5 ways to make your wig last for forever

So for any trans woman early in her transition, genderfluid girl who doesn’t have the option of living fem full time, cross-dresser, or even regular CIS women who just like wearing them, knowing how to maintain and care for your wigs is of utmost importance.

Why you need to care for your wigs

The fact of the matter is, good wigs aren’t cheap. Prices for a good wig can range from $100 up to $500 and the cost of having to replace them regularly can really add up. Furthermore, no two wigs (even if it’s the same maker or the same unit) are exactly the same, so even if you find a wig you love, when you have to replace the wig, you may not be able to get that exact look again. The good news is however, with proper care, even a $20 -$30 wig can last for years. 

Here are 5 things you can do to keep your wigs looking nice year after year✨😊

1. Get good hair bands

So if you are like me, and you love to style your hair, getting the right hair bands is essential. Styling your hair in ponytails, buns or half-ups not only looks cute and/or professional. It shows the care you put into your appearance, and makes a good impression. Keeping the hair out of your face also keeps it looking good even on windy days, and mitigates getting oil, food particles or make-up in it.

The downside of styling however is the wear and tear that it puts on the wig when you take it all out at the end of the night. 

One easy and really cost effective way to mitigate that damage however is getting good hair bands. For myself, I’ve found the thicker the hair band, the easier it is to take out, particularly if it’s round and not flat. It should also have strong enough elastic that you never have to pull the hair through more than 3 times to have it as tight as you like. The good side is that these don’t really cost anymore than their thinner or flat counterparts. The downside of that of course is that they aren’t hidden as well as they simply take up more space. 

2. Wash your wig regularly... but not too much

Another important element of wig maintenance is washing it. As with anything else that goes on your body, over time, your wig will absorb things like your sweat and skin oil, and of course, any products you apply to your face. All these things, in addition to products like wax and hair spray or things like smoke can make your wig greasy, grimy, smelly, sticky (and consequently easily tangled). 

While washing solves all these issues, washing your wig is also wear and tear on it, so you have to do it sparingly. 

How and when to wash your wig

For synthetic wigs, you should wash them every 6-8 wears. For human hair wigs, or lace fronts, every 7-14. If you don’t wear it so often (or do I like I do and rotate between them), then you may go months without actually having to wash it, and that’s fine. If you sweat in it a lot, you may need to wash it more often. 

1. Fill a clean sink or basin with cold water and add in a few drops of wig shampoo. (Cold water helps to hold any preset styling, waves or curls; using hot water weakens this). 

2. Gently place the wig in and swish it around lightly. 

3. Rinse all the shampoo out thoroughly and blot dry in a towel. (DO NOT try to comb it while wet)

4. Set on a mannequin head, let it dry fully before combing with a large tooth comb and then apply wig oil. 

3. Get a proper wig comb

This actually bring us to our next tip; get a large tooth or specialized wig comb. When combing your wigs, always start with your fingers, then go through it again with the large tooth comb. After it goes through smoothly, move to finer and finer tooth combs.(If you need it). Trying to start with a fine tooth comb before detangling with a larger tooth comb can actually tangle your hair worse or create kinks in it that will lead to tangles later. 

Also, ALWAYS start combing from the bottom of your wig and work your way up to avoid tangles.

A LIGHT treatment of wig oil or a spritz of dry shampoo before combing can also help too. 

4. Use a heat protectant spray before styling

I first stumbled onto heat protectant spray after getting my first Yaki straight wig. This kind of wig, which is made the simulate the texture of straightened black hair is most commonly used by black women and usually needs to be styled or at least hot-combed and pressed before wear. As such heat protectant spray is a staple for anyone who has one. What I came to realize however is that this stuff is absolutely MAGIC for protecting your wigs during any kind of hot styling; curling or straightening. It can smell really nice too✨

5. Get proper wig storage

Last but most certainly not least on our list of wig care items is proper storage. Actually, really this should be first.  How you store your wigs will have an absolutely massive impact on how long they last. Improper storage leads to tangles; and tangles; no matter how carefully you take them out lead to kinks in the hair that create more and easier tangles. The more you have to detangle; the worse this gets, the more split ends you end up with or the more hair you loose from the wig altogether. Proper wig storage is step #1

Kinds of wig storage

In terms of the wig storage options you have mannequin heads are by far the best; but they also cost the most and take up the most space. If you are just starting your transition journey or otherwise still in the closet in one way or another, they are also more or less impossible to hide. 

Another lighter and cheaper option are wig stands. These are cheap, light and serve more or less the same function as the mannequin head. The downside being that their lightness makes them fall over easy and the wigs don’t particularly sit on them very securely. As such, if you want to hold a wig after carefully styling it, they are a risky option. 

This brings me to my personal favorite option: hanging wig bags. Like options one and two, they are easily available on sites like Amazon, quick and easy to get and affordable. They also keep your wigs in great shape, protect them from things like dust, take up the least amount of space

and even allow you to fold and store your wig (although I wouldn’t recommend doing that for very long). About the only downside of them is that they close by zipper; so you have to be really careful not to zip up any hairs that could lead to kinks; as kinks -> thangles - > split ends -> wig death

Conclusion

Regardless of whether you like expensive wigs or cheaper ones, if you take proper care of them, you shouldn’t have to replace them regularly. In the three years that I’ve been living out, I’ve yet to have to throw away wigs; (even the cheap ones) and they still all look really nice. 

Washing your wig takes all of 15 minutes once a month (or every few months), most and storage options are as cheap and easy to get as the other care items I mentioned. As with anything, it’s just about taking care and finding what works best for you. Happy wearing😘