Barbie reroot experience
I don't have the full doll because I bought only the head. This is how she originally looked
I really love this mold (sculpt), but the hair and lip color felt completely wrong to me. Of course, that's just a matter of personal taste.
Face repainting is done at the very end so the new makeup doesn't get damaged.
So first of all, I removed the old hair. I cut off most of it with scissors after tying it with an elastic band. Firstly, to avoid making a mess, and secondly, so I could reuse the hair for rerooting other dolls later.
My first reroot attempt wasn't very successful. I really liked the color, but coarse goat hair is not a good choice for dolls this small. It actually looks decent in photos, but in real life the problems are much more noticeable:
1. This hair doesn't bond well with glue (and I use the glue rerooting method), so the doll loses hair every time I brush it. There wasn't much hair to begin with, because goat hair is very voluminous and I had to use less of it compared to synthetic fibers.
2. The hairs stick out everywhere. The fibers are too thick and the result looks rough.
3. The hair has almost no movement or flexibility.
My conclusion: coarse goat hair is better suited for wigs on larger dolls.
When I removed the hair, I discovered that the hair parting had torn a little. This often happens during rerooting, especially on older dolls or after repeated rerooting, because the holes along the parting are very close together. In cases like this, the easiest solution is to glue the hole closed and make a new part somewhere else. That's exactly what I decided to do. In the photo you can see glue residue on the old hair parting and markings for the new one.
In the photo I'm showing my rerooting tool. It's basically a handle holding a needle with half of the eye sanded off. These needles are consumables - they break very quickly. I broke around five needles while rerooting this head. It would probably be better if they were sanded at an angle, they would likely last longer, but it is what it is.
Then I simply take a strand, fold it in half, catch it with the tool, and push it into the prepared hole.
For the new hair material, I chose saran. It's often recommended for rerooting Barbie, Integrity Toys, and other 1/6 dolls.
By the way, in the photo below you can see that after working with goat hair, I got used to using strands that were too small, so later I had to go over the head a second time to add more volume.
There were no ready-made holes for the new hair parting, so first I pierced the vinyl with a regular needle, and only then inserted the hair with the rerooting tool. The tool itself can push through the vinyl, and sometimes I got lazy and used it that way. But in reality, this puts much more strain on the tool, and the rerooting needle breaks much faster.
Once all the hair was in place, I filled the inside with glue and thoroughly spread it around with a brush. I used Fabri-Tac glue. I can't be 100% sure, but I assume any waterproof fabric glue would probably work.
After waiting a day, I poured hot water over the head so the hair would set into place. I didn't use boiling water directly - I waited about thirty seconds for it to cool down slightly.
After the hair dried, I trimmed it the way I wanted. This is the final result. I also added a few colorful strands to make her look more lively.
I really love this mold (sculpt), but the hair and lip color felt completely wrong to me. Of course, that's just a matter of personal taste.
Face repainting is done at the very end so the new makeup doesn't get damaged.
So first of all, I removed the old hair. I cut off most of it with scissors after tying it with an elastic band. Firstly, to avoid making a mess, and secondly, so I could reuse the hair for rerooting other dolls later.
My first reroot attempt wasn't very successful. I really liked the color, but coarse goat hair is not a good choice for dolls this small. It actually looks decent in photos, but in real life the problems are much more noticeable:
1. This hair doesn't bond well with glue (and I use the glue rerooting method), so the doll loses hair every time I brush it. There wasn't much hair to begin with, because goat hair is very voluminous and I had to use less of it compared to synthetic fibers.
2. The hairs stick out everywhere. The fibers are too thick and the result looks rough.
3. The hair has almost no movement or flexibility.
My conclusion: coarse goat hair is better suited for wigs on larger dolls.
When I removed the hair, I discovered that the hair parting had torn a little. This often happens during rerooting, especially on older dolls or after repeated rerooting, because the holes along the parting are very close together. In cases like this, the easiest solution is to glue the hole closed and make a new part somewhere else. That's exactly what I decided to do. In the photo you can see glue residue on the old hair parting and markings for the new one.
In the photo I'm showing my rerooting tool. It's basically a handle holding a needle with half of the eye sanded off. These needles are consumables - they break very quickly. I broke around five needles while rerooting this head. It would probably be better if they were sanded at an angle, they would likely last longer, but it is what it is.
Then I simply take a strand, fold it in half, catch it with the tool, and push it into the prepared hole.
For the new hair material, I chose saran. It's often recommended for rerooting Barbie, Integrity Toys, and other 1/6 dolls.
By the way, in the photo below you can see that after working with goat hair, I got used to using strands that were too small, so later I had to go over the head a second time to add more volume.
There were no ready-made holes for the new hair parting, so first I pierced the vinyl with a regular needle, and only then inserted the hair with the rerooting tool. The tool itself can push through the vinyl, and sometimes I got lazy and used it that way. But in reality, this puts much more strain on the tool, and the rerooting needle breaks much faster.
Once all the hair was in place, I filled the inside with glue and thoroughly spread it around with a brush. I used Fabri-Tac glue. I can't be 100% sure, but I assume any waterproof fabric glue would probably work.
After waiting a day, I poured hot water over the head so the hair would set into place. I didn't use boiling water directly - I waited about thirty seconds for it to cool down slightly.
After the hair dried, I trimmed it the way I wanted. This is the final result. I also added a few colorful strands to make her look more lively.
