Many people are afraid to wash their synthetic cosplay wigs because they are afraid that they will ruin them. You may look at a wet wig and freak out, thinking it is ruined forever. But please, calm down: wet wigs always look like a disaster. There’s nothing to worry about! Washing a wig is actually quite simple.
It is important to wash wigs between styling to get all of the hairspray and styling product out before you start your next styling. Leaving hairspray in a wig for long periods of time can also cause little white flecks to appear in the wig as the hairspray deteriorates. This can cause your wig to loose quality as well, and become coarse or lose it’s shine. That’s why, if you are not going to be wearing your wig for a long time, it’s a good idea to wash it before you store it. But don’t worry, it takes many many month before product will start to deteriorate high-quality wigs. I have yet to lose a wig to styling products being left in too long. Most wigs can be revived anyway with a good comb and conditioning.
Anyway, to wash your wig, first clean your sink, and rinse the sink to get all the cleaning products off. Then fill your sink with room-temperature water. You don’t want to use hot water because you don’t want to make the fibers pliable, just clean them. So room temperature, to slightly warm should do it. Use a cap full or about a quarter size squeeze of gentle shampoo. Baby shampoo is ideal, but anything that says “gentle” on the bottle should work, just don’t use too much. You can also buy special wig shampoos on the internet. I have not found need of them.
Swish around the water with your hand to distribute the shampoo. Remove the wig from your wig head and make sure there are no pins, wig caps, or accessories still in it. place the wig in the sink and gentle move it side to side. Do not swirl, scrunch, or knead the wig. Wig fibers become very weak when wet, so you need to slosh the wig back and forth in the water gently. Let the wig sit for only five minutes to let the shampoo do its job. Then, lift the wig out of the sink carefully. Drain the sink, refill the sink with room temperature water, and put a cap full of conditioner in the water and slosh it around. There are wig conditioners available online, but I find that my own conditioner for real hair is fine.
The conditioner may clump up in the water. With you wig off to the side, break up any clumps of conditioner before putting your wig in the water. This can be a challenge, but you don’t want any little conditioner clumps getting stuck in your wig because they’re not that easy to wash out. You want to break up and dissolve the conditioner.
Once you have minimized conditioner lumps, gently place the wig back in the sink and once again slosh it side to side gently. Let sit for five minutes. Now, once again, remove the wig from the sink and place it off to the side. Drain and refill the sink, but this time, don’t put any product in the water. Place the wig in the sink and slosh it from side to side gently for about five minutes to get all the conditioner out. If there are any clumps stuck in it, carefully remove them while the wig is submerged in water.
Once you think you’ve got all the conditioner out, remove your wig from the sink, and stretch it over a wig head to dry. You’ll need lots of pins to hold it in place because the water-weight will make it very heavy. Your wig head will probably fall over if not secured. DO NOT BRUSH, COMB, OR REPOSITION THE FIBERS OF YOUR WIG UNTIL IT IS COMPLETELY DRY. Touch it only enough to get it on the wig head. If you sloshed it around gently enough, you should not have trouble accessing the opening for the wig head.
While wet, your wig will look like a terrible mess. But do not fret. As it dries, it will look more like hair again, and less like a slimy, malformed critter. Do not attempt to detangle your wig until it is completely dry. This will take at least 8 hours, and for long wigs, it make take more than 24 hours. Be patient, and don’t wait until the last second to wash out and restyle your wig. You’ll regret it. Your wig may be a little tangled after washing, but with patience you’ll be able to get all the knots out pretty easily. Tangling is just what wigs do, and there isn’t all that much you can do to stop it.
I hope that you found this tutorial helpful and feel better about that sopping fur ball in the sink.
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this really helped – thanks!!!
This saved my life! I had no idea how to wash my wig and was asking my friends for help but I was soooo scared that I’d mess it up! So I’m glad that I googled a tutorial on how to wash cosplay wigs! Thanks for posting this, you are the saviour of my Sebastian wig.
How often should you wash a synthetic wig? For example, let’s say that I wore a long, synthetic wig every day to school. Should I wash it every few days, or do I not need to wash it as often?
