How to Reroot Doll Hair

Doll Reroot Supplies

At the Dollcrafter Marketplace we make it easy to start your first reroot as we sell a kit that includes the basic supplies you will need to start your first reroot. We also sell seperate individual supplies.

Shop our reroot supplies

The Process

1. Remove the doll's head

Before completing a reroot you should carefully remove the doll's head from it's body. You will need to soften the head to do this as most fashion dolls like Barbie, Monster High, EAH, Bratz, and Rainbow High have a neck peg that you will want to avoid breaking. Some simple ways to do this are heating the dolls head up by running it under a blow dryer or hot water. Once the head is soft use a firm grip to carefully manuever the head around the neck peg to remove it.

2. Remove existing hair

Begin by cutting the hair as close to the root as possible. Then use tweezers to reach inside the doll's neck hole to pull out any remaining hair.

3. Get out your loose doll hair

Take a small portion of your loose doll hair out the the packaging and lay it on a clean flat surface. We recommend to not take out all the hair as once as it can easily start to shift around a cause a mess.

4. Prepare 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 the end off a normal sewing needle to achieve the "U" shape, but these needles can be prone to breaking. Luckily we sell premade needles and reroot tools on the Dollcrafter Marketplace. Most reroot tools allow you to twist the end to loosen and tighten the area where the needle is placed. If there is not currently a needle in your tool twist the end to loosen it, place the needle in the hole, and twist it again to tighten it around the needle.

5. Put the hair into the doll's head

Pull a few strands of hair away from the rest of the hair on on your flat surface. Use the tip of your finger to guide the center of the strands into the "U" shaped part of your reroot needle. Now grab the strands of the hair that are in the needle with the same hand that you are used to hold the reroot tool so 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.

Repeat this until the doll's head is full of hair. As you gain more practice this will become easier like riding a bicycle. If there are not enough holes in the doll's head you can always poke more with a sewing needle or pin.

6. Secure the hair with fabric glue

To prevent the hair from falling out of the doll's head when washing it or styling it later we recommend using fabric glue. Simply pour fabric glue inside the neck hole of the doll's head. This will cause the ends of the hair inside the head to stick together which makes it less likely for them to fall out in the future. Allow the glue to dry.

7. Replace the doll's head

Once again heat up the doll's head with hot water or a blow dryer to soften it. Then put the doll's head back on the body being careful to not harm the neck peg.