Tutorials

I use the tool method with a smaller size needle for soft vinyl but the biggest problem with soft vinyl is that it tears open really easy
so here’s what I do to try to avoid it:

1. Be super careful when removing the original hair to not tug too hard on the holes (cutting super close to the head then gently scraping from the inside while the head is warm seems to work best)
2. Cover any risky looking areas with E6000 or superglue gel by pressing the glue into the holes with a big needle and scraping off the excess (24h drying time)
3. Make sure to point the needle so that it’s not sideways to the hole (dollyhair.com has a good photo of this on their reroot page)
4. When splits happen, seperate all the hair away from the split: fill with E6000 or superglue, leave to dry then work around it. Often the first line is the one to split so I have to redraw the hairline with a mechanical pencil then root in a new line of hair.

– Photos to be added later –

Lush Lilac saran shifts from pale purples to shades of pink depending on the light.

Teal is a less grey, more green version of DH Lagoon Blue

Some reds compared to eachother:
Celtic Red is the colour of tomato soup and Torch Auburn is blood red.

Some blondes compared:
Lemon has a slight green tinge to it.

Notes: the acronyms DH, RD and RTD stand for Dollyhair, Restoredolls and Retrodolls who have different shades of saran hair on offer and use different names for them.

1. Root the eyelashes closely together to avoid gaps, make the eyelashes very long (you’ll cut them later)
2. Use an elastic + boil perm to set the long eyelashes up against the face
3. Use nail scissors or sewing scissors to trim the eyelashes down to a slanting shape – no longer than 3mm at the shortest part (so it will look like eyeliner not lashes at certain angles).

Model: Myscene Madison custom “Blue Moon” who’s going to get a boil perm soon. Sorry about the sloppy photos, it’s just to show the technique. She had a wonky eye placement and the eyelashes are meant to minimise that.

Here’s my workaround to make a pin vise (or “pin vice”) work with medium to hard heads.
I placed a small screw into the barrel then a long nail (the needle rests on the head of the nail). The needle is a size 7-10 with a slanted cut eye.
The barrel was wrapped with fabric scraps then plumbers tape then masking tape so that it doesn’t hurt my hand.

* Pin Vise/Pin Vice – $3 (this is called “porte foret” ou “étau à goupille” in french)
* Nail, screw and tapes – nicked from the tool kit
* Fabric scraps
* Size 7 crewel/embroidery needles for bratz heads, size 8 for barbie.

An important part of the rerooting process is head preparation: removing the old hair and preparing the scalp for new hair.

Here are the tools I use:
* Hair Scissors and Nail scissors to remove the bulk of the hair then cut down to the lowest possible.
I use the big scissors to scrape the inside of the head to remove plugs afterwards.
* Big tweezers to remove the hair from the inside of the head, little ones to remove lone plugs from the ouside of the head.

* Alcohol for cleaning and washing my hands from glue residue.
* Acetone to remove the scalp paint (cotton pad for large amounts, cotton bud for details)

* Super glue in gel form to fill in big holes in the scalp (it dries after 12h into a flexible but solid state unlike other glues that just go rock hard and snap off)
* Fabric scrap to protect the face during the work.

Not shown: soap and water used twice. big glass of water to wipe hands to remove all chemical residues when handling the doll.

Monster high head size comparison with Barbie and Bratz.

You can also see the neck hole size and the big annoying neck anchor:

For a mid calf length reroot of Draculaura, I used 75% of 1 RD hank of Wild Lavender and less than 2 RD hanks of Sherbert Pink but she’s rooted very thickly.
I think you could probably reroot a monster high doll with 2 RD hanks.

Wild Lavender is a shade lighter match to her eyeshadow, Cupcake pink is a shade darker match to her skin, Red Wine is a match to the outside of her heart tattoo, Sherbert pink is the inside of the heart, Mauvelous pink is a match to her lips.

Often, rerooting by using just the factory plugs is not enough. The doll may have been originally created with bigger hair, curls or a specific hairstyle so the factory root pattern will match that.
A versatile reroot will allow for all kind of hairstyles on a doll so you’ll need to create your own holes to fill in the gaps.

This is Dresden after rerooting her factory plugs. I had to add 15-20 plugs more to fill in all the gaps.

Original doll (thick kanekalon curls) vs full reroot (fine silky saran):

Another example is Formal Funk  Jade, a doll designed to have a tight pony tail hardo. When her hair is down, she has no parting so her hair looks thin when loose.

I gave her a side parting and filled out her hair a little with approx 50 plugs of hair.

Mystic Pink to White is very close to Sherbert pink in color. It turns white with heat, passing by a slightly bluer cupcake pink while warm.
Cotton candy really is as fleshy as it looks in the photo.

For a reroot, you can use special doll hair, human extensions, wool, thread….

• Kanekalon (“silky straight” or ironed “kinky/braiding”)

Shiny and very vibrant but thick and heavier than saran. Takes curls and styles very well. Can be bought at human hair shops as braiding hair. Cheap.

• Nylon

Slightly matte finish, lots of nice colours available. This is the hair used on Momoko and My Little Pony. Curls well, brushes well. Not as shiny or silky as Saran. Available from dollyhair.com and mylittlecustoms.com at $3 a hank

• Saran (aka Katsilk)

Very shiny, silky, fine hair. Fabulous to brush, takes curls with heat+time but tends to revert to straight. My favourite type of hair. Some find it a little too “wet”. Colors are limited to what’s in stock and there aren’t many shades of blue or green. A hank costs 2.5$, a full bratz head of ankle length hair costs $12. Available from restoredoll.com, mylittlecustoms.com and retrodolls.co.uk

For your OOAK dolls what you need to decide is if they are going to be display dolls or play dolls. If they are for display only, you can use just about any craft materials and glue in your house to decorate your doll and it’ll look fine so long as you don’t get her wet or brush the hair too often.