What's the difference between a barbed needle and a notched needle? Why is gauge measured backwards?
Shopping for rooting needles can be very confusing. This guide will equip you to find the best rooting needle for your reborn doll. Intro to Rooting Needles
In Rooting 101 we discussed how rooting and micro-rooting works. Specifically, we outlined the 3 major functions of the rooting needle:
1. Make a hole 2. Grab a hair 3. Force that hair into the hole The type of needle indicates how the needle grabs the hair. In other words, what's your hair grabber? What is Your Hair Grabber?Barbed Rooting Needles
For most rooting needles, the hair-grabber is a barb. Barbs are tiny notches cut out of the rooting needle.
Barbed rooting needles have 3 sides, like a triangle. The barbs are cut into the corners of these triangles. When you root with a barbed rooting needle, make sure that at least one of your barbs is pointing down so it will grab up the hair that is laying on the vinyl. There are several types of barbed rooting needles:
Forked Rooting Needles
On barbed rooting needles, the hair-grabber is on the side. On forked rooting needles, the hair-grabber is the tip.
Forked needles have a tiny slit cut into the very tip of the needle. This slit grabs the hair. Because there is only one slit and it faces only one direction, forked needles only work when oriented properly. This can make the needle challenging to use. However a small enough fork will ensure that you never grab more than one hair at a time. So how do we get a small fork? Let's talk about Gauge! Rooting Needle Gauge
How much hair you grab is determined by the size of your hair-grabber. The size of the hair-grabber is determined by the size of the needle.
The size of the needle is indicated by the gauge. However, gauge is a backward measurement. The bigger the gauge, the smaller the needle. What sense does that make? Rooting needles follow the same gauge rules as wire. Wire gauge indicates how much force it took to stretch the metal until it reached the desired size. Think about when you stretch a rubber hand. The tighter you pull the rubber band, the skinnier it becomes. So gauge is a sort of measurement of how far you'd have to stretch steel to achieve the skinniness of your rooting needle. Hopefully that will help you remember that a 46g (gauge) needle,is a lot smaller than a 38g needle. Think wire, not bra sizes. LOL Why Does Gauge Matter?
The bigger the needle, the bigger the barb or fork. For example:
Not all item descriptions will tell you how deep your barbs are, so keep in mind that it is roughly correlated to gauge. As we said earlier, the bigger the hair-grabber, the more hair it will grab. More importantly, the bigger the hair-grabber, the bigger hair diameter it will grab. In other words, if your hair follicle is significantly bigger than the barb/fork on your needle, it will not root most of the time. So how to we know how big your hair follicles are? Which Needle for Which Hair?
The bigger the hair follicle, the bigger you need your barb/fork to be. This may not be apparent to the naked eye, but under a microscope, hairs come in very different sizes!
I like to see mohair on my infants and human hair on my toddlers. So, I can't use 1 needle for everything. I have a variety of needles that I use for each project. For example, most of the human hair I root comes from Asian donors. Asian hair is 0.08mm - 0.12mm (80-120 microns) thick. But the barbs in a 42 gauge crown rooting needle is at most 40 microns deep. So my hair is 2x as big as my hair-grabber. The result - I'm having a very bad day rooting! That's why for my human hair, I use a larger needle (like a 38 gauge) to get the job done. Now, let's say I want to root mohair with that 42 gauge crown needle. If I'm rooting yearling mohair, the hair diameter is 31 to 34 microns. With a 40 micron barb, I can root that all day! How do I know my hair's diameter? I searched the internet. Now everything you need to know about all the hair you want to root is right here for your reference!
Now that you're an expert at gauge, needle types and hair diameter, there's only one more thing you need to know before you go needle shopping: how you plan to root.
Different Ways to Root
The needle you need is the one that works best for how you root and how much hair you want. As we discussed in Rooting 102, there are at least 3 different rooting methods:
Best Needles for Stab & Grab
If you root this way, you're jabbing your needle through a lock of hair with the hopes of catching one hair per hair plug.
