Your take on wigs made from human hair

That's how I feel. Even though the hair would most likely be washed pretty well before it was used, it would still freak me out, especially because dirty hair and clean hair don't feel the same.

 

No human hair for my dolls. It grosses me out. I can't even pinpoint why. It's not that I think the person had bad hygiene, that the hair will be dirty, I'm sure if they're donating their hair they most likely take better care of their hair than I do mine. It's not that I don't know who's donating it, even if it was a family member donating it, I wouldn't want it.
Human hair wigs just have an ick factor for me that I can't get over.

 

I don't really have a preference, I find that both fur and human hair wigs can be high quality. It really just depends on what's available, but also things like color or shine or whatever I'm looking for.

All in all, I just go with the flow. If I see a wig I like, I consider the wig itself(i.e. color, shape, length etc) not what it's made from.

 

Human hair wigs do have an 'ick' factor for me- I think it's because the hair contains DNA of the person it came from (not technically, because you're not getting the root of the strand in the wig, but still the idea is there ). That being said, I do own one human hair wig which is one of my favourite wigs! It styles wonderfully & hasn't needed any maintenance since the day I acquired it 3 years ago. I'd actually rather use human hair weft than animal fur on the skin (again, major 'ick' factor for me )

 

THAT IS MY EXACT FEAR

 

I don't personally have a problem with them -I just can't afford them. I like the look of faux fur and fibre anyway.
I do hope though, that all hair -even furs- are sourced properly (reading through this thread gave me chills).

 

I have a human hair wig for one of my dolls. It came in a stash of doll wigs I bought on ebay and is actually very nice and well made. I think it was probably made as a replacement wig for an antique doll. I have several antique bisque dolls and almost all of them have human hair wigs because modern synthetic hair hadn't been invented when they were made (1890's to 1910). It's not a big deal to me. I usually prefer synthetic fiber or mohair wigs for my dolls because the scale looks better, but as I had this one already and it looks good on my doll, I use it.

 

Honey, ain't nothin' "always true". Depends extremely much on where you live & what the hair-buying scene is like there (i.e. what kind of hair is currently desirable vs. what kind of hair naturally grows on the denizens of your neighborhood).

Already saw the movie, "Good Hair", great film-- a friend who has sold her hair was the one who took me to see it. She quipped, "Just don't let me fall asleep here, OK?". xD

 

I wouldn't freak out if someone told me their doll had a wig made from human hair - in fact, I'd be intrigued, because I'm not particularly familiar with them. I could see why someone might prefer them, or at least want to own one, as it makes sense that it would style better.

That said, I will probably never get one, and I wouldn't touch one. Not so much because I think about the hair's "past", but because I just don't like hair that is no longer attached to a human head. I grew up in a family with a lot of girls that shed long hairs like crazy (and I'm including myself in that group), and it is just something that creeps me out.

 

I fall into the "ew" category, though I deal with gross stuff all the time.. (I have cats). I don't mind it on other people's dolls, as long as I don't have to touch it myself. I prefer the look and feel of the synthetics anyway.

 

I don't see the ick factor to human hair wigs. It's hair. It's been cleaned and processed and styled. My biggest issue with them is they tend to be more expensive than synthetic wigs and require more upkeep since they're real hair. They also mostly only come in natural colours and I tend to not be looking for natural colours so much. They do style beautifully though.

 

I wouldn't buy a human hair wig for my doll, though I do have some human hair wigs for myself and my mother has some too. The reasons I wouldn't get one for my dolls is because where I live, hair frizzing is a B-I-G problem and for my dolls I like the 'not a single hair out of place' look, which is sooo much easier to get with the synthetic wigs since they aren't going to be absorbing every bit of moisture in the air.

