How to Revive old weaves – turn it to brand new!

Hey my loves.. So you probably clicked real fast on this post cause you want to learn how to Revive your old weaves or wigs right? Well you’ve come to the right place. I’m forever hooking you guys up with those budget friendly tips – I do it for the Lord and my government lol. I’m sharing simple steps with on how to turn your old, dry, matted weaves into lush nice weaves. The picture below is the Before and after of a curly old weave that needed to be restored before I made it into a wig.

Before

After

Here’s how I did that:

First step: Detangle. I started by spraying the weave with some water to get it wet enough, then I applied a generous amount of detangling/Rinse out conditioner to it. You could use EVOO and water to detangle if you like.. I finger detangled till I could conveniently run my fingers through the weave without tangles before combing through with a wide tooth comb. In my opinion, it’s very important to properly finger detangle before combing because old dry hair is obviously very prone to breakage so you want to be very careful that you don’t end up with half the amount of hair you started with. By the time you’re combing through, the comb should be able to slide through easily. You could use a Rinse out conditioner that has good slip if you don’t have a detangling conditioner.

I did this per bundle

Next step: Shampoo. You really don’t have to waste money on expensive shampoos for your weaves or wigs but like your natural hair, I advise you use a sulfate free shampoo. Repeat this 2-3 times or however is enough to get the grease and dirt out of your weave with warm water. Lord Jesus knows how often you wash your weaves *side eye* lol. When you’re washing, please do not scrub or harshly squeeze the weave. Rubbing it gently will get the job done.

Next you want to Deep Condition: For this step, I like to use a good deep conditioner mixed with plain Castor oil. Obviously you can use any oil of your choice but I like this. So I mix these products properly then slather it very generously on the weave. In my opinion, this is one of the most important steps to reviving your old weaves or wigs. After applying this to the weave, tie it up in a plastic/ziplock bag and forget about it for a day or 2. What I like to do is wrap the plastic bag up in a towel and put it in the microwave on the lowest heat for 30 minutes. After which I bring it out of the microwave and then leave it in the bag for a full day. You don’t need to leave it covered for that long but that’s what I do. By the time you’re rinsing this out, there’ll be barely any product left on the weave because the hair would have soaked it all up trust me. Make sure to rinse your weave till it is completely clean. I hate it when my weave feels heavy/weighed down with hair products.

Next step: Let the hair drip and then apply a little amount of Leave in conditioner and some Argan oil to it while it’s slightly damp. You want to make sure to air dry your weaves and not use a blow drier at this stage. Leave it to air dry under room temperature. When it’s completely dry, you would have a soft, lush weave on your hands.

Finally, proceed to styling your weave/wig. You can blow dry, flat iron, tong/curl your hair anyhow you want it. Easy peasy right?

Note that if your weave was severely damaged, you may need special products if at all to revive it. It also goes without saying that this method works best on human hair. There are other methods I haven’t tried yet such as boiling the weave, etc but this method works fine for me.  Also, a tip to note is that if you sleep in your weaves/wigs, it is advisable to put on a satin bonnet or sleep on a satin pillow case. Taking proper care of your weaves is what will guarantee that you get the most out of them. There’s really no use spending your coins on good weaves and then damaging them due to lack of proper care.
Let me know if you try this method above and if it worked for you. If you want me to recommend products you can use, please leave a comment or follow me on Instagram @naturalgirlonabudget and send me a DM.
Also, if you want me to make another post on how to properly takes care of your weaves/wigs, please leave a comment below and I’ll see to it.

See you soon.. With all my love, Ella.