Wigs Wig Fiber Comparison; 11 different fibers!

Hi everyone! Before I fully plunge into the world of wig making, I wanted to find a fiber I liked that could produce long strands and was soft. Though I will likely need to use synthetic fibers for some stuff, I thought it’d be fun to get a bunch of different fiber roving and see how they compare. I’ve seen a few posts around the internet that do a similar thing, but none had all of the ones I got; I aimed to find an Etsy shop that had as many different fibers as I could get! I struck gold with CarrParkArtisans on Etsy. I highly recommend you look there if you’re looking to buy any of these fibers, they’re very high quality and a super good price! (side note, the wool is not from them as I already have some I use for needle felting)

I’ll be comparing 11 fibers: Wool, Tencel, Viscose/Rayon, Rose, Bamboo, Faux Angora, Faux Cashmere, Firestar, and three types of silk, Eri/Peace Silk, Tussah Silk, and Bombyx/Mulberry Silk.

Please note I have never actually made a full wig at the time of writing this, so there could be some pros and cons I miss out on from lack of experience. But I hope this is helpful anyway as I found it really hard to find good comparisons for wig fibers!

Feel
53046A4A-288C-448F-8CE9-6DBF81156B95 by Tybalt Courtney, on Flickr
Wool- Quite grainy and a little bit abrasive. Very matte, with no shine at all. Not very soft; It’s a little itchy if you put it on your skin for a bit.

Tencel- VERY soft. It’s very, very nice to hold and touch. Fibers are thin and don’t rub on each other much when you handle it. Has a nice satin-like sheen to it.

Viscose/Rayon- Also very soft. Not as silky as tencel; it has more of a warm feel to it. Kind of how I imagine petting a chinchilla would feel. Squeezing a clump of it feels more like you’re handling one solid form, not a bunch of tiny strands, if that makes sense. Also has a satin sheen.

Rose- Not as soft as tencel or viscose, but still soft. Is also more matte than them, but not as much as wool. Very light and airy; If you wave some around a bunch of tiny little fibers will come floating off in the air. Also has a very strong smell to it, not the smell of roses though. It’s not super pleasant but not terrible. It actually gets pretty overwhelming while working with, though.

Bamboo- not as soft as the previous three, but still a very nice texture. Tends to clump more as well. It looks almost exactly like rose in terms of shine level. It feels overall a little bit more robust than the previous fibers without being abrasive at all like wool.

Faux Angora- a completely different texture from the previous fibers. Almost feels crunchy, but in a good way, like snow crunches. It is matte and much softer than wool, but not as soft as the other previous fibers. Would probably be a good option for making natural hair styles like dreadlocks, or perhaps even fur-like hair.

Faux Cashmere- Softer than the faux angora. Kind of the middle ground between that and the first four fibers (excluding wool). Has more shine than angora but not much. Feels even more chinchilla-like than viscose. Seems a god option for fur as well but might not work for dreadlocks.

Firestar- This one I got purely because, well, it could maybe have a use for doll wigs? It’s definitely more suited for a noticeably artificial, metallic look. It basically is very thin strands of tinsel. It isn’t very soft, but also isn’t abrasive like wool as it has less friction. The strands kind of go in every direction.

Eri Silk- Incredibly soft. It’s basically like viscose but with more bulk to it and overall a bit nicer and easier to handle.

Tussah Silk- Ever so slightly shinier than Eri silk. The strands are harder to tame as well. Comparing the two, I’d say tussah silk is more hair like while Eri is a bit more fur like, but the difference isn’t huge.

Mulberry Silk- The softest of all the fibers by quite a bit. Feels light and airy but also doesn’t float everywhere like rose. Ever so slightly more matte than the other silks, but I did get black instead of natural/bleached color so than might not be entirely accurate. My favorite in terms of texture and handling.

Wefts
12167E55-8870-49C9-9C65-6DD3C8E33486 by Tybalt Courtney, on Flickr
E5981D80-20E6-4953-9ACB-68C3BD9CBF7C by Tybalt Courtney, on Flickr

Here are all the wefts, before and after ironing. For reference, the viscose weft is almost exactly 3 inches long from the black yarn knot.

Note many of them do not need to be ironed; In fact, you could probably do without it for all of these fibers. They behave well enough just being brushed. Some do not take ironing at all, so you couldn’t use it to style it: Firestar, wool, and the faux angora didn’t really respond to the heat at all.

Most of these wefts can be easily shortened if you tug on the ends too hard, though brushing and combing does not shorten them. If you make wigs with fibers like these be very gentle with them, they aren’t as durable as synthetic doll hair, though they are much softer. Keep in mind unless a wig is heavily styled or very short they probably won’t last forever.

Anyway, here’s some overall takeaways for all the fibers:

Wool is not the best choice for doll hair in most cases. If you really like the look, go ahead as it is cheap and easy to find, but it is certainly not for overly realistic hair unless you want super coarse dreadlocks.

Tencel made the longest wefts out of the non silks (excluding Firestar). Overall a really good choice for hair, it’s got a perfect texture for it and is way softer than synthetic hair. Also doesn’t really need to be ironed to make wefts, just brushing it is fine. It is however a little less durable than the silks.

Viscose/rayon is very soft but inferior in my opinion. The strands can be shortened super easily even once brushed and it doesn’t create long wefts in the first place. I’d go for tencel or silks instead if you can.

rose is gross. It basically looks identical to bamboo but has a nauseating smell and creates drifting fibers in the air worse than a shedding cat (literally, it was actually worse than when I pet my cats during shedding season). I don’t recommend it, if you like the look just go with bamboo, it’s easier to find and behaves nicer and doesn’t stank.

Bamboo is overall nice, but it doesn’t create long wefts. However if you want hair with less sheen than tencel, viscose, and the silks and don’t mind the length it’s a solid choice.

faux angora is pretty good, but I do prefer the faux cashmere a bit more. They both behave more like fur than hair, though angora was a little extra furry. But I prefer the cashmere as it is easier to manipulate and doesn’t clump nearly as much.

Do not make doll wigs out of Firestar. Seriously, unless you are making a metallic Afro it won’t get you anywhere as you can’t straighten it at all. If you want metallic doll hair just get some from The Doll Planet

All of the silks are very good options for hair! I was surprised by the Eri silk as I expected it to create shorter wefts due to the fibers being made from torn cocoons, but it made just as long a weft as the other two silks. Tussah silk is a tiny bit less soft, but I think the strands are most durable once brushed. The only other thing of note I can say for choosing the type of silk is Mulberry silk tended to be easily manipulated, but to the point even a slight breeze or shift in position could completely change its position. If you don’t want to be constantly adjusting your doll’s hair style than I’d choose one of the other two silks. But otherwise, all three are really good options.


My personal top choices are any of the silks and tencel.


I hope this comparison is helpful! If any of you have questions about specific fibers I have listed feel free to ask and I’ll do my best to help!

 

That’s helpful to know!