You have a beautiful reborn baby with a headful of hair but now the doll’s hair is messy and sticking up everywhere. How to take care of Reborn hair to keep it looking nice and new, read on for instructions.
First, you need to determine what the baby’s hair is made out of. The most commonly used hair on Reborn dolls is Mohair.
What is Mohair? Mohair is soft wool that originates from the hair of the Angora goat. In order to produce mohair, these goats are sheared once or twice a year and their hair can grow as long as 36 inches (91 cm). Some call mohair the “diamond fiber,” as the wool is characterized by a unique appeal and sheen. When blended with other fabrics, like alpaca or merino, mohair provides that radiance to the fibers.
Mohair is more pricey than standard sheep’s wool due to the fact that the production procedure is more time-consuming, and as a result, it is thought about as a luxury fiber, comparable to cashmere or Angora.
Is the Reborn Hair Real or Faux Mohair?
As previously stated above you need to determine if the reborn’s hair is made with Mohair. And, if is it real or faux Mohair, this will determine your next steps for cleaning processes.
One of the easiest ways to tell if you are looking at faux mohair is by touching it. Faux mohair feels like a completely different material than real mohair, which has more texture and “bite” to it.
How to take care of Reborn Hair made with Real Mohair
First, you should carefully brush through the doll’s hair before washing.
It’s recommended to either use a toothpick to softly pick through the hair or a special soft-bristled brush like below.
Carefully comb through the hairs back and forth without using pressure.
If you feel any knots or your comb gets tangled in hairs, don’t force it through as it will pull out the doll’s hair. You may encounter some knots and tangles too persistent to work through, for that you will need to hold the hair from the rooted side with one hand and gently comb through hairs with a brush in your other hand.
After brushing through the hair thoroughly you may consider washing the hair if it feels too greasy.
Never immerse your Reborn into the water; this could ruin his/her body. Instead, hold the head beneath a sink faucet for washing, supporting the head simply as you would a real baby’s head.
Take care to not get water below the eyebrows on the face. If you have an open-eyed reborn doll, the water might damage the eyelashes. If his/her nose has actually been opened, water might also permeate into the nose (and destroy the backing).
When you are done cleaning, gently pat the hair with a towel in the place you want it and allow it to air dry.
How to take care of Reborn Hair made with Faux Mohair
Faux Mohair is a really fragile type of hair that is generally used on collectible Reborn dolls that have been either glued in place or rooted in the head which gives a really lifelike baby hair look!
This kind of hair is not meant to be combed. Naturally, once you pull off that sweet little cap you had the babywearing the mohair is going to go every which way, similar to a real baby.
A fast simple option is to take a moist paper towel and lay it on top of the baby’s hair. With the slightly damp paper towel and your damp hands flatten hair sections into the preferred place.
You can also use the moistened towel scrunched up and dab with pressure, this is also useful in getting the hair to remain flattened to the head.
This works excellent and does not harm the hair. The next time the cap comes off simply duplicate and moisten!
Want to know more about Reborn Dolls?
Also visit Reborn Baby Dolls 101 for 2021, and What is the difference between reborn and silicone babies? 2021