Nylon and polypropylene styling problems.

[Naamah]

I've got a pony with mostly nylon hair, and two small areas of polypropylene hair in the mane.  The poly sticks up more, is just springier, and even after pouring boiling water over it and combing the heck out of it it still won't quite lay flat.

Tips?  Hints?  I don't want to have to pull out the poly and replace it. 

[Maniah]

It's odd that the water didn't make it lay down. Is it very thick? You may try using a rubber band to hold it down and let it dry like that free the boiling water.

In general I find it is best to avoid mixing hair types for this exact reason. They all style differently.

[kittybethy]

Wow! I would love to see pics!

[pop-girl]

I've come to the conclusion that I hate polypropylene hair.
I've blended the poly with nylon only once but left the hair straight. I didn't have much of an issue with styling but had a huge problem when I tried to gradient dye the blend.

My only suggestion would be to try an actual hair style - some braids or a fancy updo.
In the future I would avoid blending different hair types. Good luck!

[Naamah]

Oh, golly. I tried everything, and it just didn't work out.  So I yanked it all and replaced it with some white Nylon and everything is better (except I really liked that pale pale blue poly).  I needed this guy off my worktable, and feel kinda bad that he's not as . . . blue . . . as I wanted him. 

He's still fabulous. 

[Colorscapesart]

I have no doubt!  Can't wait to see

[hokuspokus]

Interesting topic i don't have any tips, sorry!

[natevansate]

Hi Pop, The reason you could not dye the poly is that it is not porous so the dye will not take to any poly at all. This also effects the hair when you try to style it with hot water for the same reason and thus why I never mix hair types in a custom.

[lisey_baby]

Also you could check out our dyeing guide, I think I'm allowed to post a link to it here *please remove if not*, it has a brief explanation on the different types of hair . Also I apologise for my lack of knowledge of how to put in a clickable link https://www.facebook.com/notes/my-little-customs/nylon-dyeing-guide/349848385075053

[PandaBerryInSpace]

I'm having a similar problem with polypropylene/nylon. The polypropylene doesn't curl very well and kinda sticks up... So much for being identical to nylon, eh? I used the same blend on another pony and didn't try to curl it, and it looks fine there, though.

[deeleelambbaa]

I actually just got a bunch of doll hair from my gram, but when I tried to straighten it with a hot iron (like I heard is fully do-able with nylon hair), it sort of melted together and made the hair very un-soft and unmanageable
I'm trying to figure out what kind of hair it really is, and I'm wondering if it's polypropylene hair... but then, it came precurled, and as is previously said, poly doesn't curl well.... I don't know! D:

[lisey_baby]

Hey PandaBerryInSpace,

Poly can be very similar to nylon in feel and appearance, but does tend to react differently to styling, it can be a strange hair to work with.

Deeleelambbaa, what temperature did you have your hot iron on? I have had success with running my hair straighteners over poly on the lowest heat setting possible (mine has like 6 but I couldn't tell you what number 1 is other that it's low) when the ends were fluffy from brushing and it smoothed the ends out without any melting. However I was super careful and super fast, so maybe the heat didn't have enough time to effect the hair?

[Naamah]

Oh, golly, thank you natevansate and lisey_baby!  That is really helpful!

I decided, after this, not to combine hair types again, because it just doesn't seem reliable.  Maybe for a twist or something.

Pics of the little guy forthcoming!

[lisey_baby]

Ooooo looking forward to pictures. Yeah mixing hair types can be a gamble even without styling as some times the different textures can be so noticeable

[deeleelambbaa]

Deeleelambbaa, what temperature did you have your hot iron on? I have had success with running my hair straighteners over poly on the lowest heat setting possible (mine has like 6 but I couldn't tell you what number 1 is other that it's low) when the ends were fluffy from brushing and it smoothed the ends out without any melting. However I was super careful and super fast, so maybe the heat didn't have enough time to effect the hair?

lol woops... I just realized that I still had the straightener on its hottest setting that I use for my hair... That's probably much of the problem, since I did go super fast with it and it was still wet (since mine is a wet-to-dry iron).
My advice to those styling any hair, learned from my experience here: check the temperature you're working with...