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FireLilyCosplay — Sharpie Wig Dyeing Tutorial
Published: 2010-03-04 07:24:05 +0000 UTC; Views: 240690; Favourites: 4075; Downloads: 1570
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Description
I know there are a few others out there, but here is my tutorial for Sharpie dyeing a wig! This works best with Kanekalon and other premium synthetic wigs. Eleora and cheaper synthetic wigs may not dye evenly. Make sure to check your wig fiber content before attempting to dye!I've had a lot of practice with this method, and this is the formula that works best for me, so I hope it can help you dye your wig the custom color you are looking for!
Many thanks to my friend Envel who helped me with my first Sharpie dyeing experience. Tutorial and all images therein are Copyright Fire Lily and FireLilyCosplay.com.
EDIT: Since so many people ask this question, I'm addressing it here. "How do I dye a wig black?" Since Black Sharpies are concentrated purple, you will have to use FW Ink, India Ink, or another Artists Ink and follow the FW Ink Dyeing Method: [link]
Another method is to color/sharpie the wig by hand using a black Sharpie. This will give it a slightly purple sheen, but it will come out black.
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Comments: 1392
Oh okay 
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Can i do this with fluorescent sharpies too?
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You mean highlighters? The ink is significantly weaker thank regular sharpies, but may be able to "wash" the wig fiber with a fluorescent coating. I wouldn't recommend it for actual dyeing purposes, though you can always test it out!
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used this to dye a pair of yellow tights green - worked great! thanks so much
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Glad you can use this for a different purpose than wig dyeing! I know some people also use it for fabric dyeing
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would it work on a clip on curly wig?
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It should work on any wig fiber (except Eleora...sometimes it has a problem keeping color).
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Awsome!
The curls will keep their shape, right? The alcohol won't change it?
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Alcohol won't change it. Just don't heat the curls and they will stay
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Awsome! Thank you!!! ^^
It is SO hard to find a bright green, curly, pigtail clip wig!
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Hey there! Thanks for the tutorial. I am currently trying to find a way to dye my electric blue wig into a midnight blue and this tutorial was very helpful! Depending on the quality of the wig, will this dying method increase the shiny-ness or tone it down? Also, as far as washing goes, should you just rinse in cool/warm water or use wig shampoo and conditioner?
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Dyeing will tone down the shininess of a wig. You can certainly was in shampoo/conditioner for wigs, but I would only recommend one washing. Otherwise, the color will strip out with every washing.
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Thank you!! This was very helpful!
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I'm afraid to make my wig be synthetic. Are there any ways?
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I'm not sure what the question is? If your wig is synthetic, it will still hold the ink from Sharpies or artist inks. You can also use specially formulated "wig dyes" that can also change the color.
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no. my wig isn't synthetic. but after seeing the results. the wig became like synthetic.
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There isn't much you can do about the afterwards. You can try gently washing it in wig shampoo and conditioning it, which will make it softer and smell better, but you may lose some color in the process.
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Does it have to be 70%? Or could it be a higher strength rubbing alcohol. Lowest I've found is 95% lol! Could you suggest a place to find rubbing alcohol at a lesser strength, or could I even add water to the 95?
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Most rubbing alcohol that you find at the drug store should be 70%
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I've only found 95% and 99%
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I've only every used 70%, so I'm not sure what you would get with higher concentrations of alcohol. Do not add water - water won't do anything to the alcohol but it will dilute the ink you use.
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Damn! I'm scared to try the 90% solution incase the hair falls out D:
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It shouldn't fall out 
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Hey there
Thanks a lot for this clear and well explained tutorial.
I've been trying to navigate through the comments to see if the question was already asked, but my navigator is bugging when I load the other pages o_o ... So I'm sorry if you aready answered to someone but : Do you think this method works if I want to brighten (a bit) the color of my wig?? Thanks a lot <3
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Not sure what you mean by brighten? You can't take a dark wig and make it lighter, but you may be able to make the color bolder (aka pink to bright pink, light colors to bright colors).
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Thanks for your answer
Yes I meant lighter, actually I have bought a wig that's a bit darker than it should be ... it's not a black wig I want to turn blonde, I'm just trying to turn this "dark brown" to "light brown" ... I'm gonna try this way and see what happens :')
Thanks again for the tutorial and your help
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Hi I had some few questions about this tutorial.
