Blythe hair secrets

When I got my fuzzy haired factory girl, I really needed some advice on how to fix her hair. I've been trawling the internet and asking nicely on the forums in the hope that some of the expert Blythe people will share their hair taming secrets with me. Apart from the hot water rinse, here are a few different methods that people have had success with.

1. Coat hair in conditioner (human hair kind), put in ziplock bag and run boiling water over it. Leave overnight and then rinse out thoroughly. Put in foam rollers for gentle waves. This was for a Kenner, not sure how it would go on a Neo.

2. Wash hair with laundry detergent, rinse. Then boil water and mix with fabric softener. Let soak for a few minutes. Rinse. Then twist hair into ringlets and let them dry overnight. I have to say that this looks really really good - check it out http://www.flickr.com/photos/squidslipper/3357586478/in/set-72157623207111178/

3. Wash hair with hot hot water, comb through conditioner, rinse and repeat. Finish with ceramic straightening irons (eep! this sounds potentially damaging - try this one at your own risk! I must admit, it did look nice though). Think it's best if you want a really straight look.

4. This is the method WoodSprite (on Flickr) uses...and it's nothing short of amazing. It's kind of lengthy and sadly involves using a product that I'm pretty sure is not available here, but I'll be scouring the shops for an equivilent for sure! http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodspriteblythe/2616138089/in/photostream/ You must check it out! It is the best guide to hair rejuvenation that I've seen.

Here is a brief summary of the steps:

- Prepare doll by wrapping face and body in cling film. Wrap cord around neck and slip arm through pull ring.
- Give hair a good brush through.
- Fill a little bowl (just enough so the hair will be covered) with about an oz of Chlorox Ultimate Care bleach (this is the product that I can't get) and boiling water. Soak for 15 - 20 minutes.
- Without rinsing, comb through hair first using wide toothed comb, then a fine tooth comb.
- Rinse and shampoo (using whatever it is that you like to use...she uses dishsoap).
- Then prepare bowl again with boiling water and fabric softener (same amount). Soak for 15 minutes. Comb through.
- Reheat mixture in microwave until hot. Soak for another 15 minutes. Comb, rinse thoroughly, de -plastic your girl. At this point, she uses scissors to trim any damaged or weird hairs.
- Now you leave to dry. If there are curls, give them a little scrunch from time to time. When it's just a little bit damp, put a little bit of leave in conditioner in it (she uses a Garnier one). When dry you can use a tiny mist of shine spray.

I especially like her advice about not brushing the ends of the hair after the treatment...which I went and did to Ashling after her hot water rinse, ruining the cute curls on the end of her hair (her hair still looked loads better though!).

I used a variation on method 4 on Ash's hair (without the Chlorox step) and it was very successful. I twisted it into ringlets to dry and here's how it came out. I didn't have any leave in conditioner, so I left that step out.