6 New Organizations To Donate Your Hair To
So you’ve decided to donate your hair! This is an absolutely amazing and selfless decision to make, and I know it wasn’t an easy one. Letting go of length is hard on many people! But now that you’ve decided to donate hair, what’s the process like? Where should you go to get it cut, and where do you donate it to? In this post I’m going to break down the entire process for donating your hair so that you know exactly what to expect from how the hair should be prepared, to the rules and qualifications for several different organizations.
You can watch my Youtube video on this topic below.
How to donate your hair
The process of donating your hair is really a pretty simple one. Some hair salons will cut and donate your hair for you, but others may give the hair back for you to donate to the charity of your choice.
Later on, I’ll give you six different options to choose from each with different rules and qualifications of what hair they will accept. I suggest checking each of their websites and researching the organization themselves. You may find one that you can really resonate with!
What is the process to donate your hair?
You’ll want to keep the hair held together neatly with rubber bands. Most donation centers will not take hair that has been scooped up from the ground–unless they are accepting hair for oil spills!
The hair should be cut about 1 inch above the rubber band to ensure it won’t slip out during shipping. It may be best to put several rubber bands along the pony tail to keep it neat and tidy.
Make sure that the hair is fully dried before sending it off. If the hair is not completely dry, often times it will mold on the way to the donation center and unfortunately won’t be usable. If you can, have your stylist cut the pony tails off before shampooing you to avoid having to let the hair dry.
Once you’ve decided which organization to go with, you’ll need to fill out a form to send in with the hair. This form can be found on the organizations website.
After the hair is cut, dried, and neatly together in a ponytail; seal the hair in a zip lock bag, place it in a padded envelope with your donation and send it in. That’s it! Later we’ll talk about what happens after you send the hair in.
Where is the best charity to donate your hair to?
Every hair donation organization has different rules and qualifications for the hair that they receive. Look through the list I’ve made below, and choose the one that best fits your hair type.
1. Locks of love
Locks of love accepts hair that has been colored or permed, but not bleached.
The hair should be a minimum of 10 inches long.
I also want to point out that there has been talk that Locks Of Love charges their recipients for wigs, but that is NOT true. The only time they charge for hair is if gray hair is donated to them. Since they provide wigs for children and kids can’t use gray hair, they sell the hair for manufacturing costs to produce wigs for kids. But they DO NOT charge children for wigs.
Their website can be found here for more information and donation forms.
2. Wigs for kids
Wigs for kids unfortunately does not accept any hair that has been chemically altered due to their chemical sanitation process. All color or highlights must be completely grown out before donation.
The hair needs to be a minimum of 12 inches long.
You can find more information on their website here.
3. Hair we share
Similarly to locks of love, hair we share will accept hair that has been colored but not bleached. The hair also needs to be natural colors, so unfortunately fantasy colors like pinks or blues will not be accepted.
Their minimum hair donation length is 12 inches long.
They also require a minimum monetary donation of $25 for processing the hair, and if you donate $125 you become part of a ponytail tracking program.
I don’t know what exactly the ponytail tracking program entails, but you can find more information on their website here. I would assume that you will know who your hair has been donated to, which is super cool in my opinion!
4. Children with hair loss
This organization has the most lenient rules for accepting donations!
The minimum hair donation length is 8 inches long, which is the shortest length accepted anywhere for wigs.
Non-chemically treated hair is always preferred, but they will actually accept ANY hair as long as it is in good condition! I saw pictures of bleached hair in a pony tail on their website, which is wonderful as I haven’t seen this anywhere else.
You can find out more information on their website here.
5. Pink heart funds
This organization will accept hair that has been color treated or permed, but not over-processed or bleached.
Their minimum length requirement is 13 inches long.
You can find more information on their website here.
6. Matter of trust
Matter of trust is a little different than the rest of these organizations. They don’t accept hair to make into wigs. Instead, they accept hair/pet fur/lint/fiber to clean up oil spills. So if you have a dog that sheds a lot, you can actually send your dog hair to them!
I actually had never heard of this organization before researching for this post, and I’m excited myself to sign up to send in all of my hair I sweep off of the ground!
You need to sign up to donate so that they can give you an address to mail the hair to.
You can find more info on their website here.
What happens after I donate my hair?
Many of these organizations will send you a certificate in the mail for your donation. And some organizations may include a tracking program where you can be notified of where your hair goes to after it is processed and turned into a wig!
And unfortunately while you can’t use the hair donation itself as a tax write off, you can make a financial donation along with the hair for a tax write off. This really helps the organization cover the costs of manufacturing each wig as well.
Conclusion
Donating your hair is truly a selfless act, and I believe that everyone should do this at least once in their life just for the experience of helping someone else in need.
Your hair salon may help you with the process and send your hair in for you, or you can choose to do it yourself with the organization of your choice.
The six different organizations to donate your hair to are:
- Locks of love
- Wigs for kids
- Hair we share
- Children with hairloss
- Pink heart funds
- Matter of trust
Before sending in your hair, make sure it is clean and fully dry. Place the hair neatly into a hair tie before cutting one inch above the hair tie to ensure the hair stays neatly secured. Keep in mind that if the hair is wet or damp that it cannot be used. This is because mold can form on the way to the donation center.
You’ll place the hair into a ziplock bag and then a padded envelope with your printed form from the organization. Once they receive the hair, they will send you a certificate in the mail for your donation.
Give yourself a pat on the back, and think about how much your hair will be helping someone going through such a hard time!
If you have any further questions for me on this topic, leave them for me in the comment section. And be sure to subscribe below to make everyday a good hair day!
Last Updated: 05/15/24
share item
