# 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:** 2
**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, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/21 "2024-01-08T21:07:15Z")
Oh, lord. I just read they made socks out of Jewish hair. For soldiers. That is just horrible. Why did I search that. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/22 "2024-01-08T21:17:20Z")
I was just thinking, “Why not socks? Everyone could use a nice pair of socks.” But after all that Nazi human lampshade, soap, etc. shit, if true, maybe one wants to avoid human-sourced products. Then again, while concentration-camp prisoners were forced to, for instance, sew clothing (sometimes with bullet holes or blood still on it) into sandbags, it does not mean that recycling clothing is therefore intrinsically a bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/23 "2024-01-08T21:19:59Z")
I thought of _The Peanut Butter Solution_ just from reading the thread title. I can say as someone who sold fine art supplies for many years that human hair is a poor material for paintbrushes. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/24 "2024-01-08T21:32:43Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > The Peanut Butter Solution Ha. That movie scared me as a 6 year old or whatever I was when I saw it. ---
**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, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/25 "2024-01-08T21:44:19Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > 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 Ropes were used as springs on those devices, wound tight like a rubber band power propellor on a toy plane. A human hair rope that had more elasticity would be very useful. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Didn’t the Germans use hair for something to do with bombs? In WW2. There is a legend that human hair was used in the Norden Bombsight. Samples collected from Mary Babnik Brown and she was credited several times with providing this valuable material for the bombsight but it had cross hairs etched into the lens on the device. Her hair had never been treated with chemicals or irons and was probably used for meteorological devices. Several other women contributed hair for use during WWII extending the legend by assumption. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/26 "2024-01-08T21:52:54Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Most natural fibers have almost no stretch to them Dubious. Animal fibres, in particular wool and hair are protein (keratin) based and will stretch, under ideal conditions, 30-50%. An exception is kemp which is rather brittle under tension. Distinctions between the hair of different species are based on the average mix of various fibre components and their sulphur content. [![](https://i.ibb.co/Wt6bJ1Y/Wool-Fibre.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/Wt6bJ1Y/Wool-Fibre.jpg) Vegetable fibres are based on cellulose and will stretch to about 30%, less depending on the proportion of lignin in the fibre bundle. eg flax and jute stretch about what can be achieved with animal hair, bamboo and wood less so… Insect fibres are composed of proteins (fibroin/sericin) and tend to substantially less stretch as their natural use is structural. ---
**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, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/27 "2024-01-08T22:02:09Z")
I was thinking more along the lines of some kinda packing in bombs. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/28 "2024-01-08T22:06:09Z")
Maybe 15 years ago, my granddaughter participated in a program called Locks of Love (or something similar). She grew her hair to waist length, then cut it off and sent it to this group that provided wigs for women who had undergone radiation treatment. I think it was considered to be worth a couple grand. ---
**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, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/29 "2024-01-08T22:25:36Z")
I did locks for love. I think I had a thread on it here. They’re particular about the hair they’ll take. It’s a good organization and I know the people who need the wigs appreciate it. But how much hair that long is available? Barber shop and salon hair of inch long pieces are far more the bulk of excess hairs. I can’t see much use for that unless stuffing mattresses. Just ewwww. Not going to “Hair mattresses for less” Nope. ---
**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, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/30 "2024-01-08T23:53:28Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Vegetable fibres are based on cellulose and will stretch to about 30%, less depending on the proportion of lignin in the fibre bundle. eg flax and jute stretch about what can be achieved with animal hair, bamboo and wood less so… Animal fiber I have found to be very elastic while cellulose based fiber I haven’t found to stretch much at ll. I use linen, hemp, nettle and a few other fibers I have experimented with and find they just don’t have any noticeable stretch. Silk on the other hand is very stretchy. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/31 "2024-01-08T23:58:44Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > 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. Campaign slogan: “A little off the top for when the front falls off”. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/32 "2024-01-09T00:50:42Z")
Hair can make a decent hygrometer (humidity meter). Some instrument grade hygrometers made of hair used to be sold. As someone upthread alluded to, hair’s length depends on tension and humidity. I made a hygrometer for a school project out of one of my grandmother’s hairs nearly a meter long, dark at one end and gray at the other. I think most hygrometers are now electronic and use a capacitor made of a polymer dielectric that swells more or less with humidity. Don’t know how well hair competes. Also don’t know the relative merits of different species’ hair for this purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/33 "2024-01-09T01:12:28Z")
