Saturday, July 12, 2014

Can You Shrink a Liv Wig?

In my Fun and Failure with Acetone post, Lane recently asked:

"Gostaria de saber se com a acetona pura poderia encolher perucas Liv para servir na boneca Barbie ? Comprei algumas perucas, moro no Brasil e não sabia o tamanho da Liv, quando chegaram as perucas a diferença de tamanho é enorme. Poderia fazer este experimento com as perucas da boneca Liv ????"

"I wonder if with pure acetone could shrink Liv wigs to serve Barbie doll? I bought some wigs, I live in Brazil and did not know the size of Liv, when they reached the wigs the size difference is huge. Could do this experiment with Liv doll wigs????"

My response was:

"Oi, Lane! Eu nunca tentei encolher uma peruca Liv, mas vou dar-lhe uma tentativa! Volte em cerca de 10 dias e vou postar os resultados. Porque eles são dois tipos diferentes de plástico, na verdade eu suspeito que a peruca vai derreter, mas acho que vamos descobrir. ^__^"

"Hi, Lane! I never tried to shrink a Liv wig, but I'll give it a try. Come back in about 10 days and I will post the results. Because they are two different types of plastic, I actually suspect that the wig will melt but I guess we'll find out. ^__^"

So, the experiment is complete and the short answer to Lane's question is no, you cant shrink a Liv wig with pure acetone. Here are the results:


Summer is going to assist us. She's holding a Sophie Liv wig with the prong removed and demonstrates that indeed it's too big for a Barbie head. First off, if your doll's hair is long, the wig wont fit anyway, so I gave Summer a quick haircut.


Now that the wig cap can encompass her head completely, let's talk numbers and see what we are actually working with.


From temple to temple, Barbie's head is 1.5 inches and the Liv wig is 2.0. In order for a Liv wig to fit a Barbie head it has to be shrunk at least half an inch. With time and multiple dips you can shrink a vinyl head half an inch (sometimes). However, as I said before and not to get all technical, the composite material of a vinyl head and a plastic wig are different, so you wont get the same results.


First I put the wig in a solution of 1/2 cup pure acetone and 1/2 cup water and left it in there for exactly 48 hours. Upon taking it out, the only noticeable difference is that the opacity of the plastic changed from see through to white. The plastic did not absorb any of the liquid and the texture of the wig, which was rough to the touch anyway, stayed the same.


After being out of the solution for 3 days, the opacity changed back to clear, but there was no shrinkage of the wig whatsoever. And now, going on 7 days, there has still been no change to the wig using 50% pure acetone. So, let's give 100% a try. WARNING: There's a gross photo below, so hold something over the right side of the screen if you don't want to see it.

Gross Photo in
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Using another Sophie wig, I put it in 100% acetone for exactly 24 hours. As suspected, it melted the plastic into a disgusting mess. Now, before anyone says I left it in too long, I checked every hour for 6 hours to see how it was fairing. The key to shrinking is that the material absorbs the acetone and then as it dries and dissipates, the material shrinks in on itself. If it doesn't absorb, then nothing happens. The plastic didn't absorb anything, it just decomposed.

Lane specifically asked about "pure acetone," so that's what I used instead of nail polish remover. Remover wont melt it, but I don't think it will shrink it either. If someone out there has tried it and successfully shrunk a Liv wig, please let us know!

Sorry, Lane!

29 comments:

  1. Thanks for doing this experiment Muff. I now know never to try this. :) Your gross photo warning and subsequent gross photo made me laugh out loud.

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    1. My pleasure, Roxanne! Even when I think I know what the result is going to be, it's still interesting to me to try it just to see what happens.

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  2. Muff, you crack me up! Thanks for the warning on the yucky gross photo -- it was truly yucky! I am glad you do these experiments for us because they are not for the weak of heart, or stomach for that matter! I always learn so much from you. Maybe you could use the Liv hair to reroot a Barbie??? Not sure the quality of hair is that good, but it would save some money. I may have to try it!

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    1. Phyllis, seeing it in person was quite nasty, so I figured I better give everyone a heads up before their gag reflex activated.

