WOOL USED TO MAKE WIGS

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32324, 16 June 1970, Page 3

WOOL USED TO MAKE WIGS

A Christchurch woman has pioneered a new type of wig, and she is using a home-grown product—New Zealand wool. For the last 18 months Mrs Leonie Mason has been perfecting the right technique for making wigs from specially treated New Zealand wool, with a stretch crown and tailored front to the base.

Now she is turning out wool wigs for the New Zealand market which look and feel natural. They also have several advantages over many other types of wigs: they can be permed, comb up easily to give additional height, and are of exceptionally light weight. The initiative for this venture ' came from Dr W. S. Simpson, section head of the fibre modification group of the Wool Research Organisation at Lincoln. Dr Simpson carried out the research which led to a satisfactory treatment for the raw Lincoln wool. This was an extension of the work the organisation has been doing on carpet wools for the last six years. WOOL SWOLLEN The wool is swollen to almost twice its diameter, about that of a human hair, making it more practical for wig making, stronger, and more adaptable for styling. The addition Of polymers prevents the fibre from shrinking. Because wool does does not absorb as much water as human hair it is very stable in damp or humid air. It does not seem to be adversely affected by warmth and can be heat set for wav ing. After much trial and error Mrs Mason has found what she considers to be the best way of working with the wool. She uses less of the fibre than would be stitched into a wig of human hair, thus combating its only disadvantage—a tendency to matt. “Any wig needs looking after. If a woman just takes off a wool wig and tosses it down it will be inclined to matt. But it is very easily combed out. “It should be kept on a

r block, and with a clamp it . can be attached to a table, making it much easier to style,” she said. Mrs Mason finds the wool i extremely adaptable. “Which , ever way you press it, it just ; goes." ; It also has none of the ' slightly shiny surface of plasi tic synthetic products. i Although the wool is prei shrunk, Mrs Mason reconr i mends sending the wig to the s dry cleaner, or cleaning it at I home with white spirit. She ’ does not advise using lacquer, which accumulates, but suggests simply setting the wig dry, immersing it in cold water, placing it in a dryer 1 until half dry, then spraying i it with hair setting lotion and ■ returning it to the dryer un1 til the process is complete. ’ “Everytime you clean a wig ' you shorten its life because ’ the knots are softened,” she , explained. i Mrs Mason’s latest entert prise—she has run a model!- > ing school for many years, ' owned hairdressing and now two wig and cosmetic shops in Christchurch—-

was not without difficulties She has to obtain licences to import the wool, which is treated in Australia. “I don’t really understand why out wool cannot be treated here, but it seems it’s not possible so I have to import it back into the country,” she said. A self-taught wig maker, Mrs Mason entered the field about two years ago. Then she was very short of supplies. and paying a “fantastic” price for the hairpieces she did obtain. “So I decided to teach myself to make them. It was difficult to get licences to import hair, and eventually I was told I had to have an export market.” Last year Mrs Mason sold hairpieces and wigs in Australia. Already she has had inquiries about the wool wigs from Australia and Canada. When the wig making business moves into commercial premises shortly she will probably consider exporting. An energetic businesswoman and mother of two children—Rhett, aged nine, and Lorellei, who will soon be five—Mrs Mason had plans to retire after her daughter was born. But wigs kept her in business. “I’m really enthusiastic about wigs. They are here to stay. The woollen wigs are the closest thing to working with real hair—my only trouble is getting enough time to make them,” she said. The photograph shows Mrs Mason wearing a blonde wool wig, styling a brunette model.