Restoring Barbie hair?

[Vetinari]

Um - I've seen numerous contradictory methods about de-frizzing old fashion-line doll hair over the years and was wondering which methods you guys prefer?

The doll in question is this model if it makes any difference:
http://fleurdelysdoll.com/786-3262-thic ... g-hair.jpg

She's a 90s Hula Barbie - the only Barbie from my childhood 'collection' that mostly consisted of unloved and unplayed with dolls that lived in my toy box most of the time (given to an extremely Tomboy kid-me by well meaning parents with rather set ideas about what boys and girls should play with) that I actually appreciated... Probably something to do with how she had more joints than the equivalent Star Wars and soldier action figures back then. This particular Barbie used to parade around in most of Darth Vadar's outfit to give you some idea of the sort of sprog I was...

Ahem right - anyhow I loved this thing enough back in the day that the hair was combed fairly frequently with the evil little plastic combs that these things tend to come with (though somehow she's kept the original braid that she had new out of the box) the hair hasn't had any experiments done to it/no actual tangles per-say but nonetheless that frequent combing with the plastic comb has resulted in her hair being a bit of a dry frizzy mess 20-odd years later.

Notably the uncombed section - the braid feels softer/looks silkier than the rest of the hair.

Anyway - which method do you ascribe to? I've heard of using both fabric conditioner and actual hair products and well, I'm mildly dubious of the hair-products route to tell the truth but thought I'd check with the experts around here before actually attempting anything in case it ruined her for good.

[Kd_Bunchanumbers]

I use actual hair conditioner for my doll's hair restorations because fabric softener leaves red welts on my hands if it comes into contact with it so :/ The only side effect of using human hair conditioner I find is that it leaves a scent so if you don't like it then try using an odorless one. I've used multiple conditioners and it hasn't affected doll hair even years down the track as long as you PROPERLY wash it all out. If you leave too much of it it can leave the hair feeling greasy but a cold wash of it will offset it. I wouldn't recommend combination shampoo/conditioner cuz the shampoo cancels out the conditioning aspect on doll hair.

For kanekalon hair which Hula Barbie uses, it snags super easy so you'll need a pet comb/brush with metal bristles as it reduces the hair snagging, and to brush out the ends then working your way to the roots of the hair. I do this when the hair is absolutely saturated in conditioner as it helps the hair be as elastic as possible and it helps prevents snagging and tangles as well. As a side note with kanekalon, it dries out easily, especially with play, so giving it a saturated amount of conditioner really helps it look glossy and silky again.

After you brush it out and detangle it, you NEED to boil wash it as kanekalon tends to hold its shape very well, and years of sitting as a tangled mess it's gonna want to tangle up again unless you straighten it back out. I do this by filling up a cup or heatproof bowl with boiling water then dipping in the hair in. I swirl the hair in it and dip the hair in and out about fifteen times. I then run it under cold water and comb it out straight. I pat it dry with a towel and let the hair airdry, making sure the hair is as flat as possible.

I've done it multiple times, and one of my most recent rescues is actually a doll from the same era as your doll.

Savers Finds by John Pickles, on Flickr

Totally Hair Barbie by John Pickles, on Flickr

You just need a metal comb/brush and some sort of conditioner, whether it's fabric softener or human conditioner, and LOTS of water and it's straightforward enough to fix. I highly recommend some kind of conditioner just because kanekalon hair is waaaaay drier in texture than other hair types and you don't wanna damage the hair further.

[DollyKim]

Helps to know it's kanekalon, I can match that if I have redo someone. I have some early 90s gingers and teen Skippers with dried out frizz to try conditioning.

[Vetinari]

Brilliant - thanks I'll give that a go tomorrow evening time permitting. (My only experience with Kanekalon and boiling water is making it frizz on purpose, so this'll be interesting!)

Ridiculously with one exception (a hand-me-down who might be from the 80s but I've no a clue, she talks and has absolutely huge crimped hair but I don't think her outfit is original so there's no clue there) the other Barbies from the 90s all ended up with near-perfect hair when I ended up looking through the things with an eye to giving them to a sprog in the family who's the right age now; shows you how much they were neglected!

[maywong]

I use actual hair conditioner for my doll's hair restorations too.

[Vetinari]

Thanks - they're midway through the process as we speak... Fingers crossed!

[Vetinari]

Thank you - I think short of rerooting her entirely (something I know I do not have the patience for) this is the best result I could have hoped for. In the end I couldn't get the metal comb to work neatly through her locks so ended up finger-combing... (You should have seen the pink hairball of shame)

Next to the only other Barbie in my group for hair-thickness comparison:





I'm sure with a bit more practice I'd be able to do this without losing quite so much hair (seriously it was alarming) but given how dried out her hair was I think she's come out of this rather nicely.

It's terrible - I was not one of those kids that messed around with Barbie's hair overly - and yet it still ended up in a rats nest that whilst not quite as bad as the awesome rescue job above would have certainly sealed the doll's fate as a bargain bin charity job in most households.

Got to admit Dollykim - if I did reroot her there'd be a lot more carrot (Bowie) orange in the mix than she's currently got.

[werepuppy]

Personally I use braid spray for dealing with doll hair... Just spray and brush. It tends to sort of near any issue...

[Vetinari]

Thanks! I'll have to remember that for next time - on a less brittle case