I took a back-stage tour at the Stratford Festival (Stratford Ontario) and they mentioned that not only will they buy human hair for their wigs at a good price, the absolute top value is human hair with natural oils, that hasn’t been washed with modern shampoos. They said one of the best sources was some isolated mountain villages in Italy. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/34 "2024-01-09T01:18:13Z")
Cecil had a column way back in the day about hair for wigs and said the Clairol cartel has rendered our hair unusable because it’s too clean and therefore too brittle to be sewn into wigs. ---
**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 9, 2024, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/35 "2024-01-09T02:03:20Z")
Far be it for me to argue with @Cecil_Adams , but Locks of Love took my 17inches of hair. And it’s had every product ever known applied to it. At the time there was no color or bleaching done. So maybe that would preclude them taking it, I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/36 "2024-01-09T10:01:46Z")
> [@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. I use a drop spindle to spin my own discarded hair into twine. Because of the texture of my hair it’s a pretty coarse twine, but reasonably strong. I usually don’t tell people it’s origin because for some reason people get squicked by it, and I use it only for my own purposes. You certainly could spin human hair into rope. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Didn’t the Germans use hair for something to do with bombs? In WW2. Not bombs, no, but the Germans would shave the heads of people coming into concentration camps then use it as a raw material for industry. Primarily felt making and making of coarse cloth/“horseblankets”. I believe there’s still a couple of tons of it (hair, bales, etc.) on display at Auschwitz > [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Maybe 15 years ago, my granddaughter participated in a program called Locks of Love (or something similar). She grew her hair to waist length, then cut it off and sent it to this group that provided wigs for women who had undergone radiation treatment. I think it was considered to be worth a couple grand. Locks of Love specializes in providing wigs to children who have medical hair loss of all sorts, not just cancer, and they only serve people up to the age of 21. If the donation went to adult women getting chemo it was a different organization. There are several who accept hair donations. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Far be it for me to argue with @Cecil_Adams , but Locks of Love took my 17inches of hair. And it’s had every product ever known applied to it. At the time there was no color or bleaching done. So maybe that would preclude them taking it, I don’t know. Locks of Love takes any sort of hair you care to give them. What can’t be used for wigs they sell and use the money to keep the operation going (and give the lady running it full time a salary because she needs to eat and put a roof over her head). This fact has been used against them, with accusations they lied or were otherwise not on the level despite the fact that their website was very clear on what they were doing and why, and available for anyone who cared to actually read/research the charity. I am always gobsmacked at the level of hate some people have for that particular charity. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Barber shop and salon hair of inch long pieces are far more the bulk of excess hairs. I can’t see much use for that unless stuffing mattresses. Just ewwww. Human hair isn’t any more disgusting than any other fiber of animal origin. Frankly, a lot of people would give up on wool if they had any experience with sheep, or just raw fleece (to start - sheep do not have any concept of toilet paper but they do poop). Any use of human hair involves cleaning/disinfecting it, which is also true (or should be) of any use of wool, horse hair, etc. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/37 "2024-01-09T18:27:29Z")
All I can google is “The hair was also used to make ignition mechanisms in bombs”. ---
**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 9, 2024, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/38 "2024-01-09T18:34:19Z")
It might be poke-y. I do have a problem with wool. Kinda itches me. Down bugs me too. Gimme some good ol’ sanitized manufactured polyfill. I’ll make do. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/39 "2024-01-09T20:34:16Z")
Human hair is definitely pokey and itchy. ---
**Author:** ![ThisOneGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@ThisOneGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisOneGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/40 "2024-01-10T19:25:54Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > You certainly could spin human hair into rope. Yes, you could. Have seen this one: [https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hair-rope-of-higashi-honganji-temple](https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hair-rope-of-higashi-honganji-temple) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772.md?page=3)