Rerooting Doll Hair: The Basics

Doll rerooting materials you will need:

The process:

I am sure if you are interested in rerooting, you probably already have a doll in mind and if you do not a good option is to purchase a used doll. The first thing you will need to do to start the process is to remove the doll's head which should be done carefully. Most fashion dolls like Barbie, Monster High, EAH, Bratz, and Rainbow High have a neck peg that we want to avoid breaking. That being said, it is a good practice to soften the doll's head before trying to remove it. Some simple ways to do this are heating the dolls head up by running it under a blow dryer or hot water.

Once you have removed the doll's head, the next step is to remove the existing hair. The first part of this is intuitive, as you simply cut the doll's hair off as close to the root as possible. However, you will realize that the root of the hair is still stuck inside the doll’s head. This is where the tweezers come in as you can use the tweezers to pull the remaining hair out from inside of the doll’s head.

Now onto the fun part! At this point, I will assume that you have already chosen your color of loose hair. What you need to know now is that as we place the loose hair inside the doll's head, we will be folding it in half. If you want to make any adjustments to the length of the hair before we begin rooting it keep this in mind. It is also a good idea to keep in mind that we can cut the doll's hair once it has been rooted for a more even cut. That being said, it is a good idea to leave the hair a little longer than you think you need. Now, all you need to do is lay your loose hair out on a flat surface before we begin rooting it. It might be a good idea to not put all of your hair out on the flat surface at once, as it can start to shift around and cause a mess. So we recommend only putting a smaller portion of hair out at once.

Once your doll and hair are set up and ready to begin, you will just need to grab your reroot tool. At the end of your reroot tool there should be a needle that is in an open “U” shape. Some doll customizers make their own reroot tools by cutting off the ends of normal sewing needles however, these homemade needles are more prone to break and are recommended that you instead buy refill needles for your reroot tool. To begin rooting your doll's hair you will need to place a few strands of the loose hair into the “U” shaped portion of the needle. You can do this by first pulling a few strands of hair away from the rest of the hair of your flat surface. Then you can use the tip of your finger to guide these strands of hair into the “U” shaped part of the reroot needle. The strands of hair should essentially be folded in half at the middle over the reroot tool. Now you should use the hand that you are using to hold the reroot tool to grab onto the strands of hair that are in the needle so that they do not fall out. Then, you can push the needle into one of the existing holes in the doll's head. Before removing the needle, make sure to let go of the hair so that once you pull the needle out, the hair remains stuck inside the doll's head. Yay!

Yes, now you will have to continue repeating this process until you finish rerooting the doll's head. But do not worry it is similar to riding a bicycle as the more you do it you will gain muscle memory, and it will start to become easier. Additionally, if you ever find that during the process there are not enough holes, you can use a sewing needle or pin to poke more holes in the doll's head. Once you have rooted the hair into the doll's head, then you can secure the hair by pouring fabric glue inside the doll's head to prevent the hair from falling out. Then, after leaving the doll's head out to allow the glue to dry, you can finally place it back on the doll's body. If you heated up the doll's head to remove it using a blow-dryer or hot water, we recommend doing the same here.

Finally, congratulations once your doll’s head is back on their body you have completed your first reroot!

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