Pony salon question!!

[hellapostalia]

So I was lucky to win a few G1 lots of ponies on ebay. Super happy, but also, major problem for a minty pony collector who has little to no experience taking these girls to the pony salon.

Just couldn't pass up a good deal on ponies I needed. BUT, how on earth do you straighten out a pony's hair after it's been braided for, probably, I don't know, 20 years?

Pony salon experts please help! How do you help pony hair? Bodies are minty but hair is nasty... it's braided, frizzy, knotted... what should I do?

Thanks!

[Radha]

  Well, there's a ton of hair advice out there for you- I recommend MLP Preservation Project (Fardreamer's site) for good in-depth tutorials. 
  Basically, you'll want to wash and condition it first.  If it's super frizzy and dry, you can up the ante by leaving condition on for a long time, or (depending on the pony) even take a flat iron to it while its wet (not for most tinsel or color changing hair!!-check out the preservation site).  You can also boil and curl hair if you want it curly, and I've had good luck on medium frizz with boiling and conditioning afterward.

   Good luck!  Take before pics so you can properly admire your work afterward

[hellapostalia]

Oooh - I remember that site! Thanks so much Radha ~ can't wait to see how these ladies turn out. Pics to come!

[Katgyrl]

I love the MLP preservation project website too! If the hair is just way past saving you can always rehair, but I like to try to save the original hair if possible first. I have done a lot of boil curling and it does tend to work out some frizz pretty well. Just make sure you roll the curlers nice and tight and get the ends in there.

I would love to see before and after pics too!

[ZapAppleMedia]

Oh my gosshhhh! Your hairy ponymother is here!
Braids can be a HUGE pain in the butt if left in for 5 minutes so I cannot imagine how bad they must be after 20 years 
So did you wash the hair and brush it out? If you try this over and over and DON'T let the hair dry till it's straight, it may work, but then you can flat iron if it's that bad. Or put it in straw curlers and see if that works
Hope I could help! 

[hathorcat]

I agree that the first step is an over night/24 hour conditioner soak. Later the hair, brush it and then wrap it in saran. Wash it out and sometimes that [or repeating this a few times is all you need].

If its very badly tangled I would suggest dipping the hair in boiling water in order to loosen the tangles before you do the wrap. The hot water lets the nylon strands slide apart a little - hence loosening knots and tangles.

If simply treatments like these dont work, you will need to move on to using a flat iron. Have you used that for straightening before? The key with this is keeping the hair nice and wet and conditioned when you are using them - it will make a sizzling noise as you straighten. Also do very small sections of the hair at a time - perhaps a cm in width. And do not go over and over and over the same section - let it cool between passes - otherwise even if your flatiron is at a low enough temperature you risk building up the heat in the hair to a melting level.

And as a final tip - for really bad hair you are best with a damp metal comb. Plastic on plastic can cause problems and if the comb is wet it allows it to slide easier through the hair. Every time you brush the hair you pull the nylon strands. And too much brushing, too much stretching of the hair will cause it to break and become fizzy over time.

And after all that...we need gorgeous pictures of course

Good luck!

[kezrob23]

When it's really bad frizz, I'll put only a plug worth of hair through the straightened at a time. It takes forever though!! Also, metal nit combs are fantastic for detangling!! They have rounded tips to not hurt your head, so if you comb hair over your hand or up your arm like me, it doesn't hurt

[lovesbabysquirmy]

A good ceramic straight-iron and papers in the hair are my magic miracle!   

[hellapostalia]

You guys are awesome, thank you so much!! I took some before pictures, so just need to set up photo bucket

I am so super excited to see how these ladies will turn out. Because, let me tell ya, some of their manes are just naaaasty!