      I actually like to use Liv wigs on Monster High girls and for my Bratzillaz. The Liv wigs are not the best quality of hair but as you say, if you wanted to learn rerooting then some bad quality Liv hair will save you a few bucks.

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  3. Aww, thanks for warning, unfortunatelly I looked anyway, you're right, it's gross, hahaha. Now we all know what we are not supposed to do.

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    1. LOL, Jewel Snake! I wonder how many people are going to look at that nasty photo anyway, even though I warned them not to.

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  4. Lol!!!! Another hilarious but informative post. Thanks.

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  5. Lol!!! Thank you Muff, this post made my day!! Lol!!

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  6. Hi Muff! Thanks for conducting this experiment and sharing the result. Ick, ick, ick. That is one gross photo. It looks like something chewed up the skull-wig and then spat it out. (Yeah, way to make it worse, huh?)

    Rather than shrinking the wig, I wonder if cutting a wedge out of the wig might work? Then glue the reduced wig to a Barbie head.

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    1. LOL, D7ana at the ick, ick, ick.

      I have cut a wedge out of a Liv wig and glued it back shut. The cap is so thick though that it still looked funny on a Barbie. Maybe one of the banged ones would be better but I'm saving those for my Monsters.

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  7. Thanks for giving this a try!

    I always think the failed experiments are sometimes the most interesting ones to hear about!

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    1. My pleasure, jSarie! Yeah, I'm pretty much a "It's the journey, not the destination," type of person so I don't sweat it when an experiment fails.

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  8. You are absolutely amazing to go to those lengths to find out whether you could shrink a wig. This post has surely helped those who have wanted to but hesitated. LOL

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    1. Thanks, Roville! I don't mind going where no man has gone before, lol.

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  9. Ok, this is good information. I want to shrink Liv's head but can't take the idea of gouging her eyes out first. As for the yukky wig outcome. I thought I was back in that biology class I failed. lol

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    1. Grandmommy, it's simple to take a Liv's eyes out. You just insert something in the neck hole and push. The hard part is getting them back in without scratching them. Once the head is shrunk you probably will have to cut out the socket and glue the eye into place since it wont fit into the cavity anymore.

      Ugh, I remember high school biology and frog dissection. As much as I enjoy cutting things, I did not enjoy that.

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  10. I love it that you followed this experiment all the way to the bitter end, alot was learned. Its true Liv wigs really do fit great on all sorts of dolls, especially if the bangs can cover that huge head cap. I haven't tried carving that part a bit to make a lesser edge somehow….hmmm might try that.

    Great blog - will be back to check out and learn more - Thanks so Much! :)

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    1. Hey there, Tiggy and welcome! Yes, Liv wigs with bangs are my favorite. The others show the cap and it looks like they have hair plugs.

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  11. Hello from Spain: thanks for sharing. Reduce LIV wig is impossible. Great photos of the experiment. Keep in touch

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  12. Of course we are going to look at the gross pictures - particularly if they are one of Dr. Muffenstein's experiments. I must admit I was suprised that 50% acetone made no permanent change. I would have expected it to do something, particularly when 100% did so much in half the time.

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    1. LOL, Carrickters. If someone else had posted it, I probably would have looked just to see if it was all that gross. It was certainly annoying that nothing happened at 50% after two whole days. But, another lesson learned on the varieties of plastics.

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  13. Oi Muff, fiquei triste ao ver que realmente as perucas não diminuem, mas ao mesmo tempo me alegrei por você tão logo responder a minha dúvida. Estarei sempre por aqui visitando seu blog, que muito nos inspira. Beijos pra você aqui do Brasil !!!!

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    1. Oi novamente, Lane! Desculpe a experiência não deu certo, mas ainda era divertido de experimentar!

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  14. Talvez se você cortar um triangulo na parte traseira da peruca e colar com cola quente ou super cola, deva funcionar. Tem que medir na cabeça da barbie primeiro.

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  15. Maybe if you cut a triangle in the wig behind and glue it, may it can fit on barbies head... Have to test before try it.

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    1. Hi Diego! Thanks for giving Lane an alternative to try.

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