hair also comes in several pre-styles waves or poker straight, and with a little bit of time and patience, you can curl yaki hair using steam, hot water or a blow dryer.

Silky Yaki: Almost the creme de la creme of the Kankelon variety of hair, silky yaky is super smooth, shiny and feels just like the refined plastic that it is. Poker straight silky yaki is usually used as an accent colour with yaki base falls. It can be a bit of a pain to work with, and I ONLY reccomend using hot water or steam with this sort of hair. a Blow dryer will make your silky yaki pretty crispy feeling, and that includes when making dreads.

**NB about Kankelon fibers: They tend to tangle and get matted fairly easily. Kankelon fibers blend easier with natural hair though.

Toyokalon: This is top notch quality hair for the most part, but you will get some sellers who will claim their product is toyokalon when really it's Kankelon. Toyokalon also is softer and shiny-er than kankelon, but doesn't quite look the same as real hair does. Majority of the time, Toyokalon hair comes pre-styled, usually with a little curl at the end.

**Microfiber Monofilament Hair: This unique style of hair fiber is offered through Dr. Locks. It is still plastic, but has more styling versatility than regular synthetic hair. I haven't worked with this stuff myself, but according to Dr. Locks, you CAN take a curling iron or a flat iron to this stuff to change the style without causing too much damage or melting your hair into a horrid mess.

~Kaylin

Tools of the trade-
A steamer, portable or otherwise (Like a tobi),
Something to anchor your symthetic hair onto,
Paddle brush or a wig brush, ** Because plastic fibers are different from real hair, how you brush synthetic hair is different from how you brush it with a wig brush. Wig brushes have their bristles usually made of metal and the bristles themselves aren't staggered like real hair bristles.
A Comb ( Preferably one you don't mind getting wrecked),
Brow dryer,
Hard Plastic curlers (NOT the velcro ones, think what your granny used to wear with the metal pins to hold them in place),
Flat Iron.

A word on using heat tools- Always set your heat tool to the LOWEST setting you can. You want the fibers to get hot, but not so much that you can't handle them. Hot just enough to loosen up the fiber and smooth the shaft or make it bend. Same goes for blow dryers.

If the ends of your extensions get ratty, you can use a blow dryer to smooth them out.
Take a comb or brush and using a blow dryer, run it through the ends to smooth them out. Move the brush quickly over the same spot several times to smooth the fibers out slowly instead of super heating them to cause a melted mess.
You can smooth out jumbo braid hair the same way.

To create loose hair falls that can be tied around a bun or your own pony tail:
Follow the instructions here. Just don't rat the ends if you're not making dreads. I've done this method myself on wire head bands and using a hot glue gun to secure the wrap instead of a heat clamp.

Making No-sew Wefts:
Can be found at Katie Bair's wig styling tutorial page here. Same sort of premise applies here. Once the on the side that isn't facing out is slightly tacky, you can add wig clips.

If you'd rather stay away from caulk getting near your head, there's a sewing version for making wefts by Neonhair. This is a time consuming process though, just be warned.

You can wash your extensions by swirling them in a bit if diluted wig shampoo, rinsing them out in tepid (Not HOT) water and letting them hair dry flat. DO NOT brush or touch the fibers until the fibers are dry. This is a sure fire way to keep the ends of your hair looking a little nicer for a while.

Store your synthetic hair in a dry plastic bag away from places of heat, moisture and dust. Preferably, the same place you store your costumes. If the extensions get static, you can use a Static Guard spray on them, or wipe them down with a dryer sheet. If they smell, a little diluted fabric softener or Fabreeze will do them no harm. Just don't do it when they're on your head. :-)

~Kaylin

Ooh, ooh, Kaylin:

I have a clip on and it's 100% polyester fiber made in Japan. It can have heat applied to it.

My question, can I color it? It's not quite the correct shade and I need more darkness added to it. I tried contacting the company, but they are not responding.

Since it's synthetic, I don't think a developer will do anything for it. Can I use a low volume developer or a drop in color or pigment straight out of the tube without the developer to add color to it? Do you know?

I've searched the website you posted and I've searched the Internet without any luck.

Thanks,

Azeeza

Azeeza,

If you want to colour it, chances are you'd have to go with a dye specific to synthetic hair Fibers. I know Katie Bair sells her formulations for wig fibers.

Katie Bair's Wig supply page. Feel free to email her and she might be able to help you out.

