Our Needles

We stock two basic types of needles, and one specialized type (three different types of needles total). Our basic needles are: Regular, and ULTRA (our rooting tool comes with 38 gauge ULTRA). In Regular, we stock 36, 38, 40, 42, and 43 gauge. In ULTRA, we stock 36, 38, and 42 gauge (the bigger the number, the smaller the needle). In addition, we have one specialized needle, Forked, which we stock in 40 and 42 gauge.

All except for the forked needles are triangular, therefore they have three edges. The ULTRA needles have one single small barb per edge (three barbs total), with the barb approximately 1/8" from the tip of the needle. The Regular needles have two barbs per edge (six barbs total), and they are at staggered depths from the tip.

For hair rooting, the "fine-ness" of the rooting depends on three factors: (1) the size of the rooting hole, (2) the number of hairs pulled into each rooting folicle, and (3) the elasticity of the medium being rooted into. The elasticity effects the degree that the rooting medium closes back in on the rooting hole-- the greater the elasticity, then the greater the rooting medium will "squeeze", or close back in, on the rooting folicle. For example, rooting into vinyl or silicone will appear finer than identical rooting into polymer clay (before the clay is baked), because both silicone and vinyl are more elastic than unbaked polymer clay. So, the best needle also depends upon the rooting medium.

For rooting into vinyl (or a silicone/vinyl mix), a 38 gauge ULTRA needle roots about as finely as a 42 gauge regular needle (remember, the bigger the gauge number, the smaller the needle). This is because our ULTRA needles pull fewer hairs per folicle. That is what they are designed to do.

So, even though our ULTRA needles (like are shipped with our rooting tool) root more sparsely than any other needle, they still work well, and are our most popular needle (by about 3 to 1). However, some people do not like them, because they root too sparsely for their tastes. For those people, they may be happier with 36 gauge regular needles.

Our forked needles are for advanced rooters only. They have a very small fork on the tip, rather than barbs along the edges. They root more sparsely than any of our other needles, but for our smallest forked needles, it is difficult to even see the fork on the end of the needle, let alone root with them.

Hair Rooting Instructions by Denise Pratt

For hair rooting you will need mohair or human hair, a rooting tool, felting needles and Gem-Tac glue. I only use 38 gauge felting needles, but some folks prefer the larger 36 gauge needles because they don't break as easily (I typically break between five to ten needles per rooted head when using regular needles, and one or two needles per rooted head for our ULTRA needles).

I also always use natural hair on my babies; such has mohair or human hair. I feel that natural hair adds to the realism of the baby. For mohair I prefer the premium mohair sold on our website. It is the closest thing to newborn baby hair that I have ever seen. If you are a beginner, you may want to practice with our regular mohair to save on cost.

Human hair can also be used. Human hair is more difficult to root, so it is not recommended for your first experience with rooting. Human hair is a slicker texture than mohair and doesn’t grab on to the needle as well, but with practice can be successfully rooted using the same method that is described here for rooting mohair. Click here for more information on rooting human hair. I use hair from my own children for wonderful keepsake dolls made to look like them.

When rooting into polymer clay, the hair is rooted into unbaked clay. You will need about 1/3 of an inch of clay to root into. If the clay is too thin, the hair won't stick into the clay. I draw a hair line with a detailer tool (our item #440) and cut Saran Wrap to cover the crown of the head so that only about a one inch ring of clay is exposed (this helps keep hair from sticking where I don't want it). I root starting at the hair line, and work my way toward the crown. I cut the circle over the crown smaller as I go. I like to work with mohair that is cut 3 to 4 inches long. I take a lock of hair and root over the center of it. I root about a one inch square area and then pull away the excess hair. I then smooth the needle holes closed with my fingers.

For rooting into vinyl, or silicone/vinyl mix, you will need to remove the head from the doll before rooting. I recommend color washing the inside of the head, opening the nose and mouth and blushing the doll before you root the hair. Since I do a very light coating of paint on the inside of the head, I have not had problems with purple paint showing through the scalp in the tiny needle holes. The reason I do these steps first is that if a mistake is made, I usually choose to put a wig on the baby rather than going through the effort of rooting a doll that did not turn out “perfect.”

Heating the vinyl head with a blow dryer, working in direct sunlight, or placing the head under a sun lamp will heat and soften the vinyl making the head easier to root on most dolls.

