Preparing Your Reborn For Microrooting

Reborn Doll Made by Jackie Surtees

Once you have completed your baby, it’s time to decide what sort of hair you are going to use. Some like to paint on the hair, using a reborn hair flow pattern and following the lines from the crown of the head in even light touches to replicate the thin whispy hair of a newborn. This method requires experience, and is extremely difficult to perfect. The preferred technique for reborn hair is to microroot quality hair into the head using a felting needle. Mohair is the best hair to use for this, it can be purchased in a variety of colours and textures. It can be cost effective, or you have the option of purchasing a higher quality Canadian mohair that has been cleaned and is a lot nicer to work with.  The size of needle you use will depend on the look you wish to achieve, a 36 -38 gauge will give you a larger hole in the entry of the hair, but is easier to work with and pick up hairs to insert.

For that gorgeous newborn peachfuzz you will need to use anything from a 40 gauge needle upwards, this is a finer needle that will pick up less hair and really give your baby a fine coverage. To prepare your head for microrooting there are two methods that work well, the first option is to use a sockette, the same as the ones used to weight your reborn with glass beading, fill it with rice,  and heat in the microwave. Once hot enough, insert into the head and allow it to have a few minutes to warm. Rice doesn’t have the best aroma when heated so it is recommended to add some lavender or a few drops of essential oil to take away the smell of the rice. Another very popular method is to purchase some whole wheat, the type that is in wheat heat packs, you can usually buy this from a health food store quite cheaply.  Set aside a container specifically for your wheat and heat in the microwave for a few minutes, you can then, using a small funnel, tip the wheat into the head of your reborn filling to about an inch from the neck. Once evenly spread inside the head, add some wadding or stuffing into the neck to hold the wheat in place. Most reborners find this second method more effective due to the  even settling of the wheat. Leave it for a few minutes to warm the head and you are ready to microroot.