Lace Front Wig Talk - **Custom Colored Lace & Wig Caps Tutorial**

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**Custom Colored Lace & Wig Caps Tutorial**

Printed From: HairBoutique.com
Category: Lace Front Wigs
Forum Name: Lace Front Wig Talk
Forum Description: Lace Front Wig Talk
URL: https://talk.hairboutique.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=60607
Printed Date: April 19 2024 at 7:57am

Topic: **Custom Colored Lace & Wig Caps Tutorial**

Posted By: Curlygirl11
Subject: **Custom Colored Lace & Wig Caps Tutorial**
Date Posted: April 21 2008 at 9:08pm

Okay ladies, I stumbled upon something by accident that has made my app routine a lot easier while giving me a more natural scalp appearance no matter where I part my unit. A couple of months ago I received a unit from an AV that had dark lace instead of the transparent and light brown lace that I normally get.The lace on the left side of my hand is the light brown I normally get and the lace on the right side is the darker brown that I got by accident - not sure if it's medium brown or dark brown.

I started to send the unit back but the hair quality was the best I'd ever seen and I really wanted to make it work so I cut the lace, put it on and was amazed that the darker lace melted right into my skin. Here are some pics of the unit with the dark lace. I have on a light beige wig cap underneath and it looks just like my scalp. Dark lace + light cap ==> beige scalp:

There is no tape, Sally Hansen spray or make-up used on the parts shown above - just the dark lace w/ a partially dyed wig cap underneath.

I've now gone back and dyed all my units with transparent and light brown lace to a darker brown lace color that is about 2-3 shades darker than my face. I also dye the eges of my wig caps to match the color of my face.

If you would like to do this you will need the following items:

1. Rit Fabric Dye - depending on your complexion you may need to blend several different colors of dye to achieve the color that works with your skin.

2. salt

3. laundry detergent

4. a piece of scrap lace from the unit you are going to dye

5. several light beige wig caps

6. a large bowl

7. a plastic spoon

8. paper towels

Here are the steps for dying your lace and wig caps:

1. Heat 4 cups of hot water in a large glass bowl in the microwave for 2-3 minutes. You do NOT want the water to boil and it should NOT be hot enough to scald your skin.

2. Put a 1/2 of teaspoon of Rit Fabric Dye in the hot water.

3. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of laundry detergent .

4. Stir with a plastic spoon until all 3 ingredients are disolved.

*****Please note: these directions are different than the ones on the back of the RIT box. You DO NOT want to pour an entire box of the dye into the water because you want to be able to gradually add a little dye at a time to get the exact color you want. You should not put more than 2 full teaspoons of dye into this amount of water because doing so may darken your knots and/or make your lace too dark too fast. If this happens you will have to use the Fabric Dye Remover and start all over again so be sure to use the diluted mixture recommended here*****

5. Mix colors: You may need to use several different Rit Dye colors adding a little to the water at a time before you get it to match the hues in your skin. I used coco brown and taupe to get it to match. Be aware that the water mixture will look much darker than your skin.

6. To test if the color is right allow a single drop to drip from the tip of the spoon onto a white paper towel and then hold the paper towel next to your face to see if it matches. If it's the same color as your skin you will need to add more dye to the water a little at a time until the test spot on the paper towel comes out 2-3 shades darker than your skin.

7. Once you've got your test spot the right color you are ready to dye the edges of your wig caps to match your face. Because the nylon will grab the color quickly this takes very little time. Just dip the edges of your wig cap into and out of the bowl approximately 4-5 times:

Make each dip slightly deeper than the previous dip to creat a gradual color transition.The completed wig cap should look similar to this:

If you think you accidentally dyed the edge of the cap too dark just rinse it underneath cold running water and the color will gradually come out. If the color is already the way you want just allow it to air dry and the color will set. Once the color is set it will stay wash after wash.