With the rooting tool, place the collet with the smallest opening into the tool by completely unscrewing the metal vise and pushing the collet into the hole. Screw the vise part way back on the tool and then place a needle into the collet, pushing it in until almost all of the thicker part of the needle is inside the tool. Tighten the vise and you are ready to root. If you have difficulty getting the needle in at first a pair a needle nose pliers will help.

Hold the tool like a pencil, or else hold it by placing the wooden handle in the palm of your hand while pinching on the metal vise part of the tool. In either case, make sure your fingers are placed on and "pinching" the metal vise part of the tool, like you were holding a pencil, because supporting the tool down lower like this will help reduce needle breakage.

Before we begin rooting, let me explain something about mohair. As with human hair mohair has an up and a down side. It has a one way barb like surface to it. If the hair is rooted from the center the hair will be messy, frizzy and hard to manage. It is important that you root from the cut ends of the hair and let the tip ends be the ends of the babies hair. If you root from the center of the hair you will be rooting some of the hair upside down and have a frizzy head of hair. Rooting from the center works for the cheaper roving type mohair because it is already tossed around and is not sorted with the tip ends and cut ends together. If you are not sure which end is the cut end and which way is the tip. Run your hand down the lock. The hair will feel smoother going from the cut ends to the tip than it will going from the tip to the cut ends. As with your own hair, this is much easier to feel if the hair is wet.

Cut hair into approximately 3” lengths. The first step is to create the border or hairline. Follow the pattern of the molded hair on the head or use you own hairline as a guide. Lay a small lock of hair on the vinyl and push the needle of the rooting tool through the vinyl about 1/8 to 1/3 inch from the cut ends of the mohair. You can either go straight into the vinyl or root at an angle towards the crown. Work your way across the width of the lock of hair in one or more staggered rows. Pull away excess hair and move the remaining hair over and repeat. If you get any short hairs that stick out or any excess hairs pull those back out with tweezers. When your lock of hair gets too small to work well, add more hair to your lock. Trim the cut ends of the hair where you are rooting often to keep them nice and even.

Continue working your way around the head until you have formed a complete hairline. Next fill in the rest of the scalp working your way towards the crown. Hair should be rooted on a downward angle and laying outwards from the crown in all directions. Root the crown of the head last.

When hair is completely rooted, secure hair from inside by squeezing Gem-Tack glue around on the hair from the inside of the head. Next clip a piece of a cosmetic wedge onto hemostats and smooth the glue, covering all the hairs on the inside of the head. If you do not have cosmetic wedges or hemostats, you can use a paint brush.

When the glue has dried, you can brush and style the babies hair. Mohair gets very messy during the rooting process and may need to be carefully combed or picked to remove the snarls. Since Gem-Tac is waterproof when dry, you can even wash the babies hair without “rewetting” the glue inside the babies head.

Rooting Eyelashes

Rooting eyelashes works very well on sleeping babies. I recommend that you go ahead and root the lashes from the center of the hair. Since there are so few hairs on the lashes, they are not likely to get tangled and matted. Take a 5-6 inch piece of hair and loop it over the felting needle. Place the tip of the needle in the crease of the eyelid and push the needle into the vinyl catching the hair and pushing it inside the vinyl. I root the lashes with the needle pointing on an upward angle so that the hair will lay down against the face. Continue the process across the eye. Place glue on the inside to secure the lashes. Allow the glue to dry and then carefully trim the lashes. I like to cut some hairs slightly longer than others to give a softer natural look.

Styling Baby's Hair

Using a styling razor, shape the baby's hairline. For a newborn look, leave the babies hair longer in the front and shorter on the side front of the head. Cut away excess hair on the back and sides of the head.

Layer the hair a little making the hairs shorter on the top of the head to allow the hair to be fluffed up.

Remember to take this step slowly and carefully, you can always cut away more hair, but it is not as easy to add hair if you remove too much.

After styling the baby's hair, you may want to wet the hair using a wet baby soft brush and put a nylon sock over the baby’s head being careful not to cover the lashes, then allow hair to dry and remove the sock. The cut off foot of a pair of nylons works great for this. This will take away the frizzy look that mohair tends to get after rooting. With premium wavy or curly mohair, you can wet the hair and add a little styling mouse, then pick and shape the hair and let dry to bring out the curls.

Caring for Mohair

Brush baby’s hair as needed, with a baby soft brush. Your baby’s mohair may require a little extra grooming, but the beauty and soft feel of this hair makes it worth a little effort.

Mohair is a natural fiber and it is natural for there to be some shedding. Brush baby's hair as you would a real newborn's hair to keep the hair smooth and separate.

Copyright (c) 2003 DP Creations, LLC