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Permalink Reply by bridget mcgraw on February 14, 2011 at 8:43pm

i'd be worried about the wig melting if you did and shoulder or chest hooping honestly. i think for your first time you might want to do it without the wig, just so you have one less thing to be concerned about. i did my first burn recently and even though i thought i was totally emotionally and mentally prepared for it, i kinda wasn't (the fire honestly was a lot more firey than i expected)

 

so yeah. i have no real vast knowledge of firehooping or doing it with a wig, but i'd be really concerned about having a ton of synthetic material next to my face, at least for the first time.

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Permalink Reply by Scunshine on February 15, 2011 at 5:18am

The people I know who fire hoop don't let any of their hair down when they've lit up after one of them burned the end of her ponytail pretty badly. So I think a wig might be tempting fate a little too much. You could always look for cute head wraps, it doesn't just have to be a regular bandanna or hat.

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Permalink Reply by saray on February 15, 2011 at 6:35am

Pinning your hair up for the first time would be my suggestion, I always pin mine up. I have been told by people with more experience that wetting your hair is not really a good thing, I recall "cooking your head" when discussing that option. No hairspray obviously. I use glittery hair accessories for performance. It really is best to become one with the flame before having the distraction of fake hair.

 

If you feel the need to explore hair be sure to purchase hair pieces that are made from flame resistant fibers so that they melt rather than burst into flames. That info is usually found on the packaging.

 

Flames are larger and louder than you expect, and vision can be impaired from the brightness.

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Permalink Reply by bridget mcgraw on February 16, 2011 at 2:03pm

Saray,

 

I'm interested in the not wetting the hair comment. I've heard that wetting the hair is ok (though i wore a bandanna) but i'd like to hear more about why it isn't. is the concern the water could heat up too much?

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Permalink Reply by saray on February 19, 2011 at 7:30am

I wish I could remember directly where it came from, It had come up in the fire safety meeting at Hoop Convergence. I think it was in line with trapping heat if your hair does catch and unknowingly baking your head. It wasn't the first time I heard this though, I had seen similar posts while trolling through forums.

 

Seems plausible, I sometimes mist my hair directly before hooping but don't saturate and it seams to work well for me.

 

Not certain, but maybe it was the folks from Trick Concepts that brought it to the discussion. Sorry, there was so much to process that night.

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Permalink Reply by Caroleeena of Circles of Joy on February 19, 2011 at 3:23pm

Wetting your hair is a good idea. Wet hair is much less flammable than dry hair. Water does not want to go up in flames. Dry hair does.

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Permalink Reply by Alli Rae on February 16, 2011 at 3:17am

a girl i recently met from a local fire tribe seems to burn all the time with a wig on. granted, she mostly does fans and staff, but i know she fire hoops too on occasion. i suppose she trusts herself (she's been doing it for a long time, and is professional enough to have insurance) and she trusts her safeties. at a most recent performance, they had two people, each with a fire extinguisher in hand at either end of the performance area. and i suppose the idea is if your wig lights up, throw it on the ground.

 

i personally wouldn't do it, but i am new to the world of fire.

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Gonzalez on February 16, 2011 at 2:00pm

Thank you for all the info hoopers!! Helped me out a lot!

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Permalink Reply by Caroleeena of Circles of Joy on February 16, 2011 at 5:49pm

I often wear a wig while fire hooping. If you touch it with fire, the wig melts into a glob which you can cut out or, if it's too bad, just throw the wig away and replace it. I wear hair pieces every single time I fire hoop though because I would rather burn them than my hair. Plus, they are not really flammable. Take one and hold a match to it and watch what it does.

 

That said, make sure it's firmly affixed! You don't need a wig sliding around on your head and either distracting you or potentially blocking your view. 

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Permalink Reply by Ashash on February 17, 2011 at 6:57pm

It depends on what the wig is made of...

If it's synthetic hair, it will start to melt and frizz up if it's even near heat.

I've never seen fake hair burn in flames, but I have definitely seen it melt like crazy.

I wonder if you could put some sort of fire resistant gel on the wig?

 

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