Is there any way at all to rescue the hair of my daughter's beloved doll?

[YunoYurbubson]

BabyBell is a cheap argos baby doll. She is utterly adored by my 4yo daughter.

BabyBell's hair is a manky, matted mess. You can't get a comb through it. Conditioner didn't make any difference.

Dd really wants to make BabyBell's hair beautiful again.

I need one of 2 things:

Either a top tip on how to rescue a matted mess of cheap polyester 'hair'.

Or, a place that will replace a doll's hair. Can you get doll heads re-haired?

PLEASE help if you can. Dd would be thrilled (and so would BabyBell ).

I anticipate bumping this more than once. It's not thrilling is it. But I need an answer!!!

See i have the same problem but no answer.

DD inheritated my favouite doll from when i was a child but 20+ years of hair neglect have left 'Cherry' with a matted mess instead of hair and it bothers me immensely!

If you're really really desperate I can rehair it for you.... takes ages and ages but I did it with my little ponies (yes, I am crazy) for quite a while. You remove the current hair and spend hours threading the new hair through with a needle. It is possible! Is there any way you could post a photo so I can see how big it is?

I have heard that soaking the hair in fabric softener can help.

Perhaps babybell could have a complete makeover at Argos and appear 'like new'. Failing that perhaps she would like a very short haircut?

As a child, I solved this problem by swopping heads with my sisters doll. When she saw 'hers' with the matted hair, I encouraged her to brush, brush, brush as I had done with mine . 55 years later she insists I am making this story up as she would not have been so easily fooled!

Dd2 recently restored one of dd1's Bratz styling heads (don't ask) using a whole bottle of de-tangling spray and my best Denman brush

Still it kept her occupied for hours.

That (the story with your sister) is genius, Granny23. Evil genius, of course, but genius nonetheless. I am in awe.

Jazmyn, that is so kind of you to offer to re-hair her. Thank you so much. I won't take you up on the offer because we don't live in the UK, but I really appreciate the thought. Actually, I had not thought of doing it myself and now you have made me wonder. I bet I could find somewhere out here that sells doll hair. Or even buy a doll and use that hair...? Hmm... new thoughts buzzing now.

But first things first, I will try fabric softener. Will any old stuff do? I don't use it myself so will buy some tomorrow. Thank you all those who suggested it.

I did wonder about getting another Babybell Granny23(!) but our Babybell is si loved and grubby I'm not sure dd would be fooled. Although perhaps I ought to have one for emergencies.

I did rescue a car boot doll's hair by doing this It took an evening but was so satisfying!
I didn't use a 'doll stand' or moisturising shampoo/conditioner, I used baby shampoo and cheap conditioner I had lying around water down.

Pull the head off the new replacement doll and stick it on the old body. As well as a new hairdo, Baby Bell has simply had a facelift and Chemical peel.

Yuno, no probs, my family all live in the UK so if you do need help (or start and need someone to finish it) I am back there quite often. It's really not that hard to do yourself, I used hair bought from places which sell fake hair for extensions etc. There's loads on the internet if you do a google search :-) It's really not that expensive either, just time consuming! You're best off using bought fake hair, you can choose the colour, texture, wavy, straight etc then you thread it through much longer than you want it and give her a nice hair cut afterwards (much easier than using another dolls hair and having to unthread it then rethread it.... that's almost impossible!)

Might help to have a look here: www.mylittleponycollector.com/saletrade/customizing.htm
or here:
www.cloverflowers.com/custom/TutPage001.html

cant believe I remembered the name but this is the company I used to mail order hair from!

www.afrocare.com/catalog/

I'd recommend them :-)

Yes fabric conditioner,lots of it,worked through and then use an afro comb to detangle.thats waht all my mates with synthetic extensions from antenna used to do in the 80's! If all else fails there is a woman on ebay who will re-root dolls hair.If you look under "Sindy" you will find her listings for re-rooting a Sindy doll.I will see if I can link. cgi.ebay.co.uk/OOAK-REROOT-TOOL-SINDY-BARBIE-PIPPA-SPARE-NEEDLE-/270621126385?pt=UK_Doll_Bears_Dolls_EH this is for the tool that you need,if you want to DIY,the hair is available on ebay too.I couldn't find any listings for the person who does it,she is maybe on holiday.

Update: have spent the last couple of days doing little else but comb though Babybell's hair with a bottle of fabric softener and a wide tooth comb.

Am amazed and delighted to report that it has made a difference! It's not exactly glossy and smooth, but it is recognisable as hair instead of a matted lump of something on the poor doll's head. You can mostly get a comb through it now. And more importantly, dd is thrilled! She even did a lot of the combing herself. She is quite convinced that Babybell is beautiful again, and who am I to argue?

Thanks all :)

Glad it helped

ooh glad I found this thread - will be trying fabric softener on dd's doll tomorrow! Do you just use it neat or diluted??

Neat.I remember detangling horribly matted synthetic extensions on my friends head....You work it into the fibres and gradually you can comb through them with an afro comb.