Caring for a wig: How to wash a wig

1. Brush: Brush any tangles out of the hair. Do not skip this step!

2. Pre-soak: Fill the sink with cool to tepid water. Very cold water may prevent oils from releasing properly and hot water can cause color loss on human haiir wigs and damage to synthetic wigs. Carefully submerge the hair in the water and let it soak for 10 minutes. This pre-soak will help the lift the oils better with less shampoo.

3. Wash: Drain the water and fill the sink with fresh cool water. While the sink is filling, add a squeeze of shampoo to the water and swish it around to mix. Once the sink is full, pick up the wig by holding the cap with four fingers on the inside and thumb on the outside. To wash, dip the wig into (or pass the wig through for longer styles) the soapy water from cap to ends, lift it out of the water, then gently run your hand over the hair to push the water down and out. Repeat this “dip and lift” several times to wash the wig. You may want to do this a few times with the cap turned inside out if you sweat a lot. If you use makeup or powder, run some soapy water over the lace part to clean the makeup off. Do not rub or scrub the wig while washing. If you have an area on the cap that needs special attention, grab a Q-tip and gently use it with a sweeping motion in the direction of the hair.  

4. Rinse: Drain the (likely gross) water. If you have enough space under the faucet, you can rinse the wig under running water. If you have a long wig or a low faucet, fill the sink with cool water again and use the same dip and lift method to rinse the wig. Then hold the wig up and squeeze the hair in sections to get even more water out - starting just below the cap nape, squeeze, release, move your hand down, squeeze, realize, move your hand down, and continue until you get to the ends. Do not pull on the hair.  Drain the water from the sink.

5a. Condition for human hair: Repeat step 3 above using conditioner instead of shampoo. You can either squirt the conditioner into the sink of water and swish it around so that there are no chunks left, or you can smooth some conditioner on the ends of the wig (but do not get conditioner on the lace!!) then dunk the wig into the water. Dip or pass the wig through the diluted conditioner-water with the same “dip and lift” method described above. Rinse again, as described in step 4.

5b. Condition for synthetic hair: If you’re using a leave-in spray conditioner for a synthetic wig, you can spray and move on to step 7 to dry. If you’re using liquid laundry fabric softener, fill the sink again and add a splash of fabric softener. Let the wig soak for 10-15 minutes. Rinse again as described in step 4.

6. Deep condition (optional): Apply a hair mask or deep conditioner to the wig focusing on the middle and ends. Do not get conditioner on the lace, which may “detangle” the knots holding the hair to the cap and result in shedding, or loss of hair from the wig. Lay the wig gently in the empty sink with the cap above the ends or out of the sink entirely. Condition for 1 hour, or longer if desired. Rinse thoroughly!

7. Dry: Lay the wig on a towel and gently press the towel on the wig to blot even more water out. Do not rub the hair with the towel. For human hair wigs, apply a bit of hydrating oil to the midsection and ends. I also like to spray with heat protectant at this point, but you could wait until it’s dry for this step. To finish drying, place the wig on an open stand and expect about 24 hours to dry completely. For humans hair wigs, you can speed up this process by drying the cap on low heat and letting the rest air dry. For synthetic wigs, air dry completely as heat may damage the wig. Make sure that the lace is not tight on the stand, which could stretch or distort the lace.