# What could human hair be used for commercially? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [January 8, 2024, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772 "2024-01-08T12:32:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/1 "2024-01-08T12:32:37Z")
For context: I was listening to a podcast about a Canadian movie called The Peanut Butter Solution. A kid gets scared and loses his hair, but friendly ghosts give him a solution. However, it works wrongly and his hair starts growing out of control, inspiring an art teacher to kidnap him and keep him to use his hair for brushes (and presumably make millions and/or take over the world). My question is this: if I was cursed with hair that grew very quickly to a massive length, what would be the most financially successful use of this malady? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/2 "2024-01-08T12:38:54Z")
Wigs. Top quality human hair wigs can get expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/3 "2024-01-08T12:48:58Z")
I just googled it, and you’re not kidding. Up to $2,000? Whew! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/4 "2024-01-08T13:04:52Z")
I knew a woman who did a lot of gardening. She would get swept up hair from a barber shop and place the hair in bags made of old nylons. She hung the bags of hair around the perimeter of her garden to repel animals. No idea if it works, but she went through an awful lot of it didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/5 "2024-01-08T13:48:42Z")
Apparently human hair is better than that of most mammals for soaking up oil. There was a barber who came up with a program to collect hair clippings from other barbers, and put it in nylon bags to help with oil-spill reclamation efforts. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/6 "2024-01-08T15:27:49Z")
Also an experiment used bales of human hair to create a large filter deployed across a river. The water passing through it was visible ‘cleaner’ and after the test a number of pollutants including PCBs were found trapped in the material. IIRC how long such a filter would be effective before it became saturated with silt and pollutants was questionable. A short term deployment to clean oil spills and other discharges seems more viable. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/7 "2024-01-08T16:17:06Z")
Selling hair for wigs is half the story of the Gift of the Magi: > **[The Gift of the Magi](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gift_of_the_Magi)** > > "The Gift of the Magi" is a short story by O. Henry first published in 1905. The story tells of a young husband and wife and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money. As a sentimental story with a moral lesson about gift-giving, it has been popular for adaptation, especially for presentation at Christmas time. The plot and its twist ending are well known; the ending is generally considered an example of cosmic irony. The story was all... > [@Chronos](#): > > Apparently human hair is better than that of most mammals for soaking up oil. Let’s say that is true. Hair is still pretty lousy at absorbing oils. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/8 "2024-01-08T19:32:01Z")
I remember reading (a long time ago) that the Ancient Greeks collected women’s hair to make the ropes that powered catapults. No clue if that was actually true. But it would be an interesting way to use continuously-growing hair - at least once. Sort of an art or history enactment. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/9 "2024-01-08T19:33:49Z")
Why specifically catapults? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/10 "2024-01-08T19:36:03Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Let’s say that is true. Hair is still pretty lousy at absorbing oils. Well, the press releases at the time said that it actually worked better than any of the existing techniques for cleaning up oil spills… but then again, I haven’t heard anything about it since, so probably there were some practical issues in the details. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/11 "2024-01-08T19:45:16Z")
Not sure how to reply. As to why it was used, in the book, they didn’t explain beyond a general “the hair was better for catapults.” I’m guessing that harvested hair has a longer “staple length” than other fibers and that might affect the usability of the rope. But that’s me guessing. Politically, if your city-state is being attacked, letting women donate hair to the war effort may help promote group cohesion. As to why I’m suggesting it as a possible use now, well, catapults are cool. They’re like trebuchets with the added danger of snapping if wound too tight. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/12 "2024-01-08T19:47:00Z")
Donate your hair to the punkin’ chunkin’! ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/13 "2024-01-08T19:57:39Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > punkin’ chunkin Nowadays those are dominated by air cannons, not hair cannons. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/14 "2024-01-08T19:59:15Z")
But it could start a new category! ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/15 "2024-01-08T20:11:15Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > I remember reading (a long time ago) that the Ancient Greeks collected women’s hair to make the ropes that powered catapults. No clue if that was actually true. But it would be an interesting way to use continuously-growing hair - at least once. Sort of an art or history enactment. [Human hair is elastic and can stretch up to **20%** of its original length when dry and up to **50%** of its original length when wet](https://weheartthis.com/hair-elasticity/)[1](https://weheartthis.com/hair-elasticity/). [The elasticity of hair is determined by the balance between protein and moisture in the hair strands](https://www.bebeautiful.in/all-things-hair/hair-concerns/hair-elasticity)[2](https://www.bebeautiful.in/all-things-hair/hair-concerns/hair-elasticity). When hair has a good level of elasticity, the strands will be able to handle more pressure. [When elasticity is in perfect balance, the hair is defined and strong] I believe they operated the Ballistas with human hair and also horse hair from the tail . Most natural fibers have almost no stretch to them ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/16 "2024-01-08T20:24:53Z")
Didn’t the Germans use hair for something to do with bombs? In WW2. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/17 "2024-01-08T20:41:28Z")
Oh, I’ve only seen pumpkin trebuchets. Not tress-buchets. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/18 "2024-01-08T20:48:26Z")
The odorizing and irritant properties when burnt are depicted in this technical rendering: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/_RZ9Gsv_56c/hqdefault.jpg "Simpsons "Throw on that sack of barber hair"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RZ9Gsv_56c) ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/19 "2024-01-08T20:51:18Z")
Perhaps you meant a trebouffant? It shoots projectiles full of body and bounce. Australian Aboriginal people made rope and cord from carefully gathered human hair. There were no other long-haired animals available, and it seems to have had properties that vegetable fibres couldn’t provide. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/20 "2024-01-08T20:59:37Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Didn’t the Germans use hair for something to do with bombs? In WW2. Crosshairs in sights, maybe? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772.md?page=2)