How to Travel with Your Wigs?

Stuffing your wigs or scrunching them up with other items in your travel bag will cause hair damage (tangles, matting, and shredding).

The lifespan of your $1650 wig can be cut short by 50% in a few hours.

You don’t want that!

It is not about keeping your wigs “somehow in your travel bag”. It is about how and where you keep them to ensure they remain healthy and sleek for the next time you put them on.

When next you are travelling, carry your wigs using:

a. A styrofoam dummy head (mannequin), stuffing it with soft items, and placing it in a box.
Use a wig travel bag.

b. Fold/wrap it with a fitting net, and put it in a satin/ silk bag.

c. Or just dump it in a Ziploc or polythene bag (Ouch, very harsh? Not to worry, you’re soon to find out why)

Hermosa Hair here to show you how to travel with your wigs using these methods step-by-step without compromising:

a. The hair quality.
b. The style of the wig.
c. Light-travelling (How many wigs are you going with)

3 Easy Ways to Travel with Wigs

Whether you are travelling with wigs in a car, plane, or boat, these methods will help you keep your wig safe.

1. Use Dummy Dead

Place your wig on a mannequin. The styrofoam head is preferred as it is much lighter compared to the canvas block head.

This can then be placed in a box. You can use pins to fasten them onto the dummy so they are much more secure.

If you have to travel with more than one wig, just stack them up next to each other. The styrofoam head will keep the wig from collapsing on itself and will provide support.

With this, your wig is transported without being compressed during transit.

When you arrive at your destination, you can simply open the box or case, remove the head, and voila! You have your wig looking just as fresh and tidy as when you left home.

DIY tip: If you don’t have a styrofoam head, use an inflated balloon instead. However, this would only be helpful for a short journey.

2. Stuff it Up with Some Padding

Squeeze up some tissue paper or paper. This will serve as padding. Lay each wig on its back and pack the interior with the padding.

This helps maintain the wig cap’s shape.

Brush the hair out and then wrap a large hair net over the entire wig to limit tangling. Be sure to fit the whole wig into the net, even if it is a long wig.

Then place your wig inside a bag. Using a bag instead of a wig box will save space in your luggage and also help cushion your wigs.

3. Fold Carefully, Wrap with a Net, and Place in a Satin/Silk Bag

This is very similar to the packaging that wigs originally come in.

Carefully turn the wig inside out, wrap it with hair nets, and place it in a silk bag before tucking it into your suitcase.

Packing it inside out will prevent friction because instead of the hair rubbing against the bag, the wig cap is. This will help keep it from getting caught on buttons, zippers, and other hazards in your case.

4. Use Wig Travel Bags

These are hair bags specially designed for travel. They come in different forms, like:

The ones that look like the typical travel bag for suits. It comes with a hanger, you pass this hanger through a hole at the top of the bag.

You clamp your wigs on the hanger, zip them up, and you’re good to go.

There’s another that is just like a luggage box, let’s call it a wig travel box. It has a strap and comes with a clamp that you can place your dummy on.

So, your dummy head just sits on the clamp with the wig on. You zip up the bag and strap it on. Suitable to carry on as hand luggage.

5. Toss it into a Polythene or Ziplock Bag

Say, you have a wig that is not in good shape. You probably intend to get it well-groomed and styled at your destination. Just toss it into the bag and off you go.

You could apply this storage option to synthetic wigs, too. This option is best suited for very low-maintenance wigs as well as wigs that are not in the best of conditions.

Things to Consider Before Deciding on a Package Option

Among the options listed above, some seem more convenient than others.

Right! But hold on, just before you hop on the most convenient option, let us look through some factors that would help you in making a better choice.

a. Hair quality

Synthetic hair is usually very lightweight and easy to care for.

• They are quite sturdy, too. Curls on synthetic wigs can bounce back even after a lot of pressure on them. Just give it a shake and throw it on. Comb it out, if you want, and you are good to go.
• They would do great if you just wrap them in a hair net and place them in a satin bag. Or maybe just wrap it up in a Ziploc bag.

Human hair; with human hair (Insert link), there’s a need to be more cautious.

