This is a bit of a companion piece to doll…
Doll reroot and resources
Hey, I really like your repaints and reroots. I’m about to start the same kind of hobby, and the last thing I need to purchase to customize my dolls, are the hair. I was wondering, which kind of doll hair you use, and where do you order it from? I live in Norway, and here is pretty much impossible to find gadgets and tools for this kind of hobby, so I guess I should order something from the US. Do you have any preferences, tips? :) Thanks for your time!

I often get asked this question on several channels so I’ll go ahead and answer them all here collectively!
Being in the US, I purchase the hair I use for reroots at DollyHair. They have a huge selection and different types of hair available from Saran, Nylon, Acetate and Mohair. I prefer to use Saran and only use Nylon if there is a particular color I can’t find in Saran.
My preference for Saran is that it’s soft, and comes in thin strands that they cover up gaps in reroots better. Although it can be a hassle to heat style them sometimes, curls and waves tend to last a long time.
Nylon comes in thicker strands than Saran and is a lot more sensitive to heat. They also come in much more vibrant colors. If you want to be particularly more creative with hair styles, Nylon is usually a pretty good pick since it can hold shapes much better than Saran. Being heat sensitive though, the shapes can easily get ruined as easy it is to style them that way. There are also reports of some Nylon colors staining vinyl if exposed to sunlight which is why I use Nylon as sparingly as possible.
If you’re in Europe, you might want to consider purchasing hair from the following shops:
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http://www.restoredoll.com/ – Equivalent of dollyhair
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http://www.retrodolls.co.uk/ – UK based. Comes highly recommended as I am familiar with the owner. They have some unique selections of hair that can’t be found anywhere else.
- mylittlecustoms.com
- http://www.thefloatingisle.de
You can reroot with any string type fiber so don’t rule out yarn, jelly yarn, and other types of threads. It all depends on the type of hair style you want for your doll.
Reroot Methods

For the actual “rerooting” I use the reroot tool method. The reroot tool method is something I picked up from Dollyhair which involves using a tool with a modified needle to poke hair into doll heads. The hair is secured with glue to hold it in place. I use Aleene’s fabric glue which is waterproof and allows me to heat style the hair later on. This method is of course easy and fast. You can purchase a reroot tool from dollyhair or simply make one yourself. There’s a great tutorial from Dolly Care fashioned from an Exacto knife.
The reroot tool method may not work for some types of hair styles so it’s good to know other reroot methods. Other reroot methods are:
- Lock and Loop Technique – Works best for Blythes or larger scale vinyl dolls and does not require any glue.
- Knot reroot method – All you need is a sewing needle and the patience of a saint. Works well if you’re trying to use up short, left over hair that isn’t long enough for the reroot tool or lock and loop.
What size needle is best?
It’s completely up to you. It depends on how much hair you want to use per hair plug, how thick each strand is, etc. There is no hard and fast rule, it’s just something you’ll have to try based on what works for you and your project. Needles are cheap and you can always grab a sampler pack with various sizes.
do you have any sources for doll hair in canada?
I think most Canadians go with DollyHair or RestoreDoll which are both US-based suppliers. I’m sure there is a Canadian based one, I’m just not familiar with any.
You are so thorough. I can’t stop reading your blog. Thank you so much for doing all this. I can’t wait to re-root my first doll.
Thank you! Good luck on your first reroot! It’s a frustrating process for the impatient but it pays off in the end! =)
For us people in Europe, we also got mylittlecustoms.com and http://www.thefloatingisle.de. Both have saran and nylon hair.
Thanks very much! =)