Now turn your lace cap inside out, tuck the hair inside and dip the lace in the same batch of dye you used for your wig caps. If the dye mixture has cooled down just put in back in the microwave to warm it up. Remember that you want to get your lace darker than the edge of the wig cap. The lace does not grab the color as easily as the nylon wig cap did so you may have to carefully dip each section of lace in the dye bath about 20-30 times before you get the color you want. I only dye the front of my lace because no one can ever see my lace in the back.

When I finished dying my cap it looked like this. The dark lace on the right is the front of my unit and the lighter lace on the left is the back back of my unit that I did not dye:

Once the lace is as dark as you want it rinse the lace and the hair under a cold stream of water to get the diluted dye mixture out of the hair and off of the knots.

NOTE: I would not recommend doing this on blond units because I don't know if the diluted dye would completely rinse off of blond hair. This method is intended for hair colors 1-6.

After you have rinsed the unit allow it to air dry so the color will set into the lace and become permanent. Once the unit has dried wash and condition as usual.

Once you apply the custom colored lace and wig cap you should find that it:

1. blends into your skin perfectly

2. conceals the edge of your wig cap

3. does not require the use of tapes, Sally Hansen Spray or make-up to make the parts look natural

4. allows you to part the unit anywhere you want and have a natural looking park that mimics scalp

These apps were done with 2 of my units that now have custom colored lace and wig caps:

Even though the edge of my wig cap is right underneath the lace in the pics below you can't see it because it's dyed to match my face and the darker lace color makes it nearly impossible to see the edge of the wig cap:

Replies:

Posted By: BFF Princess
Date Posted: April 21 2008 at 9:23pm

Thanks for this tip CG !!! Clap

Im going to try it out this weekend! We should definitely add this to the newbie thread as well!

Posted By: lexi23
Date Posted: April 21 2008 at 9:31pm

do yo know if the brown rit dye turns red like i have been hearing?

Posted By: kalenjin
Date Posted: April 21 2008 at 9:39pm

wow!!!....very nice trick...my new lace is a litle darker than usual so i am halfway there and i have some old caps that are very light and the dye will be on overtime this weekend.

How did you prevent the edges from being tight? thats the only thing that drives me nuts so i normally cut the edge and sew it or tape it before applying my LF

Posted By: Curlygirl11
Date Posted: April 21 2008 at 9:50pm

lexi23 wrote:

do yo know if the brown rit dye turns red like i have been hearing?

Yes, the Coco Brown Rit Dye does have some red in it and you can see some of the red granuales dissolving as you mix it in the hot water. That's why I like it because a lot of people's skin has red undertones. However, as long as you completely dissolve a little bit in the hot water it does not turn your lace or your wig cap red. If you don't dissolve it all the way you will see red streaks and spots in your wig cap.

Posted By: Curlygirl11
Date Posted: April 21 2008 at 9:56pm

kalenjin wrote:

wow!!!....very nice trick...my new lace is a litle darker than usual so i am halfway there and i have some old caps that are very light and the dye will be on overtime this weekend.

How did you prevent the edges from being tight? thats the only thing that drives me nuts so i normally cut the edge and sew it or tape it before applying my LF

Are you referring to the edges of the wig cap? If so, I get mine from the local bss and they're sold as nylon wave caps for men even though they're basically just wide knee highs

They come 2 in a pack for a dollar. I know some women use knee highs and I've tried it and even cut a slit in the back to make more room and I just can't pull off the knee highs. They're too tight and uncomfortable for me to wear for a whole week let alone an whole hour.

If you can't find wig caps at your local bss you can order them from here: http://www.cosworx.com/product.php?productid=25820&cat=2453&page=1 - http://www.cosworx.com/product.php?productid=25820&cat=2453&page=1

Posted By: DonnaB63
Date Posted: April 21 2008 at 10:48pm

Fabulous tips! Your hairline and scalp are ultra realistic looking. I, too, like a slightly darker lace than my natural scalp color. I don't wear a wig cap since I shave my head, but my scalp is a very light beige color, much lighter than my face. The darker lace balances the color out perfectly.

Excellent advice

Posted By: griff
Date Posted: April 21 2008 at 11:06pm

Curlygirl,

My post got lost! Anyway,thanks for the tips. I will def. be giving this a try. Your pics with the headband are unbelievable!

