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precious_lullabies · Guru

Mohair that wont root??

precious_lullabies · Guru

The mystery is solved

Ok so I worked out my problem... after struggling on all day, I finally realised that Id somehow picked up my pack of 43g German needles instead of the 42g... and yes this makes a huge difference. The 43g is just too fine to really grab any hair and you just end up with lots of hole without much rooting actually taking place. The 40g tends to root 3 or 4 hairs at a time so I tend not to use those either, the 42g is perfect however, you don't end up with many hole without hair being implanted, but is also really consistent in grabbing and implanting only 1 or 2 hairs at a time.

In about half an hour Ive managed to do more work with the 42g then Id got done all day using the 43g.

LovesDolls · Guru

That is good to know! I want to try those, now I know to buy the 42g German needles!

precious_lullabies · Guru

glad my silly little crisis helped *giggles*

but yes if switching to the german rooting needles go with the 42g. I highly recommend them by the way, they're really fantastic and i'd never go back the felting needles. They give such a consistent cover, and they're also much stronger - one needles can last me through countless heads of hair... when i was using the felting needles i'd use at lest 3-5 on each head (even with the crown felting needles).

LovesDolls · Guru

precious_lullabies wrote:

glad my silly little crisis helped *giggles*

but yes if switching to the german rooting needles go with the 42g. I highly recommend them by the way, they're really fantastic and i'd never go back the felting needles. They give such a consistent cover, and they're also much stronger - one needles can last me through countless heads of hair... when i was using the felting needles i'd use at lest 3-5 on each head (even with the crown felting needles).

I cut way down on the number of needles I used when I switched to crown felting needles from 6 barbed! I look forward to doing the same with the German needles!

Date: Jun 14, 2008

Hi, I was reading your posts about the german needles. Do you ever have a lot of empty holes that show with these needles? I've tried just the 42 needles and love the look of the one to two hairs in the hole, but I end up with a lot of empty holes also, and they show really bad. What am I doing wrong? I've seen the german needles and had read that they are stronger, but was too scared to use them. Can anyone tell me if they have this same problem with the empty holes? Thanks! P.S. I wanted to mention I found a great website for hair! At least it looks like beautiful hair and it's not too expensive for an ounce. The site is:www.mohairbydebbie.com
She has some pretty colors. Just thought I'd mention it. Tina

LovesDolls · Guru

I've heard of her and that her mohair is good, too!

precious_lullabies · Guru

thanks for the link will be having a look

as for empty hole, i don't really get alot of these anymore... i don't knwo if its practise or the swithch to the german needles... when i was trying to use the 43g german needle though i did get alot of these... but they seemed to close back over and not show.

i think the german needles leave a "cleaner" hole -- what i mean by this is that the german needles are fully round, where as the felting needles are more triagular in the shape of the shaft so i think this influences how much the hole can close back over. Well it just a theory.

I also have found that the soft vinyls close better around the hole's than do hard vinyls.

hope that helps some

Buffington · Guru

I have tried several types of needles over the years. I started out with 36-40 of the 6 barb needles and then went to the triangular needles with 3 barbs (one on each edge of the triangle). I LOVE those. I get very sparse hairs in the scalp. I have yet to try the crown needles. I did try the German 42 and either just couldn't get the hang of it or I didn't "practice" enough. So I stick with the triangle ones.

Secrist has some that are flat and they have 6 barbs (if you look close). I originally got the triangles from Secrist but I think they must have switched vendors. I'll have to ask them.

If you have problems with "holes" and no hair or just larger holes than you want, you may try this suggestion:

take a pan of boiling water (turn off heat) and hold the head in it (just the hairy part not the entire head) for about 20 - 30 seconds. Plunge into ice water immediately. This will cause the holes to expand and contract. The final holes you end up with should be smaller and more secured around each hair in the holes.

NOTE: Before trying this, make sure your mohair (dyed) is COLORFAST! Some mohairs are not colorfast and when this technique is done on the head reborners find out the hard way that the dye job is not permanent or the dye has not been rinsed enough. The dye has come off the mohair and discolored the doll head (someone told this on the old forum). It was black or dark brown. When she took the lot of remaining hair and rinsed it, the dye came off! So be sure before you do this.

precious_lullabies · Guru

I started with 36g 3barb felting needles and broke a whole pack of 10 in the first head i did. By accident or just good luck the second lot i ordered from a supplier closer to where i live on supplied the 38g crown needles -- loved these compaired to the regular felting needles, they gave a more realistic look and were stronger, breaking less.

I wasn't sure about the german ones when they first came out, i was interested but wasn't sure how they would be to work with given their "warning" about needing to be practised. I ordered a smaple pack with each of the 3 sizes. I'd never go back to regular or even crown needles now.

Maybe it is just practise i'm not sure... but a head of hair that use to take me 3 full days work to complete i can now do in one day, and even have it thicker and finer with the micro-rooting. It probably is combination of both practise and the new needles.

just my experiance anyway

Buffington · Guru

Yep! I think so, a combination of the 2. :)

Date: Jul 27, 2008

precious_lullabies wrote:

The mystery is solved

Ok so I worked out my problem... after struggling on all day, I finally realised that Id somehow picked up my pack of 43g German needles instead of the 42g... and yes this makes a huge difference. The 43g is just too fine to really grab any hair and you just end up with lots of hole without much rooting actually taking place. The 40g tends to root 3 or 4 hairs at a time so I tend not to use those either, the 42g is perfect however, you don't end up with many hole without hair being implanted, but is also really consistent in grabbing and implanting only 1 or 2 hairs at a time.

In about half an hour Ive managed to do more work with the 42g then Id got done all day using the 43g.

Hi, where can I buy these needles please?
Thanks!

Glo

Mo · Senior Member

I want some of those needles too!! Where do you get them??

Buffington- how do you know if the mohair is colourfast or not?

its almost taken me 1 day to finish rooting i just have to root a few baldy spots lol, it looks like she has cradle cap from where the needle has gone in, but i think it would look more realistic, what do you think??

Buffington · Guru

Mo wrote:

Buffington- how do you know if the mohair is colourfast or not?

You would take a small amount of your mohair and wet it with very warm water (not really hot hot), put it on a white towel and let it sit. Come back later to see if it left any color on your towel. If there is ANY color on your towel then it's not colorfast. Also, after that test, take that same peice of mohair and spray with your favorite baby hair conditioner, again set on the towel and leave till dry. Then look to see if there is any color on your towel.

Hope this helps :)