3 Simple Ways to
Share What You Make

With Instructables you can share what you make with the world — and tap into an ever-growing community of creative experts.

PhotosPhotos

Share one or more photos of a project, recipe, or whatever you've made, quickly and easily.

Get Started

Learn more & Get Tips

Step by StepStep-By-Step

Share your step-by-step photos with text instructions of what you made so others can do it too!

Get Started

Learn more & Get Tips

VideoVideo

Share your how-to video. You'll need your embed code from a video site such as YouTube.

Get Started

Learn more & Get Tips

Print PDF

Favorite

Someone really wants your hair.

last photo ←

Grow your hair. Tie your hair. Cut your hair. Donate your locks.

Remove these ads by Signing Up

Step 1The GROW part

The real helper of this instructable is if you don't use a lot of chemicals on your hair. The longer the better for this step. Any hair longer than 12 inches is cool. Any color is useful (you have more colors of hair than you think). Any type is useful curly,straight,wavy whatever ya have to share. Cleaned well with perfume free shampoo for 2 weeks.

« Previous Step

Download PDFView All Steps

Next Step »

32 comments

Jun 4, 2008. 9:50 PMDeadpunk says:

(removed by author or community request)

Dec 3, 2009. 8:37 AMhishealer says:

No offense, but this is really hard to read without punctuation.

Apr 1, 2012. 3:49 AM

porcupinemamma says:

It is offensive. PM the author and play grammar police in private.

Jun 3, 2009. 1:38 PMHelen Baq says:

It's misleading when you say "any color is useful", as LoL will not use hair that's more than 5% grey. There are many guidelines that LoL has and it might be handy for some folks if you posted the guidelines. Many people have regretted cutting their hair just to find it is useless. LoL throws away more hair than it uses. They have also plainly stated that they could use money donations more than they can use hair donations. They get much more hair than they need, as they only make about 100 wigs per year, the rest of the hair is sold or thrown away. Most of their wigs are not given freely and they do not, except rarely, provide wigs to cancer patients. There are other charities out there that make wigs for cancer patients, either exclusively for or including children. Please thoroughly research any charity before donating to it.

It's not even necessary to grow your hair out to donate to Matters of Trust. They take hair any length and in any condition, they just ask that it's clean. While they don't make wigs for children with alopecia, like LoL does, they do use the hair to clean up oil spills and help save animals who are the victims of oil spills. They will take animal hair, as well, though they prefer human hair. I doubt they will end up with too much hair like LoL has, though I hope they do.

Dec 3, 2009. 8:34 AMhishealer says:

I read on LoL site that they sell the hair they can't use to offset the costs of making the hairpieces, so a donation is never wasted.

Dec 4, 2009. 12:57 PMHelen Baq says:

They throw a lot of the hair away. :(

I believe it says on their website that they often throw hair away if it is not useful to them. Sometimes the hair is too damaged or chemically treated, etc.

Dec 17, 2009. 8:52 AMhishealer says:

http://www.locksoflove.org/donate.html

"Shorter hair will be separated from the ponytails and sold to offset the manufacturing costs. Although the shorter hair cannot be used in the hairpieces, it still greatly helps to reduce costs."

They are also clear on what is usable and not acceptable. Please research before arguing a point like that. I have been donating for 3 years now, every year, and the guidelines do change, so I research again every year. I do know what I am talking about.

Dec 2, 2009. 1:38 PMbassclarinet23 says:

How does the Matters of Trust use hair to help animals/ the environment? That sounds cool, but what do they do with it?

Dec 4, 2009. 1:27 PMHelen Baq says:

They have found that human hair absorbs oil extremely well. They use the hair to make mats which are used to soak up oil spills and help clean up animals that are covered with oil. The hair soaks up the oil from the water's surface or the animal's fur or feathers and keeps it from re-polluting. The mats can then be composted and used in gardens to provide nutrition for the plants and to keep animals away. They explain it really well on their website: www.matteroftrust.org :)

The nicest thing about donating to them is they will take any length of hair in any condition and they will take animal hair, as well, though human is preferred. Hair salons can ship them the clippings from their floor. :D

Dec 4, 2009. 1:52 PMbassclarinet23 says:

Wow. That's really cool. I think I'll look into that.

