If a wig has had any hand work done to it, or if it is completely hand-made, it is going to be more valuable than one without. In general. There are also some excellent machine-made wigs. If the foundation is hand-made, the hair knotted into it is most likely going to be human hair. Synthetic hair is less likely to hold its knot in the lace foundation. The reasons for knowing what type of wig you have is so that it can be cleaned without being damaged and so you can determine the possibilities for dressing it.
There are two choices for cleaning a wig: shampoo and water or dry cleaning with industrial chemicals. Human hair, whether hand-ventilated or wefted (sewn), needs to be dry cleaned. Machine-wefted hair can be shampooed, as can synthetic hair (which has most likely been machine wefted). A combination wig, such as machine-wefted plus hand-tied, must get a shampoo wash.[44]