Just be warned that you cannot use regular Dye on synthetic hair. Not only will it react with the plastic, it won't actually dye the plastic shaft.

~Kaylin

Kaylin:

Thank you so much! I wasn't sure, so I'm glad I asked! I'll probably contact Katie.

You really provided a wealth of information that I appreciate.

Thanks again,

Azeeza

I can't find a contact e-mail. Do you know where it is by chance?

Thanks,

Azeeza

Azeeza,

Her forums are a good way to get ahold of her, as well as get information from other folks who have used her products, how-ever, you can get a quote from her:

quotes@pettingzoowigs.com

How-ever, she has been getting a backlog of emails of late from spam.

Use this form to send her an email that will by pass her heavy spam filters.

Your best bet is to try the forums though. They're open viewing, and someone may have asked your question already.

~Kaylin

These are my favorite videos I've found on making dreads:

Part 1:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XeapWqrai8&annotation_id=annotation_57778 7&feature=iv]YouTube - How to make synthetic dreads Part 1[/ame]

Part 2:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYi9kb7OboA&annotation_id=annotation_47318 1&feature=iv]YouTube - How to make synthetic dreads Part 2[/ame]

Putting them in a fall:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCNbfcVdthI]YouTube - How to make synthetic-dread falls tutorial[/ame]

Originally Posted by Kaylin

Hey there folks,

I've noticed there's alot of threads lately about synthetic hair falls/ extensions, and rather than repeat myself in all these threads, I thought to create one big one.

Feel free to add to this as well.

I've worked mostly with synthetic hair myself for various projects. From a wire headband and combs to create length to a dread fall peice to a styled wig. YMMV of course, but I can only talk about what I know.

Here are a few links if you decide to do DIY hair extensions/ falls:

Guide to synthetic hair extensions
Quinnster's Guide to Synthetic Hair Extensions. LOADS of information, not alot on Tutorials save for a few installation methods. Goes into great detail about the different qualities of synthetic hair.

fakehair - Community Profile
Live Journal Fake Hair community. Focus is mainly on dread falls (Which are great for tribal folks), as well as photo projects and ebay sellers.

Delic's Fake Hair Tutorial Page
Delic's Fake Hair Tutorials. On Live Journal, but most of the enteries are public as far as I can tell. Deals mostly with dread falls again.

Delic's Fake Hair Tutorial Page
Dr. Locks.net Hair Extension Supply Store. This girl has just about everything you need in terms of hair extensions and their shipping is SUPER fast. Dr. Locks is super easy to talk to, does colour matching and can provide expert advice on issues relating to hair extensions. She carries just about every type of hair imaginable in just about every colour of the rainbow. If you're local to her, she does offer hair extension installation services. Her pricing is also good too.

~Kaylin

<a href="http://www.featherhairextensions.com">Feather Hair Extensions</a>

Originally Posted by Kaylin

Hey there folks,

I've noticed there's alot of threads lately about synthetic hair falls/ extensions, and rather than repeat myself in all these threads, I thought to create one big one.

Feel free to add to this as well.

I've worked mostly with synthetic hair myself for various projects. From a wire headband and combs to create length to a dread fall peice to a styled wig. YMMV of course, but I can only talk about what I know.

Here are a few links if you decide to do DIY hair extensions/ falls:

Guide to synthetic hair extensions
Quinnster's Guide to Synthetic Hair Extensions. LOADS of information, not alot on Tutorials save for a few installation methods. Goes into great detail about the different qualities of synthetic hair.

fakehair - Community Profile
Live Journal Fake Hair community. Focus is mainly on dread falls (Which are great for tribal folks), as well as photo projects and ebay sellers.

Delic's Fake Hair Tutorial Page
Delic's Fake Hair Tutorials. On Live Journal, but most of the enteries are public as far as I can tell. Deals mostly with dread falls again.

Delic's Fake Hair Tutorial Page
Dr. Locks.net Hair Extension Supply Store. This girl has just about everything you need in terms of hair extensions and their shipping is SUPER fast. Dr. Locks is super easy to talk to, does colour matching and can provide expert advice on issues relating to hair extensions. She carries just about every type of hair imaginable in just about every colour of the rainbow. If you're local to her, she does offer hair extension installation services. Her pricing is also good too.

~Kaylin

Feather Hair Extensions

I've worked mostly with synthetic hair myself for various projects. From a wire headband