May 9, 2007. 8:15 AMehedward says:

I've been thinking about doing this, and my sister told me that locks-of-love was struggling these days b/c they evidently have way too much hair, but don't have the money to bind the hair into wigs. Is this true? If so, are they still collecting hair while they fund raise? What's the deal with this? Does anyone know? Thanks!

Dec 3, 2009. 8:38 AMhishealer says:

The site says that they sell the excess or unuseable hair to offset those costs.

May 11, 2007. 4:58 PMMasher1 (author) says:

Well if your hair is 12" or less i suppose. But curly long hair will always be in demand i think. Any long hair stock is helpful. The long hair wigs are the most needed for girls and a head full of curly or wavy hair is as valuable for wigs the longer it is. The short hair selections over there i bet are getting huge. So keep it to encouraging the lass with the 2 foot long hair to take a chance on a fresh head of hair and a new image experience for some little girl's self esteem. The pool of 15 inch and longer hair is where i think the LOL hair bank is needing donations. Curly and wavy hair another thing to consider in demand. Keep in mind the wig making process loses around 2" of the hair so longer is always better. And i bet any Wig tying persons would be in demand also ;)

May 31, 2008. 4:53 PMcrazyboy says:

Ewwwww I feel bad for kids with cancer but wouldn't synthetic hair be more...sanitary not to mention cheap?

Dec 2, 2009. 1:37 PMbassclarinet23 says:

Free donations are surely cheaper than manufacturing synthetic wigs.

Jan 15, 2009. 7:37 AMmiaspamm says:

It's probably much more comfortable to have real hair, and plastic just wouldn't look and feel the same.

Jul 20, 2008. 5:22 PMbowakowa says:

Growing my fouth head, which is great, I am a misanthropic antisocialist who can't be bothered with the latest "Rachel", and I'm helping a good cause at the same time. The good vibes are nearly nauseating. Good Instructable

Jun 24, 2008. 12:39 AMforgesmith says:

The link above needs changed, this is the current one. Oh, and the site says 10" or longer, see site for guidelines.

Only 1-2" to go...

Jun 20, 2008. 2:56 PMHillaryHM says:

Many of my students (I teach 5th grade) do this - donate hair - even the boys! They get so excited about helping out - and almost all plan to do it again as soon as the hair grows long enough. I'd love to do it, but my hair can't get past my chin before I go stir-crazy! Thanks!!

May 4, 2007. 8:24 PMTheCheese9921 says:

i was thinking about doing this but i gota convince my parents

May 11, 2007. 5:02 PMMasher1 (author) says:

Trust me they will not say anything if you explain yourself. Show them the LOL site for starters. You will be surprised whether you be Boy or Girl how understanding a parent can be about doing good things for others.

Feb 23, 2008. 5:37 PMcry_wolf says:

And along with that, most parents dislike very long hair on males, so i think it'll work out if you talk it out. Communication is key.

May 15, 2007. 9:37 PMThursday Next says:

My stepdaughter did this once but they wouldn't take it the next time because it was dyed.

Nov 11, 2007. 3:59 AMSlothOnSpeed says:

That's likely because hair that is heavily processed is also seriously damaged. For example, going from dark brown to pale blonde or using heat straightening tools on a regular basis does a number on each hair strand by stripping off the outer cuticle, leaving only a spongy inner layer. This inner layer is impossible to work with as it breaks while being tied and does not style correctly if it is incorporated into a wig. (All wigs are cut and styled once they are fit onto the recipient.) So, it's not the simple fat that it had been dyed, it was likely the fact that the hair was too damaged to use. Please tell your stepdaughter that she did a terrific thing, even though the charity will be unable to use her hair on a wig. There are other things she can do to assist child cancer patients. When she was a young teen, my daughter used to knit soft caps with no inside seams, or bright colors and with funky embellishments. Perhaps your stepdaughter can find some other way to help, and she can still color her hair to her heart's content.

May 27, 2007. 8:43 PMcoolflame says:

getting rid of your hairdo and help a child back into a more lucky joyful life? great idea - think i will do this.

May 9, 2007. 12:05 PMMercuryCrest says:

I actually do this every 4 years. It's just enough time for me to get used to having long hair, enjoy it, then get sick of it and have an excuse to cut it off. As far as I know, any participating salon will cut it for free as long as you're going to donate it. This really is a wonderful cause.