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View Full Version : Hair Donation - Options and Considerations



sparrowswing
April 7th, 2015, 04:37 PM
I know this has been discussed before, but most of those threads seem to have been archived and the few results that came up in a search were several years old, so I decided to start a new thread.

I used to grow from APL to Waist and cut back to APL, every other November like clockwork, to donate to Locks of Love. The first couple of times, I'd get a lovely letter thanking me for my donation and explaining the wig-making process. Over the years the letters got shorter, then became postcards simply acknowledging receipt of my donation, then nothing at all. That was when I first researched LoL and learned of their shady reputation. I haven't cut my hair since.

Lately I've been considering cutting back from just-touching-knee to somewhere in the tailbone-to-classic realm. This would result in a long enough chunk of hair to make a donation. I'm happy to adjust the length of cut based on the requirements where I intend to donate, but I'm having trouble making that decision. There's no rush - I'm not holding the scissors yet, and probably won't be for a few months - but I'm curious if there is information I'm missing before I make a choice.


Here's the information I've gathered so far:
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Locks of Love throws out up to 80% of the hair they receive (with roughly another 50% being thrown out by the wig company that creates the wigs for them). Only a very small percentage of the donations they receive ever become wigs, and those wigs are then sold. Ostensibly they are sold to children with alopecia on a sliding scale based on income, but I haven't been able to verify that, and there are enough rumors circulating about the hair being made into extensions for sales that I'm really not comfortable even considering this an option.
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Pantene Beautiful Lengths (http://pantene.com/en-us/experience-main-section2/beautiful-lengths) is far more reputable. They require 8-15 donations (minimum 8" ponytail, less than 5% gray) to create a single wig, which is made in a standard adult size and then sent to the American Cancer Society to be donated to women with cancer.
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Wigs for Kids (http://www.wigsforkids.org/) (Ohio) requires 20-30 donations (minimum 12" ponytail, no gray) to make a single wig. Each child selected for the program is carefully measured, and the wig is then custom-made to fit that child. This results in much higher quality wigs, which are guaranteed to go to a child suffering from illness-related hair loss (usually cancer). They have been doing this for 30+ years, so I trust them to do things right.
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Wigs4Kids (https://www.wigs4kids.org/) is a completely separate charity that only donates to children's hospitals within a few counties in Michigan, but more than 50% of their donations go to children with cancer. Also donating custom-fit wigs to children, their requirements are less stringent (minimum 10" ponytail, less than 10% gray), and they also accept donations of new wigs and extensions, both human and synthetic. They have a very similar Hair Donation Form to that of Wigs For Kids, which can be confusing, but they are definitely a separate organization.
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It should be noted that all have similar requirements for hair that has been colored or otherwise chemically processed: Temporary treatments are fine, but processed hair cannot hold up to the chemical processing involved in cleaning and preparing hair for the wig-making process. Also, all of the organizations sell at least some of their unusable donations (the ones that are too short or too gray, primarily) to other wig-makers to cover overhead. Mostly it seems to boil down to whether you want your hair going to a sick child (who will grow out of the wig in a year or so) or a woman with cancer.


Are there other reputable hair donation organizations? If so, what are their requirements and standards? Does anyone here have experience with any of these organizations that they would be willing to share?

MINAKO
April 7th, 2015, 09:59 PM
I appreciate anyones attemt to do a good deed like helping sick people. But i think this hair donation system is kind of not making sense at all. why not just donate money to have wigs made with readily available hair? You dont think companies arent sitting on piles and piles of chinese, indian, vietnamese, malaysian, preuvian and whatelseyougot hair anyways. This industry is booming the way it does for a reason imho.
Also i find that the hair coming from these sources, if virgin quality are in far superior conditon to make a wig, its it cut much closer to the root and thus did not age as much, also the choosen textures are very resistant and make a wig last a long time. Thats just the impression i gathered, im not asking for agreement on this.
Putting it simple, i would never ever donate my hair, even if i felt like buzzing off everything tomorrow, imwould make a nice braid out of it and keep it. Dont make yourself feel like you need to deliver your hair to anyone. I bet most people who suffer from cancer have bigger troubles on their mind than the hair issue and many dont even want to wear a wig.

mz_butterfly
April 7th, 2015, 10:10 PM
Have you considered keeping the hair for yourself and using it for a braided bun or some kind of hairpiece?

There was also someone on here who sold their hair, have you considered that and hen you can donate the money from the sale to your favorite charity? (or keep the cash for your own needs?)


As for reputable companies who take hair donations I have heard that Pantene Beautiful Lengths is a legitimate company.

Robot Ninja
April 7th, 2015, 10:17 PM
I appreciate anyones attemt to do a good deed like helping sick people. But i think this hair donation system is kind of not making sense at all. why not just donate money to have wigs made with readily available hair? You dont think companies arent sitting on piles and piles of chinese, indian, vietnamese, malaysian, preuvian and whatelseyougot hair anyways. This industry is booming the way it does for a reason imho.
Also i find that the hair coming from these sources, if virgin quality are in far superior conditon to make a wig, its it cut much closer to the root and thus did not age as much, also the choosen textures are very resistant and make a wig last a long time. Thats just the impression i gathered, im not asking for agreement on this.


