Donate your hair to a wig charity
The hairdresser holds the ponytail up like a small trophy before the scissors go through it — a foot of hair, banded twice so it doesn't fray, then dropped into a sandwich bag. You didn't think about the child at the other end until you signed the form: someone about to lose their own hair to chemotherapy, waiting for a wig that doesn't look like a wig. Most charities, including the Little Princess Trust in the UK, want at least 20cm, clean and dry, tied before it's cut. Dyed hair counts; grey hair is accepted only in small amounts, usually under five per cent. You leave the salon lighter, a stranger the best part of a year away from a package with your hair in it.
Practical
- Cost
- Free–$50 (haircut plus postage)
- Best time
- Any time of year; the growing takes longer than the choosing
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time it takes
- An afternoon to cut and post; a year or more to grow the length first
- What people get wrong
- People cut the ponytail before it's tied off properly, or send hair that's damp, which can mould in transit. Others assume grey or dyed hair will be turned away and never bother sending it, when most charities accept both — they just want the minimum length and dry, bundled hair.
- With
- Alone