Also, this was really helpful! I was totally clueless about washing my wigs before.
I think it depends on how much you sweat on any given day. If you wear your wig to gym class, you should probably wash the wig after one or two classes. But if you’re only wearing the wig for low-impact activities like walking and sitting at a desk, I think once a week, or even every two weeks is plenty. That is if you have hair in between your scalp and your wig. Your hair will catch most of your sweat and your wig really won’t get that dirty. If your head is bald, you will need to wash the wig more often because there is nothing there to catch your sweat and scalp oils. Hot weather or warm classrooms may also lead to more head sweating, and may require more washes.
Thank you!
I have a wig that’s super bouncy, nice and soft, also is too spiky so I actually have to style it DOWN instead of up. XD (It’s lingyisun brand) do you think after washing it, it will lose that bounciness and spike? I really love this wig, it’s my favorite..
If you wash it very gently with cold water, it shouldn’t lose it’s curl and bounce. You may have to do a little touch-up styling to wind separated curls back together, but the shape of the plastic will not change in cold water. However if you wash the wig in warm or hot water, it will become pliable and will dry differently–probably more limp. Washing the wig will remove any styling product like glue or gel that holds the hair up as well. This alone will take some of the boost out of the wig. All and all, I think washing the wig will make it a little less full, but shouldn’t be too hard to reverse with a little teasing and reshaping.
Oh my gosh this saved my life, seriously. My Riku wig is now so much nicer and cleaner. I haven’t been able to find a good tutorial until now. Thanks a ton for making this, no joke.
as in I really should not even try to place it in front of an electric fan when it is drying or is it ok?
I wouldn’t. Wind and wigs are not friends. If the hair blows around in an uncontrolled way it’s just going to get messed up. Without heat the water isn’t going to evaporate any faster, and with heat it will just fall flat. Better to be patient and let it drip dry.
Thank you for not repeating what 99% of the other websites suggest!! They insist way too much on you purchasing synthetic shampoo and none of them even mention what you can use instead!!
Thanks!
Dude, you have no idea how you saved me and so many other people. My Miku Hatsune wig is all tangled and I think that a little washing up will fix it. Am I right? I mean, it’s so long and I used it today, and it was all tangled. A little sweat is on it, but I guess that’s fine. I don’t have a detangler and I have no idea how I can save it. If you can, please help me.
Washing a wig will not detangle it, but it will get any styling product out that are causing your snarls. The only way to detangle a wig is with a little conditioner, a detangler, and patience. After you wash your wig following my instructions, mix a little conditioner with water (try 10 parts water to 1 part conditioner) and mist your wig with it once its back on its wig head. This conditioner you won’t rinse out, and it will help you detangle your wig. Wait until the wig is 100% dry before attempting to detangle. Then, using your fingers, carefully undo the tangles working from the bottom up.
Oh gosh. Thanks! It finally looks better. Thanks for being a life saver!
Thanks so much for this tutorial! It really helped me wash my pink wig for the very first time. There was one tutorial I saw that advised washing your wig in the shower but this one worked so much better for me.
I’m so happy that I found this! My wig was a complete mess after I’d styled it again, and again, and again. So I really needed to wash it! Thanks a lot for the tutorial!
I have an Axel (from Kingdom Hearts) and it’s incredibly spiked up. Should I let it soak longer so all the spike can come loose or should I pull the spikes apart gently beforehand? I’m really hesitant towards washing my Axel wig. Thanks for your help and the tutorial.
There isn’t any harm in letting your wig soak overnight. Always handle with care when a wig is wet because the fibers are much more likely to come loose from their weaving. If you want to accelerate the process, you can certainly knead some water and shampoo through the spikes gently. Just go slow and everything should be fine.
That is, I should say, if your wig is spiked with hair products or water soluble glue. Everything will be fine IF in fact the product can be washed out. If you spiked your wig with super glue or crafting cement, you’re out of luck.
Nee! My wig is really long, like 130cm and my sink is too tiny to make it “slosh” around. What should I do? I can’t use it coz I just bought it and it’s a rather tangled mess. I’ve been adviced to use fabric conditioner just to make it softer and more managable. What will I do?