Since I live in Europe, I was wandering if there was something else I could use then sharpies. I have a very reddish wig ([link] ) and I wanted to turn it more darker; reddish brown. Do you have any recommadations? I've seen thing about acrylic paint, coloured ink, and I'm just to confused now.
Also I'm a little bit confused; does the ink stain? Does that mean, if it should happen to rain, that the colour will come off? Thanks a lot!
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I would try using brown sharpies - it will give it a brown/auburn color. I would not recommend paint, as it will cake onto the wig fibers and not actually color it. The ink stains the plastic fibers, thereby changing the color. You can also try Liquid dyes.
If it rains, the color will run; it will also run if you sweat a lot.
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i have a wig that I was told it was 'black' and its actually a very soft black/dark brown and I would like to darken it to a more blacker black would you still suggest the FW Ink, India Ink ???
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Yes, either of those Inks should work just fine!
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I love this tutorial ! xD
though, can I ask some questions ?
I have a miku wig.. the color is dark green.. you know, the one used for Eager Love Revenge o-o
ma'am, do you think I can color it into Royal Blue ? D:
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I don't think you can - if it were a light green, it may translate to a royal blue well, but not a dark green.
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I see o A o
but, Maam, what do you think it will turn out to be if I soak it in Blue sharpies ? D:
will it turn to dark green ? or.. maybe dark navy blue ?
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It's a different color base, so I'm not sure the blue ink will do much more than make it more teal colored. I couldn't be sure, but you can always try a test swatch of the wig fibers.
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hhhmm.. yeah.. Thanks for answering my questions :33
I think I'll try it out with my wig...
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Do you know how I would dye a dark wig a lighter color?
Also, how would I dye a wig many different colors?
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You cannot lighten a wig - sorry.
You can use a spray bottle to color separate sections of hair. Just make sure to keep them separate until they are dry - a hair dryer on a low heat setting will speed up the process!
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PLEASE HELP! I followed ALL your instructions, bought the correct percent of alcohol and everything, but I am afraid to take my wig out of the dye because it does not look ANY darker!! I even let the dye sit for THREE DAYS before immersing the wig. What should I do???
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What color are you trying to achieve? Did you use enough sharpies? If you are going for a darker color, you may need to use 4-10 ink wells depending on the color you want and the length of the wig. Short = 2-4; medium = 4-8; long = 8+
Go ahead and take the wig out - letting it sit there isn't doing anything, right? Squeeze out any excess alcohol and try to add more sharpie ink to your mix. Try dunk dyeing again. If the ink doesn't start to color the wig, it may be that your wig doesn't take color well. You may need to sharpie it by hand or use a different method.
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Thank you for your quick reply!
I didn't know what to do last night, so I let the wig sit the dye overnight...this morning it STILL looks almost exactly the same color. It is a forest green wig that I am trying to make dark green, and it is very short. I used FOUR whole green sharpies and even a tiny bit of black.
Thank you, I guess I just need more sharpies for my wig material...
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Yeah, for a very dark green you will need to use somewhere around 8-10 green with some FW Ink or India Ink in black to darken it. Or just try the black Ink (not sharpie - black sharpies are actually purple).
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That sounds like a good idea. But I was wondering, what do you think about fabric dye??
(I was thinking about alternatives just in case my wig material won't take the sharpie color..)
Sorry for all the questions.
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You can try it...? I'm not sure of the outcome, though. It couldn't hurt.
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Would this method work to turn this wig ([link] ) red? The seller sent me here when I emailed her, and elsewhere I'm basically being told I should have bought a different wig or, at best, only hand coloring works at all on hiperlon fiber.
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You should be able to dye it red if you use enough sharpies or enough ink, but keep in mind that the wig will bleed off on your clothing and your skin. Hand coloring it will take a long time, but it will rub off less than if you sharpie dye it.
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Hello, how can you remove the sharpie dye from a wig? Thank you!
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Use 70 to 99% rubbing alcohol to strip the color out. It won't take all of it, but you should be able to get most of it out.
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