2 broken hairtoys in 3 days

[vamq]

One was an old plastic one, so I'm not that surprised,
but the other one I just bought the day before, and it's wood! It should be better than this


having thick-ish hair has some bad sides too.

So, what do you do to prevent your hairsticks/forks from breaking?
I've had more hairtoy-breakage lately, so....any suggestions where I can buy (or order) some stronger hairtoys in Europe? I've seen all kind of cool American sites, but I'm not that handy with ordering from outside Europe..so..


Sorry if I posted this at the wrong part of the forum, I had my doubts about it before posting

[Natalia]

Wow! Ims orry your having such troubel with your beautiful toys :(. Your hair must be hungry :p!!! I hope someone comes along with some advice for you :)

[Dvips]

Did they break when you were trying to get them in your hair?

[florenonite]

It could be the way you're putting them in. Make sure you do it gently and don't rush; the only time I've broken a toy was when I was hurrying to put a plastic stick in my hair. Since then I've been gentler and haven't broken anything else.

[HappyHair87]

Alright 2 broken hair toys in 3 days!!!:hifive:

You got some strong hair!!!! I long for that day!!!

[renarok]

I just dug this fork out of the garbage to take a picture of it. It broke today for no good reason. I think it is a 60th street, I bought it off the swap boards. I was very sad. I'd like to blame the fork, but it is most likely user error.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3457/3699618538_98118fc7cf_m.jpg

[rach]

i use to break things like that easily "sigh"
just keep wiggling them through patently .
also twisty sticks are good also, it pulls itself through while twisting.

:blossom:

[LittleOrca]

Why would you toss away that hair fork? I broke a hair stick of mine I made (with pearls, so pretty) and I used some jewelry glue on it and smoothed it out and it works just as well. You just have to be gentle putting it in, but it still holds. :)

[florenonite]

I just dug this fork out of the garbage to take a picture of it. It broke today for no good reason. I think it is a 60th street, I bought it off the swap boards. I was very sad. I'd like to blame the fork, but it is most likely user error.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3457/3699618538_98118fc7cf_m.jpg

This looks like you could either (a) glue it back together or (b) file down the edge and varnish it to give yourself a two-prong fork. It's too nice to be binned!

[rach]

plastics brittle sometimes and wood may have not been treated properly (with oils) and so the wood breaks along the grain of the wood which is weak.
i've had to seriously up the wood quality (everything broke) to help this problem not happening.

hope you find some fun replacements soon :D

[renarok]

This looks like you could either (a) glue it back together or (b) file down the edge and varnish it to give yourself a two-prong fork. It's too nice to be binned!

Thanks for the idea. I will hand it over to hubby and see if he can glue it. I'm not sure how strong it will be, but it is worth the effort. It really is a nice smooth fork.

He says gorilla glue will work.... Sounds violent.

[demitasse]

Ouch. Yeah, anyone who's a iii or a ii verging on iii has to be careful. My hair can eat all sorts of things. I can't even count the number of plastic jaw clips that have snapped in my hair over the years. I'm super careful now but I get nervous sometimes when I'm weaving a stick through my hair. Who knows what will become its next victim?

[Natalia]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3457/3699618538_98118fc7cf_m.jpg


Thanks for the idea. I will hand it over to hubby and see if he can glue it. I'm not sure how strong it will be, but it is worth the effort. It really is a nice smooth fork.

He says gorilla glue will work.... Sounds violent.

Well her eis the frugal in me :p but if glueing doesnt work you could always get at it with sandpaper or even better a dremel :D. I think a nice clear nailpolish (if you dont have laquer) should seal it up great. You could always put it on swap as a fix er up im sure someonehere would take it from ya and you could still get a few bucks :)

[bugeyedmonster2]

*hears vamq's hair* "Yam-yum-nam..." *gulp* *burp*

[Fractalsofhair]

XD, well I can say I've snapped scrunchies, and broken headbands(The plastic ones) but I have yet to use hairsticks. The case with the headbands for me was a case of putting it on my head and trying to have it hold my hair(This was before I damaged my hair badly, so my hair was... Well, pretty tough). I have yet to break a wide toothed comb within the last couple of years though! I'll be sure to watch out for this when my hair gets longer. Wood can break easily, if it's hit at the right spot.

[Bunnyhare]

OK, wood breaks ladies and gents! it is a natural product with grains and flaws unseen and with the wrong pressure it will break. Nothing anyone can do about that. Try not to squeeze the tines toward or away from eachother..look for forks that are not too thin at the top of the arch, a weak spot, do not drop them! If you have thick hair do not but those skinny little delicate ones! working with wood has given me a good view of how this happens. SOrry for the loss of a cute stick!

[Calista]

The fork in the OP is not very high quality. I have a fork of that make, and I can only use it very cautiously (in fact, I don´t use it at all anymore). The wood tools that work by far the best for me are Baerreis (www.baerreis.com) forks. They are pricy, but worth every cent IMO. They are with you for life. I have only heard of one Baerreis fork causalty. I don´t remember who it was, but she sent the fork back to Martha, who found it was a flaw in the wood and replaced the fork free of charge.


