Saturday 25 May 2013

The importance of good ventilation

I took a couple of shots to illustrate why I believe that good ventilation can mean the difference between an acceptable piece and an exceptional piece.

I began work on the second hairpiece, and I am being even more conscious of the direction in which the hair is vented.  I am also, once again, ventilating the entire piece using single strands.  The section shown here is double-knotted, but as I progress to the top and front of the piece I will begin single knots.

Some wigmakers believe that the knots and ventilation direction are not critical at the back of a piece, and that it's only once you get to the hairline that you need to be concerned about those aspects.  While I agree that this is often true in a full, long wig, or one that will be styled to hide the knots in the back, the importance of good ventilation becomes much more obvious in a piece with lower density, and one that will be cut in a short style, such as a man's hairpiece.

As you can see here, the direction that the hair is vented in allows it to conform naturally to the shape of the head.  If this had all just been ventilated back, as is often done, the result would have been far less natural.  In the case of a hairpiece, especially, where the need to blend with existing natural hair is the goal, these considerations are critical.

I also believe that single strand knotting allows the hair to move and flow much more realistically, while keeping the knots small and undetectable.



8 comments:

  1. your work is really amazing ,is there a way i can contact you,any email? i have a few questions to make.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks very much! Yes, you can contact me at hairsay514@gmail.com

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    2. Dear Dave,

      thank you a lot for your great help and info on your website.
      From your experience, how much gram of hair does one use for a standard sized topper/male hairpiece in your density (about 65 %)?

      Thanks

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    3. Hi, sorry for the delay in replying. I haven't actually calculated it, but I usually buy my hair in 100g wefts, and am able to easily get 2 toppers out of one weft. So probably about 40-50g per piece.

      There is a fair amount of waste with the wefted hair, because there is a lot that is too short to use, so the actual amount would be less than that. But safe to say 100g of hair should be fine for two toppers.

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    4. Thanks. That´s about the amount I have estimated as well...

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    5. contact me piratpas@gmail.com , i got some question to you

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    6. Do you change the hair direction during knotting (using a different side of the hexagon)?

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    7. Yes, depending on how you want the hair to lie. If you're interested in a very in-depth discussion of ventilation direction, Super Wig Maker has posted a good video on the subject here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk_opTT-BOo&list=UUB9_pmyRjgrIRygdtajg3nA

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