Also the breakage involved with human hair wigs has always been a bit disheartening for me, even with the most careful of handling at some point in time, it's just going to have some breakage. This is true with synthetic wigs to a degree too, specially when brushing or combing, but from my experience the way it breaks is different and I'm not so bothered by it with synthetic wigs (maybe because a synthetic wig is $20-$50 and a human hair wig is $300+). It's so much easier for me to just buy another $25 doll wig from the same company if breakage becomes a problem, I'm not losing much. With real hair wigs, it's almost impossible to find another one just like it and they are considerably more expensive to replace.

I'm not bothered by human hair wigs on other people's dolls either. If anything, it would make me more respectful and careful around their doll's wig knowing it is so expensive and almost irreplaceable if damaged. I can picture myself now, knocking over a soda that drenches the human hair wig and eeking in horror! I'd imagine it's easy to wash out of the actual hair, but the cap, probably not so much.

 

As a person who grew out her hair for 18 years before chopping it all off and donating it, I think it's pretty unique. It doesn't personally gross me out any more than using animal hair. Mohair is somewhat popular (among "reborn" doll groups), and it's goat hair. It's natural feeling and mohair tends to be amazingly soft. Either way, I can't say that it phases me that I'm using hair from an animal or fake synthetics, and it certainly wouldn't push me away or towards one or the other. As long as the hair is properly cleaned and checked for parasites, I'm good with it!

 

I used to own two wigs that were made of human hair, however I've sold them since imho they do not look good on dolls. Though it is true, that you can pretty much style a human hair wig just the same as you could style your own hair (and it's therefore one of the best materials to make human! sized wigs), it still doesn't look good proportion wise on a doll. The structure of the hair is too thick and usually doesn't allow for really delicate styling.

 

I like making wigs out of mohair. I prefer washed, combed and dyed mohair in wefts, but I also use cut mohair strands bought directly from the "goat farm" - I wash and dye it with peroxide-containing hair-dye (because of desinfection, too) and then sew it directly on fabric wig caps. I use wool yarn to make wigs too, which is actually also made from animal hair (sheep in this case mostly). I even own two wigs - that I bought, not made in this case - that are mohair on skin/felt.
So why should someone who uses animal hair for wigs all the time be grossed out by hair of simply a different kind of animal? Human hair is animal hair too.

 

It doesn't bother me at all. I actually thought about making a human hair doll wig, when I was researching making lace wigs for humans. I like the fact that I would be able to do the same things to it as my own hair.

 

I think the slight "ick" for human hair wigs, for me, is that I am not used to products that are made out of parts of human beings. When I think about it, it's not any grosser than, say, a tibetan mohair wig, but I think anything made out of people is a bit of a shock if you're not used to it. It's an immediate emotional reaction that pretty much gets overridden once I actually think about it.

I don't have any interest in human hair wigs for my own dolls -- they're quite expensive and I find synthetic fiber wigs do just fine for me -- but it certainly doesn't bother me if other people use them.

 

Pros: I can style it pretty much any way I want without melting it

Cons: expense and upkeep

Ick factor: none. Lice don't live on wigs, they live on people. And I would hope no professional wig maker would use dirty hair or hair with lice. My husband just had 15+ inches cut off his hair, the salon did not participate in Locks of Love...and I seriously considered making a doll wig from his hair. Clean, trimmed human hair is a MUCH better option for me than a dead animal skin. At least no one was harmed in the hair cut!

Though really synthetic wigs are just fine to me.

 

I didn't know there were human hair wigs of the size we needed and actually like to see one. It doesn't freak me out, however. It's not the first time real hair was used for dolls; I know that in Victorian times and before either mohair or human hair was used. So if the wig looks good and it's not too expensive, I think I just might get one.

 

Wish granted .

Ladies and Gentlemen for your very icky feelings, Maitri wearing a wig made of human hair. It's bought from a company that has specialized in making wigs for humans and dolls out of real hair.

(Sorry for the bad foto quality, both pixel- and styling wise, but as previously said, I don't own that wig anymore and hence cannot take a more decent photo of it)