Hair from those sources tends to be black or dark brown. Not everyone can wear a black or dark brown wig, and look natural. And blonde or light brown hair is expensive.

Some cancer patients don't want to wear a wig, but many do, and especially for women with cancer or recovering from cancer, they are under social pressure to look a certain way. Not to mention financial pressure, especially if you work in the service industry.

That said, I have read, among the many other criticisms of Locks of Love, that human hair wigs are too high-maintenance for a lot of kids. They're better off with synthetic wigs.

sparrowswing
April 7th, 2015, 11:07 PM
Thank you all for your replies.


I appreciate anyones attemt to do a good deed like helping sick people. But i think this hair donation system is kind of not making sense at all. why not just donate money to have wigs made with readily available hair? You dont think companies arent sitting on piles and piles of chinese, indian, vietnamese, malaysian, preuvian and whatelseyougot hair anyways. This industry is booming the way it does for a reason imho.
Also i find that the hair coming from these sources, if virgin quality are in far superior conditon to make a wig, its it cut much closer to the root and thus did not age as much, also the choosen textures are very resistant and make a wig last a long time. Thats just the impression i gathered, im not asking for agreement on this.
Putting it simple, i would never ever donate my hair, even if i felt like buzzing off everything tomorrow, imwould make a nice braid out of it and keep it. Dont make yourself feel like you need to deliver your hair to anyone. I bet most people who suffer from cancer have bigger troubles on their mind than the hair issue and many dont even want to wear a wig.

I understand your opinion and appreciate your attempt to keep me from cutting my hair off for someone else's benefit, but I really don't feel any pressure to do so. I’m not asking for advice whether I should donate my hair or suggesting that anyone else should; I am merely seeking information on hair donation options.

To answer your first question, I simply don't have the money to donate. That's true for a lot of people who still want to find some way to help. I donate clothing, household goods, and nonperishable food items when I can to local shelters, and I like the idea of my shorn hair - something that would ostensibly trash under other circumstances - being useful to someone somewhere. If it can make another person happy, especially if that person is suffering from illness, then why shouldn't I at least try?

As for those companies that are sitting on mountains of foreign hair, do you really think those companies are just going to give away the wigs they're making? Companies are in it for profit, and any company willing to pay to have hair shipped halfway across the world to make into a wig (or to have the wig made there and shipped), is not going to give any significant number of wigs to sick people for charity. They are in it for the money. Yes, Pantene is a multinational corporation doing it, but they are also requesting hair donations. So no, I don't see how my hair is worthless compared to this supposed mountain of hair available, as they're providing a different service to a different clientele. If there was no need for hair donations, no desire for wigs for people suffering hair loss due to illness, organizations like this wouldn't even exist.

As far as Asian or South American hair being more suitable for wigs, that may be true. I imagine coarse hair in general would hold up much better than fine hair in this sort of processing. But not everyone wants a wig with coarse hair. Some people just want hair similar to the hair they had before they got sick. My hair may be fine, but it's very strong. It is extremely non-porous, and the only reason it's not 100% virgin is because I tried a henna gloss once. I am entirely certain that my hair will hold up just fine in the processing.

And yes, people suffering from cancer have many serious troubles on their minds. Their hair, or lack thereof, shouldn't be one of them. If my donation has even a chance of making someone who is already suffering have just the tiniest bit more self esteem, then it's worth it to me. I've seen what a positive self-image can do, even to the terminally ill, and that's worth more to me than blindly sending money and having no idea what it might be funding.


Have you considered keeping the hair for yourself and using it for a braided bun or some kind of hairpiece?

There was also someone on here who sold their hair, have you considered that and hen you can donate the money from the sale to your favorite charity? (or keep the cash for your own needs?)


As for reputable companies who take hair donations I have heard that Pantene Beautiful Lengths is a legitimate company.

I really hadn’t considered keeping it for myself and using it as a hairpiece. I don’t usually do much with my hair, so I’m not sure how much use it would get like that. I don't like the idea of it just sitting in a drawer somewhere for years and years. As far as selling my hair directly, I have no idea where or how to do that, or even where to start. Would 12” of hair really even be worth selling?



:scissors:
That said, I have read, among the many other criticisms of Locks of Love, that human hair wigs are too high-maintenance for a lot of kids. They're better off with synthetic wigs.

That is a very good point, and it’s one of the main reasons I’m weighing Pantene more heavily than the others right now. I like the idea of helping sick children, but it is a lot of maintenance for a child, and they will grow out of it quickly. Also, I feel like adults are more likely to feel social pressure to fit the standard you mentioned. I honestly never even considered how hair loss might affect someone in the service industry, but I imagine it could make an already very stressful situation even worse.

I do still want to see what other options may be available, though.

mz_butterfly
April 7th, 2015, 11:26 PM
Yes, 12" of hair is worth selling. I imagine you could get minimal $100 for it. There was someone here who sold some of her hair, if you do a search you should be able to find it.