In order for this to work, you need the smallest (highest gauge) needles you can safely use without breaking or bending the needle. You also need as few needle grabbers as possible. 1 - 3 barb needles will work well. Anything more than 3 and you're jamming lots of hair into each hair plug. So Regular, Notched and Compact rooting needles are not your friends. Forked needles also work well, but you've got to keep them oriented the right way or they will not grab hair. Irresistables has a popular rooting device on the market that offers 1, 2 or 3 forked needles all in one handle. Each needle is small enough to only grab 1 hair and the device helps you maintain proper orientation. Check out Kate Charles for a demo. Root-A-Loop
Root-A-Loop is more forgiving in terms of needles. You can use most any barbed needle with as many barbs as you like.
When I'm rooting a loop, I like to have at least 6 barbs so I'm guaranteed to catch my loop. I use the smallest needle compatible with the hair diameter so that:
Single-Strand, Cuticle Aligned Microrooting
This rooting method also works best with barbed needles. Because you're literally grabbing one hair at a time, you can tolerate having more barbs. My go-to needle these days is a 40 Gauge Regular Needle. The thing I like most about it, is actually a feature you'll never see on the item description: barb placement. This needle has a barb that is very close to the tip of the needle, so the hair is caught quickly and dragged deep into the scalp. The deeper the hair, the better I can seal it. The better I can seal it, the less likely to pull out.
But my needle mood changes for day to day, so its good to have other sizes on hand. :) Wrap-Up
Rooting Needle shopping gets complicated fast. For your convenience, I've begun to compile available needle offerings from many different popular reborn suppliers. Click the button below to view the full Google Spreadsheet. If you'd like to help me finish compiling this data, please shoot me a note!
Rooting needles are not inexpensive. So it's great to try before you buy. My Rooting Needle Sampler enables you to test crown, regular and forked rooting needles at a fraction of the price! Grab yours today!
Got a Question? Leave a Reply!
23 Comments
1/8/2016 03:21:42 am
Let me begin by saying you are incredible!!!
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10/31/2016 01:00:49 pm
Hi JoAnn,
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Kristine albrecht
1/14/2016 06:41:56 am
Thankfully I stumbled onto your tutorials today and have spent several hours watching and learning new things. I adore your techniques and appreciate your willingness to share. I've studied the work of many artists over several years and have learned more today than I have in a long time. Will be purchasing the Kate Charles tutorial soon! Thank you so much!!
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louise
1/17/2016 02:35:38 pm
first of all, your videos are great! I want to purchase a baby fx tool, do you know what size the needle is? I'm rooting with mohair that suggests a size 40 or higher and really hope this is in the range. Thanks!!
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10/19/2016 01:25:43 pm
I actually contacted them and they were not able to answer that question. I hope it has been working for you anyway. :)
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Kathleen
10/30/2016 03:50:16 pm
Just had to say a big thank you for all your wonderful reborning tutorials and tips. I have been reborning for about a year and a half and research all the time to see what new info I can find. You are definitely a go to for me! Thank you for this rooting needle research it was very helpful and I know this takes alot of time to compile and generously place for us to use. Thank you!!!!
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10/31/2016 01:03:31 pm
Hi Kathleen!
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Traci
12/30/2016 08:43:16 am
Hi Kim , I have watched several of yr videos , and u really are a great explainer. I have bought The Maxx sculpt , primmie , which was changed to female by the artist I used. She rooted the hair , but not near as thick as I wanted, so I am attempting to root thicker myself. So , the issue is what size or kind of needle to choose for a new beginner. I have had a few suggestions . One lady said use the forked needles 40 gauge , but from what I have read that is for experienced rooters, another lady said use crown needle 3 barbs 42 gauge ! What do u recommend? What tenchniqe would be easier? I seem to like the root a loop . Any suggestions would be much appreciated !!Thank u !!
