So the above pic is a series of progression shots through my reroot. I’m not going to go into an in-depth reroot tutorial because I already posted a list to reroot tutorials in a previous post here. Basically I started in the back using the reroot tool and filled up each hole. I saved the bangs until the end so it would be easier to keep them separate from the rest of the hair. Also, naturally you save the part thatching for the very last. Part thatching is probably the hardest part of a reroot, but there is also a great tutorial for that in the post I previously mentioned. 🙂 So, after you get all the hair in, you need to smooth it down how you like and set it with boiling water. You can also use steam to set the hair as you work on your part thatch, which helps to discover any weak areas that may need more hair.
So, if your hair is already washed and the hair is exactly as you want it, you can wrap the head gently in saran wrap and pour boiling water over the head. You can see the before and after in the shots above. Keep in mind this technique is for SARAN FIBER!! Saran fiber has different temperature requirements from nylon or kanekalon. Saran can easily handle boiling water and in fact you pretty much need the heat of the boiling water to style it.
Anyway because I didn’t wash my saran fiber before rerooting the doll I decided I should go ahead and pour the boiling water directly on the fiber so it not only removes the film that is often on saran, but also sets the hair as well. One thing to keep in mind when pouring boiling water on unsecured hair though is you must be gentle and slow otherwise you could get some hairs out of place and that would be no good. In the future I plan to wash my saran so I can use the previous saran wrap method. Another thing you want to keep in mind is you shouldn’t expose the plastics to boiling water for too long. 20 seconds or so should suffice without worry of melting any fibers or causing frizzing.
I also found this nice little tutorial site for styling doll hair which helped me suss out some of these methods for setting the hair. I will leave you with that link here: http://www.dolls-n-daggers.com/Dolls/OOAKtipshair.php These tutorials also cover cutting dolly hair as well as how to style hair to be curly. Lots of great info!
So how did that Loctite flexible stuff hole? I tried some silicone stuff years ago on somebody’s suggestion and found it peeled right off. And rooting ripped heads is…awkward.
HOLD, rather.
“which helps to discover any weak areas that may need more hair.”
Oh yeah. It amazes me how some people can just root the heads and not have it come out too thick ot too thin on the first pass. Mine used to come out way too thick so I try to err on the side of caution.
I’m happy to report that the Loctite glue works! 😀 It’s quite a bit softer than the plastic of the head so I was gentle when I re-rooted that area though. Also it’s soft enough that you can use the re-root tool directly through the glue without having to poke new holes. So far no hair has fallen out and she’s been through two washes and a gentle brushing, so I give Loctite a thumbs up. 😉
Also about the too thick thing…oh dear, this girl has a thick head of hair I confess!! XD The next re-root I do I am going to make the plugs a little thinner. ><;;
Ah! I should totally pick some up then! Thanks for the suggestion!