Washing and Detangling Blythe Hair

Washing Blythe Hair

Last modified on 2009-03-31 11:38:04 GMT. 2 comments. Top.

This recommendation for washing your sweeties hair is made of my personal experience as a Blythe lover and dolly spa enthusiast. It is suitable for stock haired Neo Blythes and for Kenners too. If you follow my instructions carefully, you won’t harm dolly’s hair but PLEASE TAKE CARE to avoid damage. If you are unsure, better send your Kenner to a professional (see bottom of this post).

NOTE: Mohair reroots are different! You need another care for mohair, don’t try this way or your mohair girl could end up as a dread head!

 

You need

• common plastic comb (not too tight!)
• plastic brush (I really use this doll brush! It’s from Barbie and it is perfect in my eyes)
• soft rollers (especially to defrizz your Kenner) for a wavy style

 

If dolly’s hair is dirty or frizzy or smells bad, get also

• soft detergent (for wool or silk)
• fabric softener with no smell or the one you like best (she keeps the smell for a long time!)
• patience, especially to defrizz your Kenner!

 

 

1. Protect lashes and chips

Remember to protect lashes of the Neos, they are water soluble! Dip just her scalp/hair in, not her head! Maybe you should seal the spring hole on her backplate with tape.

 

 

2. Wet her hair

Fill sink or bowl with warm (remember… warm is not hot!) water and put your Blythe’s hair in. I say it again: Don’t put her head in, just the hair area!

 

 

Then move her hair into the water a few times… to the left, to the right… woooosh… woosh… not too quick, take your time to avoid tangling.

 

3. Add a. soft detergent or b. synthetic wig cleaner

Refill sink or bowl with fresh water.
a. If your Blythe’s hair is dirty add a tad of soft detergent, the one you would use for wool or silk and move her hair into the water with detergent again like in point 1. You may help with your fingers running through the hair in the water like this (don’t worry, it just looks sadistic but isn’t )

 

 

Repeat with a fresh filled sink or bowl if neccessary.
OR
b. Add some wig cleaner to her hair and work it gently through the hair (no shampooing, no massage like on human head please – just a careful wash from up to down, from up to down. from up to down). Rinse in warm water and repeat it if neccessary.

 

Note: If your Blythe hair isn’t dirty or smells bad or something (Neo Blythe hair should be clean anyway), you do not need to add any cleaner in my eyes. This is plastic hair, no human’s hair. Get her wig cleaner if you want to do something good! In my eyes human shampoo is not the best choice, even not baby shampoo.

 

4. Add dye-free non-concentrated fabric softener

Refill sink or bowl with fresh warm water and add some fabric softener (Make sure it is dye-free or it may harm your doll’s haircolour)

For Neos with stock hair just add a small amount and dunk her into it a few times, rinse her hair well in cool water and squeeze out the water first with your hand, then with a towel. Don’t rub or twist, just squeeze. Then go on with Point 5.
Just in case her hair is frizzy or tangled go on like follows…

 

**What follows is a recommendation only, it is my experience with my Kenner. If you are unsure, better send your Kenner to a professional (see bottom of this post).**
Detangling: Get a flat bowl and spread her hair out. Mix one part fabric softener with one part warm water and pour the thick mixture directly on her WET hair. Keep her hair submerged for a while, move it from time to time. In case your Blythe’s hair is very tangled, try CAREFULLY detangling it with your fingers from bottom to roots while her hair is still dunked. In case you can’t work through, leave it like it is.

 

I am no friend of soaking things forever. In Germany we say: “After up comes down” and so I prefer to repeat things instead of trying out wonders. So keep her into the softener for max. 30 minutes is what I recommend. Some say keep her like this over night… I am too chicken for that and can’t imagine what the softener should do more then. When her hair is saturated with it, you are done – just my few cents!

 

		Take her out of the softener and squeeze it out gently with your hands and dry it with a towel the best you can but please don’t rub or twist, just squeeeeeeeeeeeeeze!   Spread her damp, still fabric-softenish hair out on paper towels and wait half an hour.
		5. Comb or Brush Then separate her hair and try gently working with your comb or brush through the hair. Never try combing or brushing wet hair, it gets frizzy. Start at the bottom and go up and up until you can comb through every strand easily.     6. Rinse her hair madly Now go and rinse her hair MADLY in cool water. You must get out the fabric softener or you have a chip fat dolly Especially the dunked for a while Kenner hair has LOOOOOOAAAAADDDS of softener in her hair! Out with it!!!

 

7. Add Style

 

 

a. Waves and Curls

If you want having her waves, put curlers in her hair and let dry over night or even some days. The longer you leave the curlers in, the curlier/wavier is the hair.
To make the curls last longer you can also also give her a boil perm. »I wrote a tutorial how to make a boil perm, please click here.

 

b. Straight Hair

If you prefer staight hair, put her hair between 2 paper towels and fix it with tape onto a table or something flat and let dry for 2 days.

You can also steam it dry but TAKE CARE!! Add a wet towel between the hair and the iron. Don’t make experiments, better ask someone who knows better!

 

c. Defrizzing Kenner Hair

De-frizzing Kenner hair is a science of its own. But you can try and help her hair with careful treatments. I recommend putting her hair in curlers/ rollers AGAIN AND AGAIN. You don’t need to make the whole procedure again, just wet her hair with warm water and put it into the curlers. Don’t overestimate the softener thing, it is helpful to detangle but it won’t straighten the frizz unfortunately. Putting her hair into the soft roller IS helpful. I did it a couple of times now on Silk and her hair got better with every time. Patience is the highest value when de-frizzing at home!
»Have also a look at Puchi Collective’s Kenner Cleaning Guide

 

 

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In case you are unsure or chicken, send your Kenner to a professional restorer like »Yatabazah. His de-frizzing results are stunning. »Or have a look at the restoring section of my links page.