Do you collect your shed hair????

[Anje]

I remember a certain long-term member with ankle length hair collecting all her shed hairs that were longer than a certain length. I think she stuck them to a piece of tape at the root end, and would make braids from them once enough was collected. I don't think she actually did anything with it, but it struck me as a neat way to collect it.

[akurah]

That seems like it would be so, so much work. I'm currently collecting and lining up shed hair to make a strand for strand testing dyes and what. I'm root-aligning so it all goes the same way (fortunately I don't need the bulb to do this, if I run my fingers across the strand tightly I can tell by the sound it makes) and it's TIME CONSUMING.

While I didn't time it, I'm pretty sure this is more than an hour's worth of work:

[Aredhel]

I feel like the payoff (especially for selling just shed hairs) for the length of time and meticulous collecting would not be worth it...for me anyway. Plus if my hair keeps growing at a steady pace, it would hypothetically be at 60" in 4 years, I would be better off just cutting 15" off of that and donating it (I'd feel really weird about selling my hair).

That said, I'm interested and curious to see how it goes for you.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I made my own hairpiece from shed hairs, it took me 9 months to collect enough hair. So you probably could do that, to sell your hair.

[bparnell75]

I have always collected shed hairs, but not in lengths. I just roll it around my pointer finger and collect tubs full of the little curled sections. I then use then to make "rats" or for rolled pompadours. Sometimes I put little small ones in the puffs around my face for height so I do no have to tease the crown sections. I never wear my hair completely flat round my face.

[Ondine11]

Many women in India gather hair from the floor, & their combs & brushes & sell it once they have enough. This is not premium hair, & it sells for less. The cuticles are often not aligned, making the resulting extensions less durable. The best hair is 'Temple' hair. Long-haired women, with hair that has never been dyed, bleached or permed, sacrifice it at the temple (for free, of course). The ponytails are then gathered & sold, earning a fortune for everyone involved, except the poor village women.

European hair sells for a premium, since you can seldom get un-processed long blonde, red or light brown hair. I've even seen it being auctioned! Many women in Russia, Ukraine, Latvia & Estonia sell their hair.

I don't think you can add in hair from other people, since there are huge differences in colour & texture, or sell processed hair. I may be wrong, though.

[Aunt Rapunzel]

I have always collected shed hairs, but not in lengths. I just roll it around my pointer finger and collect tubs full of the little curled sections. I then use then to make "rats" or for rolled pompadours. Sometimes I put little small ones in the puffs around my face for height so I do no have to tease the crown sections. I never wear my hair completely flat round my face.

This is what I've done, too, to make chignon "rats" when my hair was shorter. I never thought to make my own extensions! I shall add this to my "To Do"
list!

[esfand]

I do the tape method myself. It's easy to find the strands of hair, while showering, on the floor, from the hair brush. It's the arranging and sticking to a tape that takes a while, but it takes me 30 minutes to make a small lock of it.

I made my own hairpiece from shed hairs, it took me 9 months to collect enough hair. So you probably could do that, to sell your hair.

WOW! This gives me hope. I am going to try to collect enough to resemble that.

The hair rats sound easier, just collect and clean them and they should be good to go!

[sarahthegemini]

The very concept of this is creepy to me :-/

[Aredhel]

How is it creepy? It's just your own hair, it's not like you're collecting someone else's.