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1/6/2017 04:53:56 pm
Hi Traci,
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sara
6/14/2017 11:06:45 am
hello I am trying to do a reborn baby, I haven't started yet been collecting things I want or need for it, I know this has nothing to do with rooting hair but do you know of a good forum or chat room that is helpful for a beginner thank you
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Jennifer
7/25/2017 02:13:34 pm
Im new to reborning and have learned so much from you! Thank you for dedicating the enormous amount of time it must take to provide us with tutorials.
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Shayla
12/30/2017 09:17:59 pm
I'm extremely new to reborning and I was blessed to find your Youtube tutorials and website! You are so amazing and kind to share this information with those of us who are looking to learn! You're a natural teacher. I appreciate your help so much. I'm working on my first doll now! :-)
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Margaret Finney
8/13/2018 11:02:34 am
Hi
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Joy Hart
6/27/2020 07:03:36 am
I'm rooting aplaca hair do you know what needle is best for that hair?
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Shari Demke
9/25/2020 10:05:28 am
Hi! Thank you so much for all your tutorials! They are awesome! I have watch a few on rooting and perhaps I have missed this answer to my question, "If you are not using a needle holder which way would you hold your needle, ie... would the end hook be up, down, right, left in your hand? Does this also change depending on the type of needle your using?"
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Gaynor Whitbread
11/24/2020 08:18:23 am
Hi I’m looking to start rooting. My question is before I start buying equipment, is can I practise on any doll? I don’t want to use an expensive doll while I’m ‘learning’ are there other surfaces you can ‘try’ on to get the hang of rooting? x
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Tanja
12/8/2020 07:58:17 pm
I usually loop the hair when I root i find it easier but soon I have to root with curly yearling hair which rooting from the ends would be a better way to go. I learned my mapping through you so I thank yiu for that. I tried grabbing the hairs with the pink heavenly illusion needle and its not grabbing. The reborn thar will be done with curly hair is maddie. It will be done in s toddler style. I was wondering which needle would be best?
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debbie
2/2/2021 04:13:31 pm
I am using an old doll of my daughter's, 40 + y/o. I've removed all the ratty synthetic hair and am using human hair to replace. Some plug holes are tiny, some a bit bigger. I was planning to use the stab and grab method because I want her hair thicker than a newborn, I am ordering your sampler to see what works best. Once past the learning curve I have daughter's long locks to put on another older doll. Then there's Chatty Cathy......Synthetic hair has to goooo.
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Vinnett
3/1/2021 06:38:51 pm
I was so inspire when I say you on YouTube. I just start collecting reborn dolls, and so fascinating with them I start painting. I just start my first rooting; I am interested in purchasing rooting needles from you so could yo please let me know how could I purchase them . Thank you and you really inspire me
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Becky F Landry
7/18/2021 12:20:46 pm
Hello Kim! I wanted,like so many others before me, thank you so much for your in depth tutorials and the endless material you have taken hours upon hours of your time to educate new and upcoming Reborn artist so that they too can be successful early on into their newly found passion of reborning. I have just begun my journey and have been researching and studying this art for about 6 months now and have spent over 4,000 on material and lots of kits to begin. Thanks to you Upon completing my 3rd kit I have something to be extremely proud of and can honestly make high quality dolls. I have watched and paid for numerous tutorials because when I get into something I'm ALL IN and I'm a hard worker and perfectionist. Nothing I have found out there thus far is even comparable with the amount of insight and skill you bring to the public to guide them during the reborning process. There are no words that can thank you enough. And all of this is out there at no cost to the consumer. You are truly a blessing and someone I admire not only for your talent but also for you God given heart. Thank you again from the bottom of mine. I hope to one day be as successful.
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Alia Armstead
3/21/2023 05:46:24 pm
Hello Kim can you please email me the basic toolsI need. To start Reborning African American dolls. ? Also can you tell me What's the best needle to use for human hair to root my doll ?
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AuthorHi! I am Kim. I've been creating dolls all my life. I started stuffing cotton balls into my mom's pantyhose when I was a little girl. Now I hand-craft dolls that look and feel like real babies. Archives
December 2021
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