If your wig is brand new then you don’t need to wash it. Washing a wig is only to get the sweat, oil, and styling products out of it. It sounds like you need to de-tangle your wig rather than wash it. There are wig detanglers available over the internet, or you could try making your own from fabric softener or other conditioners. Or you could just run a dryer sheet over it and detangle it by hand. I detangle my wigs by hand by pinning them firmly to a wig head, and securing that wig-head to a table or stand. (You can stick it on top of a full two-liter soda bottle for an easy, instant wig stand.) Then with your fingers, working from the bottom up, untangle your wig one small section at a time. You can use a comb to help you but NEVER use a brush on a wig. It will take some time to get all the tangles out, but this is a better idea than washing a brand-new wig.
Thank you so much for this tutorial! I can’t afford the specialist wig shampoos and things that a lot of other tutorials suggest, so it’s great to finally find a guide without them. My Chihiro Fujisaki wig is saved thanks to you.
So happy I could help!
Thank you very much for this tutorial!
Later, I’ll reply saying if all went well or wrong ;D
Sure, let me know how it goes. Just be gentle as not to tangle it, don’t brush it when wet, and don’t freak out until its 100% dry
Thankyou so much!
I have a few wigs and I need to clean them but I was scared of wrecking them. Now it’s all good. 😀
Would you wash it before you wear it if it smells funny, like the sea but in a bad way? Came out of the pack like that.
If your wig smells super funky out of the pack, you could try contacting whoever you bought it from asking for an explanation or replacement. I’ve never had a wig smell bad out of the packaging. I would do some investigating, especially if the wig was bought used. If the smell is minimal you could try airing it out for a day or two. Hang it up outside in the shade away from any strong heat-sources. If you live in a very dusty climate, take care to place it somewhere where it will not get too dirty, or try hanging it by an open window instead of outside.
If airing it out doesn’t solve the smell, then you could try washing it.
Thank you so much. This was very helpful. Good to know you don’t need those wig shampoos. Thanks again 🙂
What should I use to let my wig dry on since I don’t have a wig head?
You could make a wig head out of crumpled newspaper wrapped in duct-tape. Ideally the wig will be on something kind of round and head-sized so that it doesn’t dry out of shape. Get creative.
Ahh, thank you soooo much!
I was getting so worried about my wig, it being all frizzed, the curls matting a bit. I’m planning to go to a con as Paige from DHMIS a while in the future, and with the state it was in, I was afraid that it would be completely ruined by the time that came. But thanks to you, I’M (and my wig) SAVED!!!
Thank you so much!!
Than you very much!
I will wash my hair in the ways.
Thankyou for this! I have a Rumpleteazer wig, from Cats; The Musical, and I used this method to try and get the hairspray out of it as the seller sprayed it before sending it to me. It looks a complete mess at the minute, and annoyingly still has hard strays of hair
The thing is, can I comb it using a normal comb once it’s dry? I’m a little worried I’ve ruined it, and I’m not sure what wig comb to get either, because I keep worrying a normal comb will fray all the fibers.
But THANKYOU so much for this wonderful guide to washing wigs! It’s very helpful!
Never mind! Don’t worry! I’ve sorting out my wig very easily! I’m detangling each area of hair with my fingers, and that is doing the trick! 😀 It’s making it look how it should look and it looks and feels so soft in the areas I’ve de-tangled…and as well as that, the shampoo and conditioner has made it easier to pull apart the harder stray of hairs, and the best thing is, THE WIG SMELLS GORGEOUS…so it’s getting there! All I need is a wig brush or a pet brush. It’s looking more like Rumpleteazers head now.. 🙂
So thankyou SO SO SO much for this! It’s been a great help! I was worried after I washed it. It looked a proper mess, and I know it said in your blog not to fret about it,but I couldn’t but but worry. But now I know how to get it looking good! Just it needs slow and patient de-tangling, and eventual brushing. The washing with shampoo and conditioner has definitely made it easier to de-tangle.
