What’s the Best Doll Hair? A Complete Guide to Doll Hair Types, Textures and Uses

What’s the Best Doll Hair? A Complete Guide to Doll Hair Types, Textures and Uses

If you’re customizing your first Barbie or restoring a vintage pony from the '80s, the type and quality of doll hair can make or break your project. With so many textures, colors, and materials to choose from, it’s easy to wonder: What’s the best doll hair?

Let’s break it down fiber by fiber—with the pros, cons, and best uses for each type of doll hair available at Dollyhair. From silky Saran to bouncy curls and fantasy textures, this guide will help you find your perfect match.

Nylon Doll Hair: Vibrant, Strong, and Versatile

Best for: My Little Pony, Barbie customs, bold colors, curls, boil perming

Nylon Doll Hair is the rockstar of rerooting. It’s strong, shiny, and comes in more than 100 vivid shades—from natural hues to neon rainbows and glow-in-the-dark! Nylon holds curls beautifully with boil perming and is easy to dye using fabric dye or acrylic paint.

Why we love it:

  • Feels smooth, soft, and luxurious
  • Easy to style and holds shape with a boil wash
  • Huge color selection (yes, even that perfect shade of teal)

Things to note:

  • Can be slippery for beginners—mist the hair with water to tame flyaways
  • Use gently simmering water for boil styles to avoid frizz

Try it for: Fantasy customs, MLP reroots, or bold, bouncy Barbie makeovers

Saran Doll Hair: Classic, Silky, and Tangle-Free

Best for: Vintage restorations, natural styles, collector dolls

Saran is the OG of doll hair. It’s sleek, slightly heavier than nylon, and was used on classic Barbies and Monster High collector lines. Its weight helps it lie flat and resist frizz, making it great for smooth styles and vintage reroots.

Why we love it:

  • Soft with a gentle shine—never too shiny
  • Resists tangling and flyaways
  • Pairs beautifully with retro dolls

Things to note:

  • Takes a bit more effort to hold curls 
  • Limited color range compared to nylon

Try it for: Restoring vintage Barbie, Monster High, or any sleek, timeless look

Kanekalon Doll Hair: Soft, Fine, and Easy to Style

Best for: Realistic textures, straight styles, gentle curls

Our doll-grade Kanekalon is the same fiber used on many Barbie playline dolls in the 1980s—and yes, it’s different from beauty store Kanekalon. This lightweight fiber is super soft and responds beautifully to boil styling.

Why we love it:

  • Extremely soft and realistic
  • Great for thick styles or teasing volume
  • Easy to curl or straighten

Things to note:

  • Fewer color options than nylon
  • Very fine texture—can be delicate during rerooting

Try it for: Natural-looking reroots, volume styles, and 80s Barbie throwbacks

Polypropylene Hair: Lightweight and Budget-Friendly

Best for: Practice reroots, restyling dolls you don’t plan to handle often

Poly hair gets a bad rap—and we get it. It’s often used in mass-produced dolls because it’s cheap. But when treated right, it’s flexible and surprisingly versatile.

Why we love it:

  • Very lightweight and flexible
  • Great for experimenting or learning to reroot
  • Can mimic Saran’s weight and Nylon’s flow

Things to note:

  • Frizzes and tangles easily
  • Needs a boil wash to feel nice
  • Not ideal for long-term play or handling

Try it for: Practice projects or rerooting budget dolls

Acetate Hair: Luxe, Plant-Based, and Exclusive to Dollyhair

Best for: Special projects, eco-conscious customizers, fire-safe reroots

Want something truly unique? Acetate is made from wood pulp and only available at Dollyhair. It’s silky, fire-resistant, and perfect for customizers looking for an elegant, plant-based option.

Why we love it:

  • Naturally fire-resistant and boil-safe
  • Ultra-silky texture with a beautiful drape
  • Eco-conscious and exclusive

Things to note:

  • More delicate during rerooting—go slow!
  • Limited color options (but oh so dreamy)

Try it for: Display dolls, premium customs, or luxurious reroots

Curly Hair & Specialty Textures

At Dollyhair, curls aren’t just an afterthought—they’re part of the magic. We offer pre-curled nylon and saran, plus specialty textures like:

  • Doll Locs – Soft, strand-like locs that add texture and structure, perfect for natural hairstyles, or statement reroots.
  • Curly Locs – Voluminous, strand-like fibers with a curl pattern—a perfect blend of loc texture and curly bounce for big and bold styles.
  • Afro S Curls – Dense, springy curls with an “S” pattern that create eye-catching volume and natural texture
  • Puff Nylon – Light, fluffy fiber with a whimsical feel, perfect for fantasy reroots or restoring puff-style ponies with vintage flair.

Whether you’re recreating natural textures or designing a fantasy OOAK doll, we’ve got the texture to match your vision.

So… What’s the Best Doll Hair?

That depends on your project!

And if you’re ever unsure, our team is here to help you choose! Just send us an email!

Ready to Reroot?

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Whether you’re a first-timer or a lifelong customizer, you’ll find everything you need right here at Dollyhair 💖

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