Things to Think About When Using Galloon to Make a Wig

One more intensive aspect involved in making a non-bonded wig is the 'structure' required to make it work (stay on your head with minimal intervention). This additional element impacts the amount of time the wig takes to make.

Full Lace Wig - No Galloon

For those of you who are unfamiliar - a full lace wig has a quite unstructured foundation (cap/base). It requires bonding to the scalp with an adhesive tape or glue, because the edges are essentially 'floppy' and they would come away from the scalp/head at the sides. A key element to this type of wig working is it fitting and staying flush to the scalp/skin. This helps the edges and the lace, in general, to blend with the wearer's skin and thus appear flawless.

One way to achieve more structure is to use galloon (a fabric tape). It is used in many off-the-shelf wigs along with higher end VEHH (virgin European human hair) sheitel wigs, in order to create the edge of the wig and sometimes the inside structure too. When combined with any of the following elements: elastic, adjustable straps, combs and clips, galloon helps to ensure the wig will stay both flush to and on the person's head.

Sewing Galloon Seams

With my first non-bondable foundation design, I quickly realised that using galloon adds to the labour requirements  far more extensively than when making a full lace wig without it. The full lace wig cap is definitely the quicker and somewhat easier option, in terms of making it from scratch and ventilating to it. A full lace wig requires some darts to give it shape, and usually some joining of fabric/a seam or two. On a non-bonded, fully hand tied wig, you have all that to do, plus pinning the galloon to match the hairline/head shape (in this case around the edge, crown and above the nape), then sewing it to the lace or other foundation material. When you add to that the time  taken ventilating into the galloon versus just lace, using galloon is more time consuming.

The upside for someone like me, who has a mix of hair loss/alopecia, chronic health limitations and allergies to products, is that this type of foundation/cap gives me the feel of full lace without the issues that caused me to stop wearing them. As someone who has gone back to wearing non-custom wigs that are constructed of a far thicker base (a sheitel wig), I love the lightweight lace cap because it feels less hat-like and less obvious to me. I tend to prefer fully hand tied because I feel the hair mimics natural hair growth. I also find it more comfortable and cooler in the summer months.