The Quick and Dirty Reroot

by Carlota, as taught to her by Bradley Justice and Dianna Romano

You'll need:
Doll head
Doll hair
Needles
Pliers
Crochet Needle
New Pencil
Tweezers
Scissors
Chocolate		 Take a doll. Any doll. Yank off its head.
You can buy this at craft/hobby stores, from wigs, etc..
Embroidery needles are best; they need long, fat eyes.
Or other fine yanking/metal-cutting mechanism.
The smaller, the better. size 5, 6, or 7 work well.
An unsharpened one with a fresh eraser.
To tweeze, of course.
To scizz.
Well, that's just a generic need.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Do NOT try this for the first time on a doll you want to keep. It takes practice to get your own method worked out. Expect your first doll to be disposable, and be delighted if it turns out to be worth keeping.

1) Sinead O'Barbie (or "How to get rid of all that BLONDE!")

  • Cut off doll's hair, leaving about 1/4" from scalp.
  • Insert the crochet needle through the open neck and use it to pull the hair out from its roots.

    Use a moderate amount of caution--the crochet needle can and will poke through the rooting holes. Don't worry too much if it does, you'll learn to work around it. Scrape all of the hair you can from the inside. Use the tweezers to pull the loose hairs from the outside.

    2) New ReRooting Technology (or "How to make my rerooting tool without killing myself.")

    Now, from the HairClub for Vinyl Beings, a NEW way to reroot! For only $29.95 you, too, can have thicker, fuller hair!

  • Choose an embroidery needle with a large eye.
  • Push the needle into the pencil eraser; this makes it easy for you to handle the needle.
  • Using your pliers or other handy cutting tool, cut off the TIP of the eye.

    You want to open the eye into a fork, so it's important to only cut off the metal TIP that closes the eye. You are now ready to reroot.

    3) Plug 'n' Chug (or "Is that IT?!")

    Don't hate me because I'm beautiful... (I went through hell to look this way!)

  • Gather a strand of hair and fold in half over your finger.
  • Use the rerooting needle to gather hair at the strand's center point. Hold hair tightly within needle's fork.
  • Push fork into the rooting hole; push as far in as sensibly possible.
  • Release hair.
  • Withdraw fork.
  • Repeat.

    Work in circles (outside-in) around the head or strips from front-to-back or start at the center and work to either side; whichever is best for you.

    4. Secrets of the Trade

    The secret is TENSION. The more hair you put into a head, the less that comes out. Now, I wouldn't give this to a 5yr old, as the hair probably wouldn't last long on a 5yr old's play level, but it's fine for the rest of us. Don't worry, *some* hair is going to come out...*some* hair comes out of factory-rooted dollheads. It's a fact of life. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how well this holds up.

    Some readers have written to say they coat the inside of the head with liquid latex afterwards, for added hold.

    This method also works well for those who wish to knot one end of the hair. Knot the end, then use the fork to push the knot into the plug.

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