Posted By: prettyandbrains
Date Posted: April 21 2008 at 11:24pm

This is pure genius! I can't wait to try it on my new unit. Now we must get this info out to hollywood so they can get it right. Naw, let's wait and let them fall behind us. Beyonce and her thousand dolla lace front's can't handle us!

Posted By: DiorsMommy
Date Posted: April 21 2008 at 11:32pm

Great tip

Posted By: Curlygirl11
Date Posted: April 21 2008 at 11:52pm

DonnaB63 wrote:

Excellent advice

Weren't you scared that a dark grid would show up when you put the dark lace against a light background ?

I was and I was shocked when it turned out so much better than lighter colored lace.

I also noticed that the knots are a lot less visible when the lace is closer to the color of the hair. I guess it's similar to how blond knots are hardly visible against light brown or transparent lace.

Posted By: Curlygirl11
Date Posted: April 21 2008 at 11:53pm

Thanks for the compliments ladies.

Posted By: Curlygirl11
Date Posted: April 21 2008 at 11:56pm

prettyandbrains wrote:

You are SO not right P&B

Posted By: prettyandbrains
Date Posted: April 22 2008 at 12:44am

You are SO not right P&B

[/QUOTE]

What'd I do??? You know we are so ahead of them. Tyra Banks and them gurls with their dang white hairlines. Don't let me get strated with B's scary hairline mishap where her skin looked burned (I'm gonna find that darn picture for ya'll). OOps, they could be lurking. Uhhh, don't get offended just follow our lead and we can help you out for a small fee

Posted By: amazon1147
Date Posted: April 22 2008 at 1:07am

Curly-

This is FANTABULOUS! Bookmarking this sucker now!

Posted By: sexibeach
Date Posted: April 22 2008 at 5:24am

this is an excellent tip, i'd like to add it to the newbie thread, i'd also like for lovely Lisa to add to this b/c she came up with this tip originally using the rit's dye to change the color of the lace.. so i hope she'll chime in so i can have both instructions on how you ladies do this.. b/c i think her's is making it darker (could be wrong) and your's is making it lighter..its a great tip and those that have the wrong color lace need this information.. oops i forgot Breh also came up with the rit's dye pen but i already have this instruction in the newbie thread..

Posted By: NClady
Date Posted: April 22 2008 at 6:01am

Thanks for sharing this information...

....I'm bookmarking this also..

Posted By: JLTabron
Date Posted: April 22 2008 at 8:17am

CurlyGirl11,

Great tip

. I can't wait to try this out! I think it may solve my problem of creating natural looking parts. Kudos to you and all of the other wonderful ladies

Thanks

Posted By: Chic-Geek
Date Posted: April 22 2008 at 8:41am

OMG, CurlyGirl11...
You've just expanded my ability to purchase transparent cap units. I would never get them because of the cap color. THANK YOU, THANK YOU for this AWESOME tip.

Posted By: Breh
Date Posted: April 22 2008 at 9:07am

Wow, simply amazing. I am going to have to try dying my wig caps edges darker. My lace is already a brown and matches my skin perfectly. Thanks Curlygirl for the tip. You rock!!!! Wink

Posted By: PrincessLF
Date Posted: April 22 2008 at 9:11am

Great tips. Thanks for sharing Curlygirl!!

Posted By: ShowStoppers
Date Posted: April 22 2008 at 9:12am

Curlygirl11, this info is astonishing. I will definitely try to dye my caps and lace this weekend.

Posted By: Curlygirl11
Date Posted: April 22 2008 at 9:42am

You guys are all welcome. Just be sure to use the diluted mixture instead of the intructions on the back of the Rit box so that you don't darken your knots.

Posted By: flawless1
Date Posted: April 22 2008 at 9:57am

Wow... The pictures are stunning you did a good job Clap

I will have to try this because when I part my hair it looks nothing like this you can see grids.

Posted By: MassGal
Date Posted: April 22 2008 at 1:02pm

Love this tip; I can't wait to try it!!

