Does your child have a favourite doll which hasn’t been looked after properly?
Do they have an Elsa doll with matted hair? A Barbie with fuzzy, frizzy and ruined hair? A My London Girl that has hair uncannily like mine (without the roots) and is desperately in need of a bit of TLC?
I bet they do, toddlers are rubbish at looking after things.
Well never fear, I’m here to help!
Here is my guide to fixing matted dolls hair!
This actually wasn’t our doing, as we were given this doll given in amongst a bag of toys. There is nothing as exciting to a toddler as a big bag of handmedown toys.
I’m not sure who it is; it’s a Disney doll, any ideas? This was her outfit:
I’ve googled but I’m none the wiser (in fact I’ll probably never sleep again after I reverse-Google-searched the image below. Can you tell it’s annoying me? I probably need a hobby) but the big one liked it and as much as I wanted to bin it, she formed some kind of strange attachment to it despite it having the hair of a smelly stray poodle.
So, because I’m a nice mum who doesn’t just bin stuff my child likes, I’ve scoured the corners of the interwebs to find out how to fix the damn thing, and I am here to show you how to do it in an easy step by step manner.
1) Soak hair in fabric conditioner
For at least several hours, if not overnight. I did it for about three days as I forgot all about it, so it got proper good soaking. I got this fabric conditioner free in my Ocado order, I don’t even use fabric conditioner (perhaps I should? Maybe Ocado are trying to tell me something?) so I wasn’t above wasting it in the name of experimentation.
2) Rinse through.
Well enough, she’s not real so it doesn’t actually matter too much if it ends up a bit greasy.
3) Brush thoroughly.
Starting at the ends to get out the tangles, of course.
4) Get fed up.
Realise that doesn’t f*cking work and so cut the stupid bloody stuff off in a fit of rage.
5. Pray…
That the toddler does not notice and/or this does not make her cry.
You are so very welcome
Edit! One of my friends just found this. The mystery is solved! Wait, how much?
Aw, shit.
Pin this very useful guide for later!
I'm ashamed why Ivy takes her Elsa doll out – she's so disgusting. Her hair is in an unpenetrable plait so nothing can fix it 🙁
hahaha! This made me laugh so much! My girl is a terror when it comes to ruining her dolls hair. Grr x
Ha ha!! Wasn't expecting that at all – really made me laugh! I think she looks great with short hair anyway.. x
I did wonder if the solution might involve scissors 😉 always worked on my dolls as a kid. Even tried it on my own locks, as my Mum loves to remind me.
Hahaha nice hairdressing skills!
How much does that doll cost? That's nuts! Youngest wanted a walking talking Max and they were going for £1,000 on eBay. The world has gone nuts. As a child was so disgusted with my doll's hair that I cut all of the hair on all of them and my Mum had the shock of her life as she went into my room to find a gang of bald dolls.
Ha ha love the edit!! Oops is all I can say… RV&HT
This is precisely what I would end up doing! #RV&HT
I think she looks much better with her new do x #RV&HT
This article couldn’t be more spot on! We have an Anna doll that did have her hair braided in an updo, but my kiddo insisted on taking it out (we debated for months and I finally gave in) and now a year later, she looks like a lion. We tried the fabric softener so when I saw the last step.. well, my kid was excited to grab the scissors. She looks much better! But at least I didn’t have a secretly valuable doll, ouch! I can only imagine the ouch-ness you felt. Yikes. Hey, you can still sell it as “uniquely refurbished” 😆