You know the feeling.
Your synthetic wig or topper felt great at first.
Soft. Swishy. Flowy.
But after a few washes, it gets stiff after a few wears. Or clumpy. Maybe a bit frizzy on the ends. Dry-feeling.
Sound familiar?
My synthetic wigs and toppers tend to get like this after awhile…and nobody likes a frizzy wig!
The “sweet” spot seems to be fleeting…you WANT a few washes because it helps to remove shine and feel more like “you”, but some of the softness is removed with each wash.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t, right?
More frequent washes will help, but that only expedites the wear process: the more you wear the fibers down, the shorter the lifespan.
I’ve been using this awesome, awesome tool for awhile and wanted to share my experience with you. This is for straight hair – this tool will take away any wave or curl, and we don’t want that.
And hey, quick note: *ALL* of my absolute favorite products are linked on my Products I Love page. Check ’em out!
How to Make Synthetic Hair Soft Again (and Keep Synthetic Hair from Frizzing)
I’m all about quick and easy.
I work, I have kids, I have the blog…the less time it takes for me to fuss with my hair, the better (heck, that’s part of the reason why I moved to wearing hair in the first place!).
I try go about two weeks between washes. Somewhere at the 7-10 day mark, however, my synthetic hair starts to feel a little blah.
I certainly don’t want to wash it—heck, it’s midweek and I’m lazy—but it needs a little something to give it back its movement.
Maybe it’s too flat. Maybe it’s too frizzy. Maybe it’s too clumpy. And it’s definitely not feeling as soft as I’d like.
I definitely ask myself how to make synthetic hair soft again at this point!
Must-Have Tool to Defrizz a Wig and Make a Wig Soft
Enter the hot air brush.
I love, love, LOVE this brush. And yes, it uses heat. It’s perfect for use on my regular synthetic hair (of course, it can be used on heat-defiant fibers as well).
You read it right ladies. I use heat on my synthetic hair. Meet the Helen of Troy Hot Air Brush Revlon hot air brush.
[Note: The Helen of Troy hot air brush has been discontinued and I’ve replaced mine with this Revlon option. It’s the same price (maybe even a little cheaper) but I like it because the HoT version had a rubber grip that over time rubbed off on your hands…this one does not!]
It makes the ends of my hair that looks like this (ratty, frizzy, you name it):
instead look like this (smoooooth! soft! And while the hair visually looks better, it feels 10x better, too):
This is a must-have product for all synthetic hair wearers – it’s saved my life on many busy mornings when I felt that my hair wasn’t quite up to par.
It’s also fabulous to keep synthetic hair from frizzing.
It’s a great, preventive measure!
I use the 1 1/2 inch barrel so it can more easily glide through my hair, but it does come in other, smaller barrel sizes as well.
The packaging seems a little old school, but this baby does the trick.
Not only does it do a fantastic job declumping and softening synthetic hair, but the hot air brush is perfect to use at the root to add some volume.
Because synthetic hair can get flat, too, don’t you think?
The piece in the video is my very old Long Mono Top by Jon Renau.
This synthetic topper is O-L-D and is stiff and clumpy and gross.
I talk about this in the video below, but I’ve been wearing this piece on the weekends because it’s the perfect density for wearing updos.
Because it’s so ratty, that’s about all it is good for.
Trust me.
I’ll tell you a secret: I don’t even brush this thing.
I clip it in, twist it up, and there is stays until the end of the day when I take my clip-in down and fling it on my bathroom counter.
There she rests for the week while I wear my Noriko Milan.
This hot air brush is awesome, and I figured I’d demonstrate its powers on this topper to prove it.
I talk about this in the video, but I’ll give you a quick recap.
How to Use the Brush to Take the Frizz Out of Synthetic Wigs & Soften Them
The process is quite easy.
You can use the brush on hair that’s been spritzed down with water or a favorite leave-in conditioner…or on dry hair.
I personally prefer to use this after spraying my hair lightly with some leave-in, however, I do use it all the time on dry hair when I need a quick fix before heading to work.
I promise you won’t ruin your synthetic hair!
You’ll just end up with soft, better-than-before synthetic hair.
This thing almost makes synthetic hair feel new again…almost.
Just move the brush down your hair, allowing the brush to dry the fibers.
If you have the time, go as slow as you can.
If you don’t have a ton of time, a quick run-through will still do wonders.
Once it’s all dry (or if you ran through the synthetic hair dry to begin with), you can take the top layer and do another run-through.
If you use some water here, it can even help to add some body and lift.
Have your ends gone dry and frizzy?
The first pass probably helped tremendously, but you can really concentrate on these ends to “fix” them. You can even use the hot air brush to reshape the ends and add a bit of a turn-under.
Seems easy, right?
You’ll be left with synthetic hair that feels almost-new: super-soft with great movement.
I showed my husband the video, and he promptly told me I looked nothing like myself.
Thanks, dear.
Here’s a still pic of my was-frizzy-now-amazing hair.
