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It seems so easy, we all know someone who's done it, some of us have watched our kids grow their hair for months & months, argued with them about the tangles or it being in their eyes. Then the day comes that excitedly we go to the salon, they ponytail it up & hack off 8-12 inches of hair for us to donate to a lovely child who has lost their hair to cancer. Then what??? Where does it go??? For some its an easy answer, they've done the research, know exactly who takes what length and where to send it. Others have not and are confused at all of the rules and choices. We have helped many families through the growing and cutting stage at Maxim Spa and Salon, just this weekend we had our beautiful guest Glyn stop in for a donation cut. What's next? Here is some helpful information which will help you decide where to send your lovely locks.
Is your hair chemically treated with a color, hi-lites or have any grey?
Unfortunately, if you have hi-lited hair using bleach as a lightener your hair is NOT able to be donated, even if it has been colored over. If you are unsure ask your stylist they will be able to tell you. If you have previously colored hair there are many programs that will take your donation as well as grey hair depending on the percentage of grey.
How many inches will I be able to grow/cut off for donation? Locks of Love, Wigs 4 kids and Childhood Leukemia Foundation all require 10 inches. Wigs for kids (yes this is different) requires 12 inches. There are also plenty of programs to donate to if you can only commit to 8 inches; Pantene Beautiful Lengths and Children with hair loss to name a few.
There are many similarities between all of the programs. All hair must be clean, dry, gathered in a pony tail or braid and placed in a plastic bag before shipping. All companies researched above do not charge for wigs EXCEPT Locks of Love they charge based on a sliding scale. Another controversy with Locks of Love, they sell off hair that is donated that is not usable like short layers & grey hair. I think this is an acceptable answer although after reading this Forbes article Im not so sure. Locks of Love states on their website the reason they sell usable hair is to offset production cost, you can decide after reading the article.
As with anything else in life, good research is your best bet. Some programs give wigs to specific age groups or medical reason for hair loss. The program you donate to should fit your reason for donating.