Everything You Need to Know About BJD Wigs

If customizing BJDs is your new hobby, you’re probably looking for more information to get your dolls looking at their best.

And the hair is one of the most important parts that should give your doll the perfect finish.

However, there’s a lot to know before you even dive in and order the wig for your BJD.

In this article, you’ll discover everything you need to know about BJD wigs – from types of wigs to choosing the right size and styling tips.

Let’s jump right in!

What is a BJD Wig?

Before moving to what the BJD wig is, first let me explain what exactly does the BJD mean.

BJD stands for a “ball-jointed doll”, that is attached with ball and socket joints and is primarily intended for adult collectors.

The BJDs are typically made of polyurethane synthetic resin or hard, dense plastic and the parts are secured with a thick elastic. These dolls are easy to customize – you can paint them, do the make-up, change eyes and wigs, etc.

Since BJDs come bald, you can put hair on them using a wig, which is called a BJD wig.

Types of BJD Wigs

BJD wigs are made of different materials, providing different quality, look and feel of your doll’s hair.

Here’s the list of the most popular types of wigs:

• Synthetic/Fiber wig is the most common type of BJD wigs made of synthetic fiber and is attached to a wig cap. You can find fiber wigs in different lengths, styles, and colors. Some fiber wigs are heat resistant, meaning you can style them using heat.

• Mohair wigs are made of different materials and are soft, full, and curly. It’s also cheaper than a synthetic wig. However, mohair hair has a dull look with a very little shine and is best for dolls that have a more casual look. Some mohair wigs are made of goatskin, or sheep that have the fur still attached. Others are made of fur or wool from these animals that are sewn to a cloth wig cap.

• (Faux) Fur wigs are typically made of synthetic craft fur rather than real animal fur.

Human hair wigs are somewhat uncommon, but it’s still used to make BJD wigs occasionally, providing the most natural look. While human hair’s major advantage is that you can pleach, color and style it as regular human hair, it also comes with the same issues like split ends, frizz, and more.

Alpaca Wigs can be quite pricey but are very soft and can look very realistic. As the name states, they are made from alpaca wool.

Note that some Asian manufacturers refer to fur wigs as mohair, since “mo” in Cantonese, Chinese means fur.

Where to Find BJD Wigs

When it comes to purchasing BJD wigs one the first places I would check would be Etsy. There are a lot of wig makers there than can get you an exact size, color, and style that you want.

Most BJD companies also offer wigs for sale in their shops. This make it very handy if you are purchasing a doll from them already. You can simply just add it into your cart and your items will arrive together.

As I mentioned in my Planning for a BJD article, there are also distributors out there that sell wigs too!

Additionally, I have also branched out into Amazon and have found a couple of wigs there too (although sizes were limited at this time).

How to Find the Right BJD Wig Size

To ensure a good fit, it’s crucial to find the right BJD wig size. However, since doll heads vary in size, choosing the right BJD wig size might be a tricky task, especially when you’re a beginner artist, who’s shopping online.

But don’t worry, I’ll break down all the information you need to find the right wig size for your BJD crafts. Let’s begin!

First of all, you’ll need a measuring tape to measure the circumference of your BJD head.

How to Measure Your BJD Head?

To measure your BJD’s head, you’ll need to take your bald doll and measure the circumference of its head around the hairline. Simply wrap a flexible measuring tape around your doll’s head – where you’d place the edges of the wig.

Alternatively, you can also wrap a piece of paper or a string around your doll’s head and then measure the string with a ruler.

Once you know what your BJD’s head circumference is, you can use the chart below to choose the right wig size for your doll.

Note that the wigs will fit your BJDs most ideally when their head size is in the center range of the above-mentioned circumferences.

Say, your doll’s head measurement is 9.5 inches, the wig size 9 (i.e. the one for a 9-10 inch head would fit perfectly. But if your doll head is 9 inches sharp and you’re looking for a tight fit, you should size down to size 8. Likewise, if your doll head is at the upper limit of a wig size, I would recommend sizing up.

However, doll head shapes vary that may affect the fit of a wig as well. Let’s review 3 examples of atypical doll head shapes:

1. Some dolls may have larger heads on the top, narrowing at the hairline. If you have a doll like this, you’d recommend you make sure the wig can fit to stretch over the widest part of the head.
2. Other dolls may have especially tall/deep heads. In this case, you may need to size up to accommodate the larger depth.
3. Some dolls also have very short/shallow heads. But in this case, you can take the wig that matches the head size. You can fill the extra space in the depth of the cap by placing fleece or fabric pieces inside the cap.

Please also note that I just listed the “Dolls This Size” in the chart above as a reference. While it shows the common head size of each doll, head sizes may still vary depending on the manufacturer. So the best way to get the right wig for your BJD is to measure it.

How to Fit the Wig to Your BJD?

In most cases, you’ll see that wigs fit BJDs snugly – like a glove, rather than a hat.

And if you try to place a snug-fitting wig, you may think it’s a smaller size and it won’t fit your doll. But fear not, I’ll teach you the easiest way to put it on your BJD.

Here’s the step-by-step guide to easily fit a new wig on your BJD (synthetic):

• Unless it is specifically styled and you are afraid to ruin it, you will flip your wig inside out.

• Place the front of the wig above its forehead, at the hairline. You can line the center of the wig where you imagine the inner circle of hair on top of the head will be.

