Welcome to Pinterest Tested! Ever wonder if that miracle cleaner is really miraculous? Or what about that homemade facial cleanser or delicious-looking recipe? The Craft Patch is the place to find out! I am testing Pins that catch my eye to see if they really live up to the claims made on Pinterest. It’s like the Mythbusters of Domesticity!
I think every mother of girls pinned THIS PIN about saving ratty doll hair. Who doesn’t have at least one Barbie with a crazy hairdo?! I cut many a doll’s hair as a kid because I couldn’t stand their messy hair.
So I mixed up 2 tablespoons fabric softener and filled the rest of my spray bottle with water. The original Pin says to buy a wig brush, but I did not want to make a special trip to the store or have to spend money on it, so I used my regular plastic comb.
Here are the results:
Dolly did make quite the hairball by the time I was through:
But…
This doll has been saved, even though it took a lot more work than I was hoping for. For that reason, I give it the rating of:
I spent about 30 minutes combing through the crazy tangles. But that is not so bad considering how her hair looked before. I did not think it was possible to comb out some of those rats, but I guess the fabric softener helped because Dolly is looking much sleeker and less like a demonic wild woman. And her hair smells fantastic, too!
One last note: some people commented on the Pin about how toxic fabric softener is and were worried about using it on a child’s toy. I sprayed the stuff on, combed through it and let it dry thoroughly before letting my daughter play with it and I feel fine about that. But this is something you’ll have to decide for yourself.
Comments & Reviews
Before i read your blog i was hesitate to try it. Thanks for sharing .
You could just wash the fabric softener out (lukewarm water) if you are worried about the toxins. I use this on AG dolls, but wash it out thoroughly after some soaking time…
What an amazing result on your doll!
The recommended that I used before might also be called seventh generation I am not sure of the exact name but if you Google it it will come up
Wish I had taken before and after photos. This really works and doll’s hair is lush and soft. Thank you
This worked great! I fixed three dolls for my granddaughters today. One was almost beyond repair, but I was able to get the knots out so I could braid the frizzy strands.
When I was a kid my mom taught me to add a little baby oil to my dolls hair I would wash the dolls hair with shampoo and then brush it and add a little baby oil and I never had problems with ratty doll hair you just need to be careful not to put too much oil or you get a mess and need to shampoo again but I will definitely try the fabric softener
I’ve been told a metal dog comb is better than plastic. I’ve done some nice smoothing with mine. BUT, I shall try that fabric softener thing! My stuff is mostly posted at members dot boardhost dot com slash DollDivas –under the name of Paul in Warrensburg.