Softest/silkiest doll wig material? I want it realistic looking, so not fur

The wig in the photo looks like mohair to me. Mohair or angora - both are very soft and silky!

You can buy both of these as loose fibers to make wigs, either undyed or dyed in many lovely colors. I've made one wig with mohair and it can be a bit fiddly due to the hair trying to float around, but if I can do it, I'm sure anyone else can! It just takes patience and attention to detail.

I don't have any recommendations for shops that sell mohair/angora wigs because I haven't purchased any wigs at all (I'm hoping to make them myself). But I know they exist! You might check Etsy and even Instagram.

 

I purchased already in wefts synthetic fiber from Aliexpress. The heat resistant type. I found the fiber to be incredibly soft, silky, and thin enough to make realistic hair for tiny headed dolls (like actual 1:6 action figure head-sizes). If you search for synthetic heat resistant fiber on Aliexpress you'll get a lot of results, but I feel like all the shops carry the same exact (synthetic hair) products. I got mine originally from Amazon a thousand years ago, but the seller no longer sells on there. I searched on Ali and found what I thought "looked" the most similar, and I was right. They are the same exact fiber, super soft, smooth and silky. The wefts I got are really short (because I want them for tiny heads), so they were under $2 each, but most of them even the ones over 14" in length are super inexpensive (IMHO), per cost of weft. Hope that helps. (:

Here's the wig I made using those fibers from Ali, on my 28.5cm Myou Bettina Male -- his head is as bulbous as a Ken doll, but his face is smaller than a Barbie doll. The fiber is that thin (IMHO, perfect for most doll sizes, for realistic hair density). (:

Spoiler: Tiny Wig

 

*deleted*

 

The only company selling mohair wigs that I knew of went out of business I think, but there are probably some on etsy. If you go the route of getting your own mohair to make wigs, the quickest and easiest way to get the hair under control is to make it into wefts like some synthetic hair comes (as Enzyme mentioned above). I think there are a few tutorials around the forums.

What I did for unprocessed suri alpaca was this:
Picked out the bits of hay, combed it from the bottom up to de-tangle, and then washed it in some fabric softener. I think there was another step in there somewhere (which is in one of the tutorials laying about... can't recall right now which I used as it's been years). If I can, I'll try to track down one for you. I think processing mohair is pretty similar but not entirely sure as I don't use it.

Once that is done and it's dry, you line it up the best you can and glue the ends together by lining up the hair side by side, then trim the excess off. These will be your wefts.

edit: Ah I think it might have been this one. But I don't think she makes it into wefts or shows how.


Here's the playlist if you want to view other things about how to make wigs:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBMVJ9K0qITifOxJiskwvDR-IGtWKJK7Q

Hey I went on youtube and found some other videos that might interest you:

please for the love of wigs, COMB FROM THE BOTTOM UP. Not from the top down like she did. She pulled out huge chunks of fiber unnecessarily.

This person makes sewn wefts:


She glues them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFaDRQGzBAA&ab_channel=MariaLazar

 

I agree with some of the previous posts- that looks like mohair to me. Luts has a small selection of actual mohair wigs, and Alice’s Collections & Jusuns Doll Wigs (listed as JinSun on Denver Doll) make some of their wigs with synthetic mohair. I can’t speak to the ones on Luts or AC, but I love the Jusuns wig I have, it’s super soft and silky.

A lot of sellers on Etsy and Instagram also make absolutely stunning alpaca wigs, which I’ve heard are very soft and they look gorgeous in photos. Well made yarn wigs are also very soft and pretty.

 

I agree that the wig looks like mohair. It is indeed lovely!
There are a few artists that make mohair wigs I've seen on Moonlight BJD House's website (warning: inflated prices), and they likely could be found through Taobao. I love the one I got from Celine; there's also wigs by Shi Xian, Blakkbbo and SIN that you can look through for inspiration.

 

You're welcome! It was helpful for me as well since I've never looked into mohair wigs. So I had a bit of fun researching