making wigs - help meeee (base make from latex)

I'm no expert, but I was looking at liquid latex today, thinking I could paint it onto my 'spare' head to make a wig-cap, then fix the hair to the latex... you can get small quantities of liquid latex, meant for body-painting or effects make-up on Ebay, & it comes in transparent.

My plan was to make a glow-in-the-dark wig... hmmm...

 

You can get liquid latex at Hobby Lobby in the Train aisle. It's $11. :3


I really don't know what would be best for the elf doll wigs as I don't have one. I was going to try to make a mini doll this weekend and was wondering about that myself. o.o

 

As Ive been making molds, I keep thinking mold making rubber would make a nice doll wig base, since you could paint it on the head, glue the hair to it and it can be peeled off and reused! Plus since the latex wants to cling, an dit would be prefectly the same size as the head, it should stay on really well.

 

Body paint latex is diffrent (I dont know if that would peel off) Mold making rubber latex comes off enitirely (be careful to apply thin layers and let them dry completely or it will stay sticky longer) any stray bits can be rubed right off, sort of like stray rubber cement. The web site for the brand Ive been using is: www.eti-usa.com its called castin' craft mold builder. The tub is about $10 for a pound which lasts a LONG time. I would recomend working outside only with it, as it contains ammonia.

 

Body paint latex should peel off fine, but you'll need to paint several coats to get something re-useable, rather than something so thin it tears when you take it off.

I'm going by what various Ebay-sellers say, & from watching demonstrations of body-painting with the stuff

I just thought the body-painting kind might be better for colours, as it comes in clear & fleshtone, whearas the mold-making stuff I've used was white or pale green.

 

You could try making the cap w/ pantyhose, and then sew pre-made wefts to it.

Monique sells synthetic mohair wefts that are ready to sew to a cap. I bought some of these thinking I'd cut the hair off and use it to reroot, but it's so nice that I've left it alone. I think you'd be able to make a full wig with it and still have a reasonalbly small wig/head.

http://www.monique.com/syntheticmohair.html

 

I um...used to work at a..umm... adult store where we sold latex body paint and know, that indeed latex body paint peels right off. It does go on really thin and I'm somewhat doubtful it would work for any sort of holding of wefted hair. You'd have to do lots of layers. Like more than 10. Something thicker may work better.

 

Oh, OK! I worked at a stall on an....um... club night event called Dracula 2000 (hehe) & was near the latex body-painting demo stand, & they claimed you could make re-useable garments by painting many layers & then cutting the latex off carefully. I've also seen it used to coat small dolls & make them latex suits by dipping!

Thicker craft-shop stuff will be white, though, yes? Or does it dry clear too? My mould-making experience has been with silicone only (I made a mould from a replica 'Cursed Coin' I sculpted & then cast it in metal & in chocolate)

 

Yup, sewing wefts isn't hard at all

I recently bought lots of long human hair on weft, & following instructions from the ladies in the hair shop, bought a cheap pony-tail-type wiglet (has a little wig cap that you tighten & tie over a bun) & chopped all the fake hair off, then sewed on strips of the human hair weft in rows.

It took a long time, but I had great dolly-style historical ringlets for my wedding day, & everyone thought it looked great.

Hair on a weft is much easier to use than trying to do things with loose hair!

 

The mold making stuff say its tan, but its sort of off-white (not tan at all really)

If you look at my post in the artist doll section, I have images of a mold I made

 

Aha!... I'll go look.

Drop me a PM, btw, I'm waiting to hear from you, & it's morning in the UK again.

 

Really, it's not that sinister... people paint it onto their skin as costume fun.

Honest!

(OK, & dip Barbies in it to make Fetish Suit Barbie)

 

If you are just making wigs for yourself, have you thought of drilling a couple of holes in the top of one cap and tying or wiring the little wigs onto the cap?

Also re velcro, it would probably still be too thick but this place sells very thin velcro meant for dolls. They also sell little zippers, buckles, eyelets, and other items useful for doll clothes:

http://www.angelfire.com/ab/lisasdolls/hookloop.html

Also when I made wigs for little antique dolls I used their head as the wig form by first stretching saran wrap over their head and securing it at the neck with a lightweight rubberband. They did not have real eyelashes and their paint was enameled on so I couldn't mess anything up. then I could use glue or whatever when making the wig and it would just stick to the saran wrap which could be peeled out or trimmed off.

carolyn