Costumes! Costumes! Costumes!

Care and Cleaning of Your Santa Costume 

Because most Santa’s perspire heavily during a visit with the children, and sometimes even are the recipient of a wetting; it is recommended that the Santa outfit be cleaned on a regular basis; and in general, dry cleaning is probably the best way to do the cleaning.

BUT (notice that’s all caps) the white trim might become permanently yellowed after a dry cleaning or two or a few.  Also dry cleaning rarely removes the lipstick and rouge stains that we mentioned earlier.

If the trim is felt, then the best thing you can do is dry clean the entire outfit.  If the trim is a plush like material, it should be removed and then laundered to both clean it, and fluff it out to bring it back to its almost original appearance.

If possible, and you have a little time, it’s best to strip off the white trim and launder (as in Tide or Oxydol) it using a washer and dryer.  The first time you do this it is very time consuming because of the closeness of the stitches.  It’s much easier the second time IF you baste the white trim back on instead of machine sewing it back on.

Caveat: Washing the entire suit, including the white trims, will probably cause the red to bleed into the white, thus giving you a nice red suit with PINK trim.

Lipstick on your Santa Beard and Wig? 

‘I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus’.  Jimmy Boyd sang this song in the fifties and it’s still popular some 50 years later.  Does anyone know if Mommy smudged lipstick on Santa’s beard and hair, or the white trim on his suit during this encounter? 

It’s really more likely that Santa got the lipstick and/or rouge on himself by applying too much makeup.  Santa needs pink cheeks and cherry red lips to really look like Santa.

Unfortunately, Santa’s white beard, and sometimes the white trim on his suit pay the price.

Fret not!  There are solutions that will at least reduce the stainage if not remove it in total.

Lip stick remover is probably the best solution to remove the makeup from the beard.  At worst, it will reduce the stain from red to a light pink.  Washing the beard, ala yesterdays post, may reduce the damage even further.

Later we will discuss how to clean Santa’s suit, to include the lipstick on the white trim. 

The care and cleaning of a Santa beard and wig.

If the quality of your Santa wig and beard set is such that it is washable (some wig and beards set are cotton, mohair, or cheap synthetics and should not be washed), then washing your set should be done periodically.  If you opt not to wash the set, then a good spraying with Lysol or some other disinfectant should be used after every use, particularly on the mustache and chin strap, as well as the base (cloth or net base) of the wig.

Caveat.  Never, never have the wig and beard dry cleaned.  It might end up so matted that you will never get it looking good again, even with extensive brushing.

Using a mild detergent/soap, gently soak the wig and beard in water and then gently brush the interior of the wig, and the back of the mustache and chin strap with a stiff brush.  If you’ve used Spirit Gum to adhere the mustache to the upper lip, then you might need to use a spirit gum remover (likely available at your local costume shop) as part of this step in the process. 

The wig and beard at this point might be combed (again gently) to make certain the knotted and matted areas are removed.  Even though the wig/beard set may be naturally and permanently curled, the objective is to have it as straight and mat free as possible.  Then it (the set) should be layed on a terry cloth towel to dry naturally. Heat is a huge enemy, so never use a hair dryer to hasten the drying process.

If one is so inclined to ‘dress’ the wig and beard, that is, to re-wave it, this is probably a good time to do it…while it is still wet. 

We used clamps and ‘marceled’ (waves) the set.  The waves were alternated in rows from left to right and then right to left.  Visualize a 1920’s movie star and that is the effect you want in general 

Is this time consuming?  Yes, but you’ll have a much better looking Santa beard and wig for next season. 

On storage, yak hair and other natural hair can be affected by the light and cause the wig and beard to yellow if not properly stored.  Like a white wedding dress, it’s always a good idea to wrap the wig and beard in blue tissue paper.

Tips on putting on a Santa wig and beard with expert tips on being a professional Santa Claus this Christmas in this free holiday video clip. Expert: Pat Louis Bio: Patrick L. Sapia is a Singer, Actor, Comic, Impressionist, Writer, and Drummer based in Miami, Florida. He has been in Show Business for 52 years. Filmmaker: Paul Muller

Duration : 0:0:54