• Hold the top of the wig down firmly and start to bring the edges down.

• Use your other hand to firmly pull over the back and side edges of the wig.

• Finally, once the wig is tightly placed on your BJD’s head, adjust it perfectly at the hairline.

For fur wigs you can just slip it on and just adjust to where you want it to be.

How to Keep a Wig on Your BJD?

In order to perfectly fit a wig on your BJD, you may need a wig cap or other materials. Let’s see what you can do to ensure the perfect fit:

1. Silicone wig caps are stretchy clear silicone caps creating an ideal non-slip surface to ensure the perfect. You can also use the wig cap when the wig is a little too large for your doll. They are typically sized to sit on the plate of the head, but you can also trim it to customize its size at its best.
2. Velcro holds the wig perfectly. But if your doll comes with the velcro that has the prickly side against the wig, I recommend peeling it off and using something else. It’s because it snags the hair and may ruin your wigs.
3. Moleskin is an adhesive, providing similar friction on the head as the soft side of Velcro. You can find it in the foot care aisle of a drug store.
4. The double-sided tape holds the wig perfectly, but you’ll need to change it frequently.

Out of these options I like using silicone wig caps the most because they have very little risk of leaving any residue that Velcro adhesive or tape might leave.

BJD Wigs Care & Styling

After you perfectly attach the wig to your BJD, your work isn’t done. BJD wigs require some care and styling to keep them looking at their best.

BJD Wigs Care

Brushing

I recommend using a toothbrush or a small soft hair brush for combing and styling your BJD wig. Always brush gently to avoid split ends or breaking/stretching fibers. You can avoid tangling by misting hair lightly with water, allowing you to brush the hair more smoothly.

Washing

For synthetic wigs-

You can wash most of the wigs in cold or warm water with a small amount of shampoo and liquid fabric softener to help make it soft. Let the wig air dry or on a very low setting you can blow dry it.

Just be careful with heat unless the wig is labeled heat resistant. Wigs that are not heat resistant can get damaged if heat is used.

For Fur wigs-

You can run them through water and clean them with soap. Just be careful with any shampoos that have extra oils in them as they might ruin the fur fibers. Air drying is recommended or a very low setting on the blow dryer.

While you can use regular shampoo, there are also special shampoos/conditioners for synthetic wigs you may prefer to use if you have to wash the wig more often.

Companies such as VOLKs offer wig styling tools!

Curly Wig Care

The best way to maintain a curly wig is to mist the hair lightly with water and finger the curls. You can also comb the curls individually with a brush and finger curls to reform them.

Remember, brushing curly hair often will loosen the curls. But if the wig is heat-resistant, you can always set new curls.

Long Wig Care

Just like curly wigs, long wigs need special care and styling to maintain their perfect look. When brushing longer wigs, it’s a good idea to divide the hair into several sections and start brushing the ends first while you work your way up. Especially, if the hair is tangled, brushing it from the top will cause even more tangles and split ends.

In order to maintain long wigs, I highly recommend you braid it or put the doll’s hair up.

BJD Wigs Styling

Styling Heat-resistant Wigs

Note that synthetic wigs respond to heat styling differently than human hair does. Heating the synthetic wig relaxes the fibers causing them to straighten. Once the hair cools down, it will take whatever form it is in, meaning you can’t curl synthetic wigs with the curling iron the same way as you would curl human hair.

However, it’s fairly easy to curl your synthetic wig. Simply heat the hair with a flat iron, blow drier, or curling iron – it will only take a few seconds for the fibers to heat up. Then take the hair while it’s still hot and quickly roll it into foam or plastic curlers. You can also braid the hot hair to get loose waves.

Note: make sure you don’t exceed the maximum heat recommendation for your wig type. Try to style your wig with lower temperatures to avoid damage.

Styling Non-heat-resistant Wigs

Hot water dunk: Bring the water up until the boiling temperature, pour it into a bowl, and wait for a minute. Then dunk the wig into the water for about 2-3 seconds – you can repeat this twice more to see significant results.

Additionally, if you want to straighten the hair, brush the hair in between each dunk.

Straightening and rehydrating:  After the extended period of playing, the wig may look dehydrated and require straightening. To restyle it, you’ll need to wash and condition the hair with liquid fabric softener, then hot water dunk.

When using fabric softener set aside a bowl of warm water and mix in the liquid fabric softener. Once mixed place your wig in the mixture and let it stay in there for 1hr. Rinse and then dry.

Setting curls: First, mist and section the hair before rolling it into regular foam hair rollers. Then, hot water dunk the hair with foam hair rollers on it. Make sure each curl goes into the water – you can use the spoon to push them underwater.

Once the hair is soaked, pat excess water off and leave the rollers on while you let the hair dry completely. This may take 1-2 days. After 2 days, you can remove the rollers, getting nice curls.

If you prefer looser waves, you can ignore the rollers and braid the hair (1-3 braids) before hot water dunking. You’ll need to leave the braids until the hair fries completely.

Go find your perfect wig!

I hope this article was informative and helped you understand about the world of BJD wigs. There are so many different wigs out there to choose from and I don’t think one is particularly better than the rest. I think a lot of it is going to boil down to what you want and what you envision your doll using.

Are there any wig tips you might have that I didn’t mention? Let me know in the comments section down below!