Definitely check out the hot air brush to help keep your synthetic hair soft and take frizz out. It’s pretty inexpensive, and it’s a one-time investment that you’ll likely find yourself using at least a few times each month.
I know you’ll find that it saves you time, too!
Want another tip on a {super cheap} product to keep synthetic hair fabulous? Check out this post: How to Revive Synthetic Hair (Miracle Product!)
What tips do you have to help your synthetic hair look more like new?
Is the brush safe on Jon Renau HD wigs? Everything i’ve read (including some of your other posts) says to only use the wide tooth comb on HD synthetics so you don’t stretch the fiber.
Never had a problem, myself! The manufacturer will always say to use the wide tooth comb only, and that’s sound advice…but if you are careful you can use almost anything (not a boar bristle, but a plastic type brush of almost any sort will work).
This is another note about my new long, heat friendly, wavy, synthetic wig. I know it hates me. Now, in addition to everything else, it’s frizzing badly. Especially in the back. I’ve already used the hot air brush, with limited results. I went to Jon Renau’s website just to look. They have a brief tutorial about de-frizzing, using a flat iron. I wanted to know if you’ve ever tried that method. And/or any thoughts or advice you have on the subject.
You can no longer buy that Helen of Troy hot brush. Do you recommend another one that works the same? Thanks!
bummer! I’ll be updating my Shop page this week to take away some products that are no longer available. Any hot air brush, though, would likely be fun. I’m sure there are others in the same price range (~$25), like this one: this Revlon option looks good (and at the time of this comment, has an extra 10% off).
Hot tools hot air brush is done by Helen of Troy.
The only difference is that it’s now in black.
Will the hot air brush remove the wave in the synthetic topper?
Yes, it will remove (or severely lessen) any wave, unfortunately. This is best with straight hair.
What kind of brush did you use initially in your video? I’ve been using a wide tooth comb on my wig and the ends are horribly frizzy and tangled no matter what I seem to do.
It’s a Tangle Teezer, I have the direct link on this page so that you can get a closer look.
Hi. I have Play by Ellen Willie. A shortish joan Jett look. The back on the sides touches my collar and it’s a bit fuzzy there. What size barrel would u suggest?
I’d get the smallest barrel they have. 🙂
I’d go with 1″
Thanks. Got the 3/4 and will play during the week. I also bought your miracle stuff and the leave in as I really was not happy with the one I have.
So I just used the hot air brush on the frizzies on the back nape of my wigs and it worked great. I may have to do it a few times as it was very, very frizzy and they are straw like in feeling there but so far so good. They have been washed and are soaking in an apple cider vinegar soak (ran out so it’s not 100% 1:1 but close enough). I’ll let them soak for an hour then use the bamboo cream as suggested, rinse that and use a leave in (waiting for yours to come so I’ll use what I have now) and see what happens when all dry.
If it’s not 1:1 it’s ok – I sometimes do 4:1, 2:1…it varies. 🙂 I usually just pour it in until I can smell it. It should work great – let me know.
Well doing all of the above produced amazing results!! These were wigs about 2 years old and they are now frizz free and soft as butter!! All I can say is wow your advise worked wonders!! It’s going to be my go to process for all wigs from now on. Thanks so much!!!
Thank you, Lauren! I’m quite new to toppers and I’m amazed and delighted that there’s a tool I can use to freshen up my pieces. I got it yesterday and being a chicken, tried it out on my old chemo wig. It worked! And it didn’t melt the strands!
So I used it on my everyday Estetica topper and it was wonderful at perking it up, even helping with turning the ends under a bit. Yay! With your many tips I’m not freaking out about how often I’ll need to shell out $$$ for replacements.
Glad to help! 🙂
Hi. I frizzed my Raquel Welch Winner wig when I also took a Pizza out of the oven. Oops. I bought the Helen of Troy air brush. It worked ok, but I needed to steam it to get it smoother. Then I took the brush off of the shaft of the hot air brush. I rolled the straightened hair in velcro hair rollers. Then I put the shaft of the air brush inside each roller for a few minutes. I let the hair cool before removing the rollers. Yay, the gentle curves are back
Glad to hear, Paula! I think many have had oven mishaps.
Hi Lauren,
I love your site! I have a question. Are used heat to defriend is one of my synthetics. The body it had before, is gone now. How can I restore the body? I don’t want curl, just the bod I have a question. Are used heat to defriend is one of my synthetics. The body it had before, is gone now. How can I restore the body (without adding curl)?
Thanks!
Did you use the heat brush or a flat-iron? With the heat brush, you can dampen the roots and then add some lift back at the root by aiming the heat there. If you’re talking more about wave, then you can reset that by using a steamer or a curling iron – check out this video: https://www.wigsbypattispearls.com/blog/How-to-defrizz-and-set-synthetic-hair/#.WlOrrlWnGpo
Hi, is it safe to use coconut oil to moisturize my synthetic hair? Also I’ve been told to let it completely dry before brushing it.
Yes, definitely let it dry completely before brushing. I think coconut oil will be too heavy, personally!