Factory curls

[Elva]

I recently bought Sundance who still has her beautiful original factory curls! At least the seller said that they are factory made. Sundance's tail looks great, but her mane's curls didn't survive the delivery as nicely. The mane is flat, but still in like looking curls. I'm afraid to brush it, as I think that'll make it frizzy. Is there any way to restore her pretty mane? I've heard of hot water being used to restore the curls, but wonder if that will help in this case... I'll post a picture soon.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

only use COLD water with factory curls .  Spray them with COLD COLD water and re-shape with your fingers.  It's very light work.

[Elva]

Ooh, I'll try that out! Thanks

[lovesbabysquirmy]

yeah you don't need much water, you don't want to get the hair soaked, you just want to be able to push it back in where it belongs.  I sometimes use a chopstick.

[Noasar]

You can also rub in a little conditioner, twirl/twist the curls (in their original direction) and leave to dry. Then wash out the conditioner gently with cold water (don’t pull or separate the curls too much) and then again twist and leave in position to dry. Never brush curly hair when it is wet too. If you need to do any brushing do it when it’s dry.

[banditpony]

You can also rub in a little conditioner, twirl/twist the curls (in their original direction) and leave to dry. Then wash out the conditioner gently with cold water (don’t pull or separate the curls too much) and then again twist and leave in position to dry. Never brush curly hair when it is wet too. If you need to do any brushing do it when it’s dry.

I've had great luck brushing (specifically using a fine tooth comb) curls when wet.

Start with tips and let it naturally curl around your finger as you move upward.  Kinda same way you'd comb out tangled hair on a toddler.

[Taffeta]

Yeah, you can comb when wet if you're really patient and willing to do small bits at a time to preserve the curl and just neaten it, rather than a heavy brush through. Sometimes factory curls get muzzy and it is possible to neaten them that way. But you have to be careful, as it is also possible to destroy them that way. Using fingers is a good way

[Noasar]

You can also rub in a little conditioner, twirl/twist the curls (in their original direction) and leave to dry. Then wash out the conditioner gently with cold water (don’t pull or separate the curls too much) and then again twist and leave in position to dry. Never brush curly hair when it is wet too. If you need to do any brushing do it when it’s dry.

I've had great luck brushing (specifically using a fine tooth comb) curls when wet.

Start with tips and let it naturally curl around your finger as you move upward.  Kinda same way you'd comb out tangled hair on a toddler.

Yeah I’ve done it when wet too but found that the curls lost some bounce. I remember reading the ‘don’t brush when wet’ thing on a backcard - I think it was a Candy Cane pony? Anyway that’s what stopped me brushing it wet and I think the hair looks better

The hair on these guys was pretty fuzzy and matted up when I got them.
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When the hair is dry you can try brush it round your finger like banditpony said and it can help the hair find it’s natural curl. If it’s matted and you want to brush it wet it won’t ruin your pony so just find what works for you!

[LadyMoondancer]

I disagree about only using cold water.  In my experience factory curls can often be resurrected with the following technique:

1. Use hot water, as hot as you can get it (without hurting yourself, ha ha) from a faucet.  (In other words, this is NOT a 'boil and dip' saucepan technique.)

2. You want the water to run SLOWLY.  A torrent of water is going to make your pony's hair hang straight down.

3. Cup your hands around the curls.  Hold your hand + pony under the hot water so it flows through your fingers.

4.  Gently "scrunch" the pony's hair while the hot water runs through your fingers. Take the pony out from under the water, continuing to scrunch.

The hair will often settle back into it's original shape--curly!

That said, I wouldn't use this technique on a pony who has pretty tight factory curls.  In that case, I would carefully "plump up" the curls by brushing them (with a pony brush) around my finger.

But if you have a pony that has lost most of or all of her curl, it works surprisingly well.

I used this technique on Sparkler, who was a thrift find:

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I mean, she doesn't have perfect factory curls but her hair now follows the same "shape" as it originally would have, and it took almost no effort. 

[BlackCurtains]

If it helps any, Raincurl's backcard says this -

Grooming Tip:
Let wet, curly hair dry before combing.

[banditpony]

You can also rub in a little conditioner, twirl/twist the curls (in their original direction) and leave to dry. Then wash out the conditioner gently with cold water (don’t pull or separate the curls too much) and then again twist and leave in position to dry. Never brush curly hair when it is wet too. If you need to do any brushing do it when it’s dry.

I've had great luck brushing (specifically using a fine tooth comb) curls when wet.

Start with tips and let it naturally curl around your finger as you move upward.  Kinda same way you'd comb out tangled hair on a toddler.

Yeah I’ve done it when wet too but found that the curls lost some bounce. I remember reading the ‘don’t brush when wet’ thing on a backcard - I think it was a Candy Cane pony? Anyway that’s what stopped me brushing it wet and I think the hair looks better

I suppose it's probably just a technique thing. But I work slowly, wetting and brushing in small 2-4 mm increments. I do my best where the weight of the water isn't weighing down the hair, so it doesn't end up looser for me.

Regarding Hasbro's tip: I feel like "play" brushing is very different then restoration brushing-- dry or wet. I can literally feel where the hair physically wants to pull when I do it with my technique.

That tip is on the candy cane pony's boxes... but apparently they also say this:

Just like real hair that has been curled, your pony's curls will become looser each time you curl them.

http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/Category:Candy_Cane_Ponies


As a kid I wouldn't brush goldilocks because I knew her hair would be loosen if I did it.  So that original tip is just saying you are going to ruin the curl eventually with play brushing. 

[Noasar]

If it helps any, Raincurl's backcard says this -

Grooming Tip:
Let wet, curly hair dry before combing.

Clearly all the curly haired ponies are in agreement I feel like the cards should have come with a notice for kids saying: ‘Step away from the brush kiddo. Collectors of the future will thank you!’

Your Sparkler is gorgeous LadyM you did a great job on the hair.

[Taffeta]

...of course Hasbro UK in its wisdom encouraged kids to braid...

[Ragamuffin]

You can also rub in a little conditioner, twirl/twist the curls (in their original direction) and leave to dry. Then wash out the conditioner gently with cold water (don’t pull or separate the curls too much) and then again twist and leave in position to dry. Never brush curly hair when it is wet too. If you need to do any brushing do it when it’s dry.

My G1s have hair too frizzy* for me to attempt this, but I used the "twist in the original direction" method with my talking Celestia and Nightmare Moon and they have perfect curls to this day! I brushed their hair out when I got them and regretted it a year later, but twisting it put it back to how they were meant to be. Cadence wasn't so lucky, though. Her hair is just sort of wavy now. And frizzy...

*My Salty and Slugger for example are too frizzy to keep curls. I tried curling their hair with straws and they didn't even hold for a day!