Does anyone think it would work if you used the non-toxic fabric sprays( used for coloring things like silk flowers)?

Posted By: choclatey77
Date Posted: April 22 2008 at 1:40pm

Great tip. Just to add dark lace and light wig cap works great to. When you match your wig cap to the lace or if the wig cap is darker it looks bad.

Posted By: sierra35
Date Posted: April 22 2008 at 2:03pm

I can't wait to try this because I have no problem with application , its always the grid or the part this maybe my answer . I wish I new how to post pics , My daughter needs to help with this so I can get some advice from the experts'

Posted By: panzerswifey
Date Posted: April 22 2008 at 4:54pm

Thanks. I defnitely will be using this tip!

Posted By: ash8419
Date Posted: April 22 2008 at 5:20pm

Great tip!!

Posted By: Lace Lover
Date Posted: April 22 2008 at 8:21pm

Your app is flawless. I'm cutting and pasting these directions in a word document so I don't lose them.

Thanks.

Posted By: Curlygirl11
Date Posted: April 22 2008 at 9:21pm

MassGal wrote:

Love this tip; I can't wait to try it!!

Does anyone think it would work if you used the non-toxic fabric sprays( used for coloring things like silk flowers)?

I'm assuming that spray could work well to conceal knots throughout the unit just like the Sally Hansen spray does BUT remember that you can't put it at the edge of the lace because it will interfere with the hold of your tapes and adhesives and the edge of the lace needs to be darker to conceal the edge of your wig cap.

Posted By: sexibeach
Date Posted: April 23 2008 at 6:21pm

great idea with silk flowers it would cut down the process.. so i'm going to add this to the newbie thread.. lovely lise didn't log on to add but that's cool we'll go with this cuz its great information.. mmh didn't realize a wig cap was involved ok!

Posted By: LovelyLisa
Date Posted: May 01 2008 at 7:17am

Sorry ladies Im late and have been very busy!

ORGW and Brown Cocoa Rit Rye Experiment 2007!

The first expertiment was to stop the ORGW from turning white after a few days by applying 2 drops of dye in ORGW bottle. And the second experiment was to change the front perimeter of lace to cocoa brown for better skin tone match. Which I dipped a Q-tip in bottle and spread on front perimeter of LF. About 4 or 5 inches back. I spread on lightly and did not soak at all. Just lightly and you will see. Do not have the Q-tip drippin. Im serious! LOL!\n\nMost importantly I am still wearing a Dark Brown stocking cap to protect my natural hair from everything (Very important)\n\nI have taken pics starting day one and to show you how natural it makes my lace look as well as hides the glue very well. I gotta say this ladies, having a big forehead pays off! I used to despise my big forehead, but it\'s cool wit me. LOL\n\nHere is the Rit Dye Color chart:http:\/\/www.ritdye.com\/Color+Chart.4.lasso";

The first expertiment was to stop the ORGW from turning white after a few days by applying 2 drops of dye in ORGW bottle. And the second experiment was to change the front perimeter of lace to cocoa brown for better skin tone match. Which I dipped a Q-tip in bottle and spread on front perimeter of LF. About 4 or 5 inches back. I spread on lightly and did not soak at all. Just lightly and you will see. Do not have the Q-tip drippin. Im serious! LOL!

Most importantly I am still wearing a Dark Brown stocking cap to protect my natural hair from everything (Very important)

I have taken pics starting day one and to show you how natural it makes my lace look as well as hides the glue very well. I gotta say this ladies, having a big forehead pays off! I used to despise my big forehead, but it's cool wit me. LOL

Here is the Rit Dye Color chart: http://www.ritdye.com/Color+Chart.4.lasso - http://www.ritdye.com/Color+Chart.4.lasso

Please check out my fotki. It is open for step by step demo.

http://public.fotki.com/LovelyCoby - http://public.fotki.com/LovelyCoby

Posted By: _Princess_
Date Posted: May 04 2008 at 3:17pm

prettyandbrains wrote:

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Posted By: NClady
Date Posted: May 04 2008 at 3:45pm

Taking notes once again...thanks ladies _popupControl();

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Bangles and Stilettos

Posted By: girlnextdoor
Date Posted: May 17 2008 at 9:41am

bumping

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"Just because no one has been fortunate enough to realize what a gold mine you are, doesn't mean you shine any less"

Posted By: Divajones
Date Posted: May 19 2008 at 11:54am

awesome.