ETA: grahtoestudio, I´ve been lusting after one of your forks for a while now, but I´m not in funds at the moment. One day, though... ;)

[may1em]

I just dug this fork out of the garbage to take a picture of it. It broke today for no good reason. I think it is a 60th street, I bought it off the swap boards. I was very sad. I'd like to blame the fork, but it is most likely user error.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3457/3699618538_98118fc7cf_m.jpg

I agree with the others that this is salvageable. You could definitely get a two-prong fork out of it with a little sanding and varnish.

[may1em]

My hair isn't as thick as it was when I was younger, but I've snapped the handles off of many a plastic hairbrush, and a plastic comb snapped in my damp hair a year or so ago during a self-trim. I've also had my hair eat claw clips and plastic sticks.

The hairbrush one was especially sad - I was 12 or so and spent a month or so using a handle-less brush. I don't think my mom was happy, as it was relatively new. Eventually, it got replaced by one with a thick wooden handle.

[Bunnyhare]

Another thought, use the skinny cute sticks and forks only for decoration, not for securing your hair up..get it all fastened and then gently weave it through !

[Bunnyhare]

plastics brittle sometimes and wood may have not been treated properly (with oils) and so the wood breaks along the grain of the wood which is weak.
i've had to seriously up the wood quality (everything broke) to help this problem not happening.

hope you find some fun replacements soon :D
Also, you have to make sure the grains are not running ACROSS the tine part..hard to tell inpictures, we are very careful about it and "stress test" and hair test before we even finish. wood quality counts!

[enfys]

I was really smug that I've never broken a hair toy with my hair until I remembered why I don't have any claw clips....or a travel hairbrush...or any glued together sunchii bands....

I break most of them with my feet or bum.

[rach]

Also, you have to make sure the grains are not running ACROSS the tine part..hard to tell inpictures, we are very careful about it and "stress test" and hair test before we even finish. wood quality counts!
yep learn't that the hard way early on in my trail pieces. :p

http://www.ketylo.com/servlet/StoreFront i've bought sticks off here which are brilliant. i'm guessing the forks are as good. must get one of those forks one day myself, they come in such cool colours :cool:

[may1em]

Another thought, use the skinny cute sticks and forks only for decoration, not for securing your hair up..get it all fastened and then gently weave it through !

Good idea! I know that people with short hair often use sticks as decoration anyway - I have a pair of 6'' sticks from the local Asian market that were marketed as "hair decoration" - implying that they had a decorative, rather than supportive, function. They work great for support, though. I should go get another pair (only $2!) soon.

OT, but this has been bugging me - how do you pronounce your name?

Also, your forks are pretty, but I am temporarily unemployed. :( Maybe in a few months.

[disoriented]

I just dug this fork out of the garbage to take a picture of it. It broke today for no good reason. I think it is a 60th street, I bought it off the swap boards. I was very sad. I'd like to blame the fork, but it is most likely user error.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3457/3699618538_98118fc7cf_m.jpg
It seems like a fork made of Dymondwood (layered laminated plywood). I am really shocked that even Dymondwood forks break! No matter how I use 60thstreet's forks, they are almost unbreakable!

[disoriented]

The fork in the OP is not very high quality. I have a fork of that make, and I can only use it very cautiously (in fact, I don´t use it at all anymore). The wood tools that work by far the best for me are Baerreis (http://www.baerreis.com) forks. They are pricy, but worth every cent IMO. They are with you for life. I have only heard of one Baerreis fork causalty. I don´t remember who it was, but she sent the fork back to Martha, who found it was a flaw in the wood and replaced the fork free of charge. I also broke two Baerreis forks in 3 weeks! One fork was split in a second after it arrived; when I inserted in a very loose lazy wrap bun as the first try. Martha said "Wood can be unforgiving sometime - and sometime it can have little hidden flaws that don't show up -".

Another fork (Ursula) had a minor split because of some pressure inside the bun. It wasn't tight bun, but I have iii type hair and the Ursula shape probably didn't agree with me. I think if your hair is fine/thin Ursula would be as sturdy as anything!

So far, what work best for me are: Flair type fork (it has more parallel prongs which is much more sturdy for type iii), Cygnus and Simple Round with short prongs.

I really bothered Martha, but she was patient and her customer service is more than excellent, so I am now very happy with my forks!!:)

[Ndnlady]

Whoa! Hairtoy eating hair!:) My daughter has hairtoy eating hair as well, she broke one of her hair sticks so far!

[manderly]

He says gorilla glue will work.... Sounds violent.

Gorilla glue is crazy strong.....it's holding part of my 46' boat together ;)

If not, just make it a 2 prong like others said and either file and finish the broken edge or glue wonderful things all over the topper :)

[Dementia1013]

My hair eats toys as well. I broke my Ursula. One of the legs just snapped clean off. I glued it together sanded and put clear nail polish over it. It used to be my 'go to' fork, now it's just decoration and I have no 'go to' fork. :(

I can't use claw clips, I always end up pulling the broken teeth out of my hair, and I switched to no snag elastics rather than ponytails because I kept snapping them. :(

Sometimes it's nice to have thick hair, but other times it's very irritating.

[renarok]

Well I have to thank all you lovely supportive folks here.

I would have never retrieved this fork out of the garbage or thought to try and repair it.

Here it is. Almost as good as new (I think), you can barely see the mend and DH says it should be strong. I will be especially careful with it from now on.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3535/3708674234_031956f2e4.jpg