# 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:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**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 10, 2024, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/41 "2024-01-10T19:27:30Z")
Reminds me of the video game _Fatal Frame_. ---
**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 10, 2024, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/42 "2024-01-10T19:40:22Z")
Mourning jewelry sells for big bucks. If you believe _Antiques Roadshow_. Creative estate planning and your heirs(hairs) could be set up nicely. 😊 ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/43 "2024-01-11T23:02:47Z")
According to _You Bet Your Garden,_ public radio’s gardening show, the hair-as-animal-repellent trick works, but not if the hair is from a vegetarian. You need it to smell like a carnivore. Mike McGrath, the show’s host, says hair on the ground under hosta beds will baffle slugs, because their goopy bodies get tangled up in it. ---
**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 11, 2024, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/44 "2024-01-11T23:41:17Z")
Cool! I’m happy to know that. She knew what she was doing. ---
**Author:** ![anna-lee-7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@anna-lee-7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anna-lee-7)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/45 "2025-02-27T08:11:08Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > 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? Accelerate the development of hair products. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/46 "2025-02-27T08:27:46Z")
Commercially, hair could be used as slow-release fertiliser for plants. It contains nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium - not necessarily in huge abundance or in forms immediately available, but as it breaks down slowly over the course of years, it could provide a useful low-level and steady supply of plant nutrients. I use feathers when I am planting shrubs for similar purposes; they are not the ‘best’ plant food, but they break down very slowly and release small, sustained doses of nutrient. I’ve done side-by-side tests (nothing with great empirical rigour) and it does seem to help shrubs and trees get established over a span of years/decades. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2025, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/47 "2025-02-27T09:23:04Z")
Wait…what? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/48 "2025-02-27T10:50:58Z")
Yeah, I guess if you had hair that grew long overnight, you could volunteer to be a test subject for hair products - the benefit for testing is that you could be both control subject and test subject on different days. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2025, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772/49 "2025-02-27T11:59:18Z")
Hair extensions. I recall reading years ago there was a trade in women’s hair from India to the US for the purpose, because in India a fair number of young women would cut their traditionally long hair to express their independence, which made them an unusual source of long, unbroken human hair. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-human-hair-be-used-for-commercially/995772.md?page=2)