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Fearlessly, Feminine

Posted By: kial44
Date Posted: June 18 2008 at 8:44am

I cannot see all pics, is there anyway to view all pics for the step by step process of dyeing he wig cap?

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kial44

Posted By: *Mrs.Hoyle*
Date Posted: June 18 2008 at 3:01pm

I cant see them either...I would like to see as well!

Posted By: Curlygirl11
Date Posted: June 18 2008 at 10:37pm

Sorry ladies. I'm not sure why the pics get deleted from the threads after a while but I saved the post in Word before I put it up on this site so if you pm your e-mail address to me I can e-mail the post with the pics to you.

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2Cor 12:8-9
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness".

Posted By: ketchyclass
Date Posted: October 20 2008 at 3:35am

So I al absolutely loving this forum, u ladies are gems all through...
I have a few question that I PRAY someone can send me an answer to soon...
I notice most people complain of natural parting and I have gathered a wealth of info. from all the various ideas n here, but I have some serious problems with my a full lace unit:
1. I can never seem to get a natural looking hairline (both in the front and the back)...
2. I can't get my unit to stay longer than 2days. (I use 3-4layer of UH + Endura Bond) am not sure what am doing wrong, all I know is that it doesn't last for me and I don't even sweat much!

Can any of u ladies please help a sistah out because am getting really frustrated by this!!!

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It's all in God's hands!!!

Posted By: Curlygirl11
Date Posted: October 20 2008 at 8:18pm

I'm sorry you're having problems with your apps but hang in there cuz it gets better once you find the adhesives that work for you. I should caution you that the UltraHold adhesive you are using is not recommended by most women who wear LFs. LOTS of women have had serious medical problems associated with long term use of Ultra Hold.

I sent you a pm with some links to info that may help you with your apps.

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2Cor 12:8-9
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness".

Posted By: ketchyclass
Date Posted: October 20 2008 at 8:27pm

Thanks u so much curlygirl for that quick response, but I did not get the PM... can u please resend because I have been waiting for this response all day. I thought UH was the best, thanks a lot for the heads up, what about EB is that any good, if UH is not it, then what is?

Thanks much for ur time, looking forward to hearing more from you

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It's all in God's hands!!!

Posted By: sheeya
Date Posted: October 25 2008 at 1:32am

wow this was an amazing tip! thanks for the info. im learning something new every day

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love conquers all

Posted By: sdeinig
Date Posted: April 01 2009 at 5:00pm

hello, i was just reading you post and wondered if you could send me the same info on the glues recomended to you.
hope to hear from you soon.

Posted By: glad2bme0
Date Posted: April 23 2009 at 2:11pm

hI IM HAVING THAT PROBLEM NOW AND DONT WANT TO SEND MY WIG BACK. CAN YOU SEND ME THE INFO WITH THE PICTURES THANKS..

Posted By: ren41ss4nce
Date Posted: May 01 2009 at 7:06pm

The darker lace looks like an excellent idea for camouflaging knots. I'm not really sure what my best options are; I'm caucasian with very pale skin. My last 2 custom units (small & funny shaped head) I ordered were supposed to be transparent lace but they turned out to be light brown. I have bleached the knots, which worked to a degree but now I can see the grids more clearly. I've heard various opinions over whether Rit dye remover lightens the lace or not, but until I can find a vendor who actually sends me the transparent lace I want, I need to try & find a way of hiding the grids & the remainder of the knots.

My units are #4. Thee concealer/foundation/mineral powder doesdn't work for me, especially not for any remaining knots. I think my skin is just too light (& none of the makeup really matches it) & the knots are too dark.

Does ayone have any methods they can share? TIA!

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