• If not for anything, they cost a whole lot more than synthetic wigs, so you want to preserve them at all costs, for as long as you can.
• They are more fragile. The style can be messed up much more easily if it is not packed correctly.

For Human hair wigs, packing with a dummy head and stuffing it with some padding would help keep it intact while still maintaining its style.

b. Wig Styles

Is that wig curly or straight? Is it short or long? It could even be a pre-styled bridal hair wig or a cosplay wig. Hmm…

• Curly or straight?

For wigs, when curls are involved, it is a bit technical. This is because curls are really not just curls.

Aside from ensuring that the curls are intact, you also need to be sure that the curl pattern is maintained. The curls should be as defined and pronounced as they were before being packed.

You would not want your bouncy curls to lose their bounce because they have been crushed in the course of your journey.

As a result of the above, packing with a dummy in a box or using wig travel bags is best suited for curly hair wigs. You know, the dummy imitates the human head shape and thus keeps the wig intact like it would if you had it worn.

Guess what? I once packed a pre-styled bridal hair for delivery to a soon-to-be bride, and it got to her in perfect condition.

The styling was in place, the curls were very much intact. (sh sent a video.) What did I do? I packed it with an inflated balloon and placed it in a box. Yeah…

Just ensure to lay the wig face down so the curls stay up. Also, be sure that the box is not too big so the wig doesn’t wobble too much in the course of movement and become squishy.

Straight hair might be a bit more straightforward; you can pack it with a dummy in a box. You can also fold it in and tuck the ends into the wig cap loosely, wrap it with a net, and place it in a silk bag.

Upon unpacking, just a shake “here and there” and your straight hair is staring right back at you.

• Is it short or long?

Short bob wigs are not always easier to manage than longer wigs. You can fold in your short hair wigs in a net and place them in a silk bag.

You can do the same with longer wigs, but be conscious of folding the rest of the hair in properly.

Packing can very much alter the style of your wigs, especially for human hair wigs.

A curly wig could come out very flat and drab if wrongly packed. Imagine your blunt-cut Bon straight wig becoming slightly wavy at the tips just because of packing.

Be sure to take this into great consideration as you plan that trip, and pack accordingly.

c. Number of Wigs

If you’re travelling with a lot of wigs, using a dummy head in a box or stuffing them up might not be a feasible option, as that would certainly be a lot of luggage. Folding it into a net and placing it in a bag is a better-suited option.

If you’re going with one or two wigs, you could use a dummy head; you can also try stuffing the wigs.

Best Practices for Travelling with Wigs

• Go with a backup, always pack an extra wig. You never know…
• Do some research about what the weather in the destination will be like and prepare for it.
• Direct sunlight, strong winds, rain, and other elements can damage the wig. Using a scarf or a hat can help protect your wig better.
• Don’t put your wig pack in an overcrowded suitcase.
• Go with fewer human hair wigs. If you can, just wear one human hair wig and store your synthetic wigs
• When travelling by plane, carry your wigs with you. Don’t check it in a suitcase. If you do and it gets lost, your wigs are lost with it. (I know, I know, we don’t want this, but it can happen)

Not to forget!

Pack your hair styling and wig care products, and tools.

A collapsible wig stand, hair mousse, hair spray, moisturiser, spray bottle, hair clips, shampoo, conditioner, combs, and brushes

If you find that your wigs are in a not-so-good state, just whip out your tools and products and get them back in shape.

With these items in your luggage, you can rest assured of not ever having a bad hair day.

In Conclusion

Travelling with your wigs can be dicey, but it need not be so. You can have it rather smooth if you carefully consider:

1) The hair type or quality
2) The style of your hair
3) And the number of wigs you’re going with

That will help you decide which to go for among these

a) The dummy head in a box
b) Stuffing your wig with padding
c) Folding carefully and wrapping with a bag.
d) Using a wig travel bag
e) or just tossing it directly into a ziplock bag

However…

If this still seems like too much trouble, you could just mail your wigs to the hotel via “FedEx on a dummy head”. Wrap it very carefully, and you could even staple it to the box.

This way, you don’t have to bother your head about packing it with the rest of your luggage or the possibility of losing it altogether.