Can I fix Sindy's hair?

[Usernumber12356]

Photo attached once it's been reviewed

Can I do anything with this Sindy doll's hair? She's mine from when I was a kid. I have no idea why she hasn't been thrown away, I'm not particularly sentimental.

But she's still here 40 years later and I'd like to sort her hair out and put her up on a shelf somewhere.

The Internet gives me hundreds and hundreds of suggestions, I'm overwhelmed.

Has anyone ever actually managed to sort out some hair like this? I'd love to be motivated by some real life success stories.

Could you soak her in fabric conditioner?

Fabric conditioner or human hair conditioner. I wouldnt expect miracles though, old sindy hair isnt as durable as barbie hair and its much harder to come back from that frizz. It's worth a try. Comb the conditioner through gently from the bottom and hold the root of each hair section to avoid pulling it out. Don't try and comb it without conditioner, it will cause more damage.

Soak hair in conditioner (hair not fabric) or moisturiser. Put flat on a hard surface like kitchen counter or plate. Use a comb or toothbrush/nail brush to tease nots out starting at the tips and slowly working backwards. Try not to stretch the hair.
When all the hair is separated, make rollers out of tin foil and roll it smoothly in sections.

dip in hot not boiling water for a minute and then into ice water to set.

Definitely not fabric conditioner as that will eventually rot doll hair even once rinsed out. You can try washing and conditioning with normal shampoo and conditioner, and/or a boil wash which is dipping hair into a cup of very hot water, then gently combing and letting dry. Be careful of getting her face wet as sometimes the paint will come off (though am sure my childhood dolls were more resilient than modern ones!)

You can also buy new hair and re-root, but that might be too much faff?!

I washed my barbies hair in shampoo and conditioner just like i would my own hair.
General towel dry and comb.
Took me a while but it worked.

Well, don't do what I did to my poor Tressie doll. Was it Tressy or Tressie. Can't remember. I decided to cut her hair even though she had a key to put in her back for extra inches of hair! She ended up with a skin head cut!

Maybe just give her an updo.

I had the same Sindy btw and this photo has brought back such nice memories.

She also had quite matted hair.

Not going to help you much but during the Sindy era you could take your doll to have its head replaced 🤣 Sounds a bit brutal now but I loved it! There was this one time my mum took mine for a new head but they didn’t have that exact one available - so they gave her a new Sindy Ballerina doll for free 😊
oh my word the excitement 🤣

I have no other advice to offer than has already been given, but I’m going to park here in the hope we get to see the finished result! I loved Sindy. I had three, and the cardboard house and the Sindy furniture. Happy days!

That sounds quite cute. But surely the body of the doll is totally generic to the point you may as well just get a brand new doll?

@BobbyBiscuitsthe heads were cheaper though if I remember right - and some dolls did have special features, eg the ballerina one was extra flexible.

That's cool. I had barbies and broke the heads off, then tried to super glue them back on but it looked off as the neck was too short. Or rather it was normal length! I think I needed the new head service! 🤣

There are doll/toy clinics !

I looked at the back of her head and she seems to be a 1979-80 model. So a good age now.

I think I'm too scared to dip her hair in boiling water in case it gets on her face. Thats the stuff of nightmares, if I accidentally melt her face off after all this time.

I'll try normal shampoo and conditioner first. That seems the safest option.

She has strange bendy knees that sort of click and stay in position. I don't know if she was a ballerina. She's got quite normal shaped feet, not all pointy tip-toes.

My gran knitted the dress she's wearing, I've no idea what her original outfit was.

Not boiling water and not while still tangled. The hot water helped the bends in the hair flatten. The cold sets it. Honestly make little cylinders out of tinfoil and it will hold in loose waves. I must have done a gazzilion my little ponies like that over the years. You need a movie and a tray.

I’ve used a leave-in wig detangler that I got from Amazon on some our generation dolls and it’s worked well.

Okay so I've achieved this so far with shampoo and conditioner. Mega frizzy round the bottom but at least lying in the right direction and not looking like she's slept on it funny for years.

I don't understand what you mean @heavenisaplaceonearth

Do I dunk her hair in hot (not boiling) water then in cold water then wrap it in tinfoil like this?

She's looking a bit worried now, like she wishes I'd just left her in peace with her crazy hair

Looks like you’ve done a good job, I think it’s difficult to get dolls hair fully back once it’s gone matted.
There’s loads of Sindy restoration videos on YouTube, might be worth a look. You can even buy hair and re root the missing hair plugs, or do the whole lot if it’s beyond help and you want to give her a whole new head of hair. There are ways of re doing the eyelashes too as I see she’s missing them on one eye.

I didn't even know she had eyelashes until today!

Poor Sunday looks like she’s been around the block. If you leave the conditioner in overnight it really helps

I do love her bath towel 😂

She looks a lot better. I would leave her like this. All of us in this age range are used to some bad hair days.

I had a Girls World, the one you would do her hair and put make up on. My little brother decided to draw on her with permanent marker and I tried to clean it off using various liquids. I can assure you that nail polish remover should not go bear a doll, as she ended up with a good part of her eye missing.

The ballerina had the bendy legs, I had this one. I don't remember her having any joints so I'm not sure she is the ballerina.

You’ve done a brilliant job. First try just hot water for a minute then ice water with it down. It might fall straight anyway.

to do the roller thing with tinfoil you make a sausage of tin foil (bit skinnier than a pencil). Wrap hair round neatly, use a comb or toothbrush. Fold the ends over to hold. Repeat for all sections making the hair point in the way you want.
dip in hot water so the foil heats and then cold till set.