Omg! Is this MY fault?

noosheen

Thu, May 28 2015, 9:36 pm

I have a very good quality sheitel that I started washing myself about 18 months ago. I watched some sheitel-washing videos and thought , hey nothing to it. I bought good quality shampoo & conditioner. I am super gentle and don't wash very hard, just gently as the Video showed. I never blow dry it just let it air dry on a head. Everything has been going fine or so I thought! Took it today to be highlighted and the sheitel macher had me feel the top of the head under the netting a mush of hair that went underneath the scalp part. She said there is no way to get the hair back out into the top of wig again! Said it was from washing wig not on a head!! I ruined it myself!! Cannot believe I did this to my own wig. Anyone hear of this!

LovetoLive

Thu, May 28 2015, 10:03 pm

I don't get it. Why is there a gap between the scalp and the netting? Isnt the hair supposed to be sewn into the netting?

The lower quality wigs have no netting on the inside and the hair goes inside and can be pulled out carefully using a comb.
Higher quality wigs have a solid netting that hair is sewn to and cannot go through.

What do you have?
Is it possible she is trying to get more business by making you feel you did a bad job washing?

justcallmeima

Thu, May 28 2015, 10:45 pm

It happened to me. Sad

It was 20 years ago and it was a $500 sheitel that I adored. Lesson learned. BUT- maybe take it to a person who adds hair and get a second opinion.

asmileaday

Thu, May 28 2015, 11:53 pm

Happens rarely. Usually from chemical jobs such as dye or hlts. Was this after the chemical job or before?
I think the wig washing on a head is partly a myth. I've watched workers at Kiki's salon washing wigs and they never used a head...

Miri1

Thu, May 28 2015, 11:59 pm

So sorry to hear Sad

I was told never to let conditioner touch the scalp of the sheitel, as it can create a knot, as you described.
If you never noticed it until now, it sounds like your sheitel didn't suffer too much in the overall look.

noosheen

Fri, May 29 2015, 7:05 am

sent my post b4 I was finished -

Lately I noticed that I could see a lot of the scalp part where b4 I couldn't...

it's not that I never noticed it, I didn't even know that this happens to some sheitels, so I wouldn't even realize it. I am so gentle when washing it, I don't know how it could happen.

This sheitel is a 2000 dollar wig. I don't want to say here whose it is as that's loshon hara, but I have this sheitel for 2.5 years. so I don't think it's very old.

I am not sure if there's anything to do about it now Sad

I would love some feedback from sheitel machers out there.

thanks,

Sanguine

Fri, May 29 2015, 8:22 am

Can't believe I'm in a Sheitel thread...

But I do have a wig that I love. My sister got tired of this expensive wig and I always take her hand-me-downs. (never owned a wig before)
Looking to get (not give) advice

I wash it on my own head! Just wear it in the shower. (even wore it to the beach). Is that OK? Also, conditioner or not?

rosenbal

Fri, May 29 2015, 8:39 am

I've been told not to put conditioner on the top part because it makes the hair very smooth and slippery and it will fall out and make the top bald. That sounds what happened. I think that would happen whether you wash on or off the head.

I've occasionally washed my own bit did it on head because I don't want to get it all knotted but that's a separate issue from hair falling out from conditioner. I do believe some shaitel machers wash off head as well.

MamaBear

Fri, May 29 2015, 9:54 am

I have watched videos and never saw them being washed on a head - if anything the motion would pull the cap by the pins and create a hole.

A basin or sink is fine but you 1. Must not lather up by the cap the way you would on your own scalp and 2. Conditioner can not be used on top where the hair is knotted/sewn in to the cap...keep the conditioner by the ends

If the sheitel is hand tied it is more delicate and more susceptible to losing hair

musicmom

Fri, May 29 2015, 11:11 am

A sheitel should be washed on a canvas head, with the canvas being covered by a plastic grocery bag tied with a knot to protect the canvas from getting wet. This is difficult for me, and I try to wash it on my own head. Shampoo and conditioner should be used in small amounts that are diluted in water and poured onto the ends and body of the hair, but not the scalp. Special types of conditioner are not really good for the sheitel, even if they are high end products. You should brush the sheitel before washing, after the shampoo and after the conditioner. Let the sheitel air dry until it is just damp, and spray it with a heat protectant before you style it. Sheitels are so expensive, and frustrating when things don't go smoothly. The person who sold you the sheitel should have showed you how to wash it yourself. You could try going back to her and seeing if she could help repair it by adding hair. Otherwise, chalk this up to a learning experience, and know that you are not the only one having sheitel problems! Hope you get over this doozy soon.

noosheen

Fri, May 29 2015, 12:29 pm

I never put conditioner on the cap itself, if at all. I only put some on the tips of the hair.

I also would not think of washing it as I scrub my own hair in the shower - Heaven Forbid! shock

Kitten

Fri, May 29 2015, 3:45 pm

To me, it sounds like the sheitel macher wants you to buy a new sheitel from her and come to her in the future to have it washed. If hair really did go inside two layers, you can pull it back out yourself, gently of course. If it got in, how can't it go out? And even if you can't, for some unknown reason, you can still dye the rest of it.
I have always washed my sheitels myself. Be it my human hair one or my very cheap synthetic, they always came out nice. I just wash them in a bucket, no canvass.
To see more scalp, or absence of hair, over time is normal. I'm sure the most expensive fancy sheitel sheds a bit at some point.

musicmom

Fri, May 29 2015, 4:13 pm

I think the concern for washing it in a bucket as opposed to the upright position is that the hair tends to become more knotted. I also agree that you do not scrub the sheitel like you would the hair on your head.

Metukah

Sat, May 30 2015, 7:01 pm

This has happened to one of my sheitels and to my sisters' sheitels. Apparently it happens if the cap is washed with conditioner (as many here have said). It seems to make sense, the conditioner undoes the knots and the hairs slip in to the skin top and then you get this 'bump' in the wig.
It can be repaired. It is an expensive job but well worth it for a 2k wig. Take it back to where you bought it from.