What is the difference between single and double drawn hair?
Updated
by
Encelia Support Team
When it comes to wigs, one common question, we often get asked is whether to choose a wig that has single-drawn or double-drawn hair. Essentially, these terms refer to the length of hair used to make the wig. Before exploring the differences between single-drawn and double-drawn hair, it's helpful to understand how hair is collected.
WHAT IS A BUNDLE OF HAIR?
In general, when people donate their hair or when the hair is collected, it is usually gathered together in the form a bundle. A "raw" (unsorted) bundle contains a combination of different hair lengths because our hair naturally grows at different rates; this is known as single-drawn hair.
WHAT IS SINGLE-DRAWN HAIR?
Single-drawn hair is a bundle of hair that has not been sorted so it will have a mix of longer hair and shorter hair, which is how our hair naturally grows. Because a single-drawn bundle of hair has a variety of different lengths the hair will be thicker at the top and then taper off towards the end. For example, a 16" bundle of hair might include around 50% of hair that is 16-18" long, 25% that is 13-15" long, and the rest shorter than 12".
WHAT IS DOUBLE-DRAWN HAIR?
Double-drawn hair, on the other hand, goes through a tedious hand-sorting process to remove all shorter hairs and create a uniform thickness from top to bottom. Because the hand-sorting process is very tedious, it dramatically increases the cost of the hair or bundle, which in return makes the wig more expensive.
Although, a double-drawn wigs seem luxurious because the whole wig is the same length; we actually find that double-drawn wigs have an almost a doll-like look, they are almost too perfect. We find that women today want wigs that don't scream perfect, uniformed, or overdone.
WHAT TYPE OF HAIR IS BETTER? SINGLE-DRAWN OR DOUBLE-DRAWN
It depends on what type of wig you're looking for. Single-drawn bundles will create a wig that is lighter and it will look more natural, but if the shorter hairs that are mixed in are too short, it can create a lot of volume, which can make the wig look puffy and the ends can often look thin.
Double-drawn wigs are not layered so the top of the wig to the bottom will be the same length, which often creates a heavy, hotter wig. We have tried on double-drawn wigs that have weighed up to 5-6 pounds. More importantly, we find that the thickness of a double-drawn wigs creates a wig that looks too perfect, too uniformed. In addition, double-drawn wigs often look flat and heavy on the face.
ENCELIA® HAIR APPROACH
At Encelia® Hair, we find that women today want a more quiet, real-world, wearable wig - a wig that no one can tell you are wearing because it just looks like everyone else's hair which isn't perfect! Women want wigs that are more casual, imperfect or have an almost undone look to them.
We decided take a blended approach to wig-making which creates a natural, imperfect-looking wig. We use single-drawn bundles, but carefully remove any pieces shorter than 13" so our 14" inch stock wig using 18" of raw hair with 13" being the shortest length that is blended into our wigs, which means our wig have a healthy amount of bulk at the bottom without the increased weight of a double-drawn wig.
We also have no return hairs at the top of our wigs which makes the top of the wig look very natural but we incorporate a 4" inch return hair in the back and sides of our wigs. A return hair is the hair that is left over after the hair is attached (knotted) to the cap. The industry standard for return hair is 4" inches because at that length the return hair will sit flat without the need for styling. Return hairs are kind of a secret weapon because the short hair gentle lifts the longer hair resulting in a wig that is has movement and fluidity, which creates a wig that is lightweight and very natural-looking.