Thanks again! xx
I have a question: I have a wig that i let someone style for me, but they mismanaged it and it came back all matted, tangled, and unstyled. I’m not sure if they wore it. it doesn’t smell bad but I am a bit cautious and I want to know if I should wash it or just detangle it, and since it’s a longer wig would increasing the ratio of shampoo/fabric softener/conditioner ruin it, or would it be alright?
I think that you should wash the wig. If the person who “styled it” put any product in the wig like hair gel or spray, it will be impossible to de-tangle the wig. Because you don’t know what was done to the wig, better to start fresh and wash out any product, let drip dry completely, and then carefully de-tangle with your hands. You don’t need to change the ratio of shampoo/conditioner to water, you just need enough of the concoction to submerge the whole wig.
Do I need to buy wig shamppo/conditioner to wash my wigs?
No. You can use a regular cheap shampoo and conditioner, just use very little and make sure it’s all rinsed out.
I had a bit of a mishap, and got wax in one of my wigs D: Is there any way you know of to get it out, or is my wig a lost cause?
I get wax off candle jars by putting them in the freezer. The wax freezes and contracts and it’s easy to break off. If the wig is otherwise ruined, you could try freezing it and see if the wax becomes brittle. I don’t know what other hair and styling products will do in the freezer however. Procede with caution.
Hiya! I have some really long wigs that I’ll be washing and they won’t fit in the sink. Will a bathtub work if I keep the ratio of shampoo/conditioner to water the same?
Thank you so much!
Absolutely! A large bucket will work as well if you don’t want to use that much water. Just make sure that you clean the tub or bucket first. You want a clean wig, and a dirty tub won’t make your wig clean. 🙂 Good luck.
I’ve been looking for a good tutorial for a very long time and i think this is the one xD
Though i have a long white curly wig and i have it for over a year now i think, i wear it once a while to school with lolita and actually never washed it cause i didn’t think is was needed, now i need it for my next OC cosplay and it’s started to lose its curl, many say if i was it the curls will come back to its natural state, will washing help with that?
Washing with cold water will help protect the curls that are in the wig, but I don’t think it will make the curls come back. But try it! After it’s dry if it isn’t curly how you want, throw it in some rollers and apply gentle heat.
I have a wig that I byed with acrylic and baby oil. The colour looks gorgeous and it is still pretty soft, but although I washed it 2 times already it is still a little oily. What can I do to make all the oil go away in order to not stain my costume?
I have no idea what will work, but the first thing I might try is rinsing a strand of the wig with witch-hazel. It removes excess oil from skin and scalp without over-drying so maybe it will work on plastic too. Do a small test section.
What if you want to swim in a pool with a wig is there a certain way to wash it after?
Does the pool have chlorine in it? That’s probably not good for the wig, so for starters, try to swim in a pool that uses salt instead. If that’s not possible, I’d still wash the wig as normal, but the chlorine might still shorten the life of your wig or the color.
hello ;-; um. mine is so long i have miku’s wig if u know her? she has two LONG tails. i washed them just like how u said, and it dried really fast? i didnt have to wait 24 hours. tbh idk how much time it took to dry but wasnt 24. anyway. these 2 tails are still not looking good they’re stuck together and even brushing it gently didnt help ^^” idk what to do to make it soft and good again..?!
Hi RinRin, did you have glue in the tails or a strong styling gel? If they’re stuck together it sounds like you didn’t get all of the product out. That would explain why it dried so fast as well, it doesn’t sound like the water penetrated into the fibers.
no there was no glue or anything, but maybe i just didn’t put a lot of the conditioner? xD lol thats what my mom said. so idk should i wash it again ?
Yeah, maybe mix some conditioner and water in a spray bottle and work that into the wig while you untangle from bottom to top gently with your fingers. Or you can buy a wig-de-tangler spray if you really need it. If the wig is full of static, rub it with a dryer sheet.
Alright Im gonna try that. Thank you! X)
Will this remove the spikes from my wig? I really want to respike it. Mine was a cheap wig that I got off of EZCosplay and it didn’t go too when when spiking.
Yes, if the wig was spiked with product this will remove the product that’s holding the spikes together. If you spiked with heat as well, you may need to reheat in places, but washing will definitely relax the style.