Cutting the hair of a wig is a good idea, because, often, it makes your unity look more natural and fashionable.
However, I must say that haircutting, when applied to wigs, is precision work and needs long and proper training to get performed professionally like a seasoned hairdresser.
If you have the patience and the desire to learn how to cut a wig, I prepared a guide that will lead you toward the fascinating world of haircutting.
I am Rosalba, a wig lover and the daughter of a hairstylist. When I was a little girl, I observed my beloved dad while he cut the hair of men and women and realized that being a hairdresser is a fantastic and challenging job at the same time.
In this new guide, I explained a method to start learning how to cut your wig and give it the hairstyle you have always dreamed of. Go to the following paragraphs to discover more about this exciting topic.
Steps-by-steps Guide to Cut a Wig
Follow these steps to cut your wig for the best result.
Step 1: Prepare the Necessary Tools
Before cutting your wig, you need to have the proper tools with you.
Make sure to have:
- Professional scissors
- Rattail comb
- Mannequin head (you can’t cut the back of your wig without this essential tool)
- Wig brush
- Hair clips
- Sewing Pins
Step 2: Secure Your Wig on the Mannequin Head
After placing the unity on the mannequin head, you must secure it with sewing pins or T pins. Place the pins along the crown to avoid the wig turning around itself during the cutting.
Don’t worry if you rip the lace at this stage. Since you have to learn how to cut your wig, use a cheap unity at the beginning.
The wig’s hair can’t grow, and you can’t fix any damages caused by a wrong cut. If you carried out the cut on an expensive wig, the damage would worsen.
Step 3: Divide the Hair of your Wig into Sections
The golden rule of professional haircutting is dividing the hair into sections.
Usually, the sections follow the seven hairlines of our scalp and are one frontal, two on the sides, two on the crown, on the left and the right, with two on the nape, on the left and on the right.
This rule is particularly useful for short and layered hairstyles and lets you have more control on the cut.
Then, comb the wig with the brush, detect the sections with the tip of the rattail comb and secure each of them with clips.
Step 4: Cut the Back of the Wig
To carry out the cut properly, you must have firm hands. If your hands tremble, the cut will be jagged and wrong. Hold the back wisps between your middle and index fingers, and, with the scissors, perform a 45-degrees cut.
The 45 degrees cut is a technique of haircutting referred to the position of the fingers that hold the wisps. With the fingers at 45 degrees, also the scissors will craft an oblique cut.
Pay attention not to cut your fingers during this stage. If you have difficulty performing this process, ask for the help of a professional hairstylist.
Cut the wisps of the nape upwards, don’t keep large wisps in your fingers, start with a few wisps and gradually check their length during the cutting process.
Don’t cut over 1 inch initially. Instead, cut less than 1 inch so that any damage of the cut won’t be visible.
Comb the wisps of the nape after cutting.
Proceed to cut the other two sections of the crown with the same method. First, remove their clips and comb.
Step 5: Cut the Lateral Wisps
After cutting the back of the wig, proceed cutting the wisps of the two sides. Always remove the clips, comb, and keep the wisps in your fingers.
With the scissors, perform the 45 degrees cut downwards. Again, comb the wisps after the cutting and secure them with the clips.
Here is a great video showing how to perform the 45 degrees cut.
Step 6: Cut the Frontal Section
The wisps of the frontal section of the wig are the final part of the cut.
Remove the clips of this single section and comb forward and downwards. You could use the comb, but this process often does better with the brush for the wig. Keep only small strands in your fingers and cut with the usual 45 degrees angle.
Proceed with all the strands and check one by one to see if they are symmetric. At the end, you’ll have created a layered fringe. Remove the remaining clips from the sections and comb the wig.
Step 7: Trim the Strands that Are Not Symmetric
If you notice that there are asymmetric wisps, keep the asymmetric strands in your fingers forming an angle of 90 degrees, and cut the longer strands with the scissors.
The 90 degrees angle is another haircutting technique that obtains a straight hairstyle.
In this case, you can use it to even the several strands of the wig remaining uncut.
Step 8: Style your Wig
With a brush, comb your wig and check the haircutting again. If the result has been like you wanted, proceed to style the unity to your liking. If you have a human hair wig, you can create charming curls with a curly iron.
The 45 degrees cut should give your wig a layered hairstyle with a layered fringe. After removing the pins, your wig will be ready to be worn.
FAQs
There are dozens of haircutting techniques, but they require many years of professional training.
Even the one I explained in this guide needs time to be mastered. Just think that haircutting takes three years, at least, to be learned.
Hence, I can’t guarantee that you’ll get a great result with the cutting of your wig, especially if you execute the cut by yourself.
However, you can get additional information, about this topic, in the FAQs section. Here are a couple of useful answers for you.
Can a Synthetic Wig Be Cut?
Yes, a synthetic wig can be cut, but the result will be totally different from the human hair and the human hair wigs.
The synthetic hair is, in fact, more slippery, and the cut could become dangerous because the scissors tend to slip more efficiently, with the risk of cutting and hurting your fingers.
This is why many hairdressers refuse to cut a synthetic wig.
How Many Methods Are There to Cut a Wig?
There are 4 methods to cut a wig.
- The 45 degrees method is explained in this guide to obtain a layered and choppy hairstyle.
- The wispy method, to cut the strands with scissors moving up and down like a razor.
- The vertical cut, by moving the scissors vertically to create a fringed style.
- The horizontal cut, which usually coincides with the 90 degrees angle, to obtain a straight, blunt, and clean hairstyle.
My Verdict
As you can see, cutting a wig is not an easy task. As I said at the beginning of this guide, it is precision work. That is why I said you must train yourself with a cheap wig.
My ultimate verdict is that you should ask for the help of a hairstylist who is an expert in wig cuts. This way, you don’t risk cutting your fingers and have the guarantee to obtain a wig professionally styled.
If you ruined your wig with the cutting, don’t cry. Follow my final advice for your next wig and let me know if you agree with me on this point.