Our research and resource page is dedicated to those who want to dive deeper into both the background and the science of the Hair Matters Program. Click on the links to read official research papers we collaborated on, pilot studies we conducted, educational activities, hair donations, and more.

This is the home for all of the program’s research papers, lesson plans, demo videos, FAQs, flyers, and more!

You can find our catalogue of products here

Oil-heavy water about to enter storm drain after rainfall. (In need of a hair mat!)

• NASA Test Results on hair mats – original patent now expired and open source
  
• Decontaminating Terrestrial Oil Spills: A Comparative Assessment of Dog Fur, Human Hair, Peat Moss and Polypropylene Sorbents.
• University of Technology Sydney, Australia Research on Human Hair as an Oil Spill Sorbent, see Journal of Env. Science article for published results.
• ScienceDaily Article: Oil Spill Clean-up gets Doggone Hairy
• Air Force Civil Engineering Center and Matter of Trust Research Collaboration
• Air Force Installation & Mission Support Center, Airbase Technologies Branch (ABT): Tech Transition -UNCLASSIFIED-
• Use of human hair mats for cleaning hydrocarbons in ports Study with hair mats in Valparaiso Port and use of ENBAC 906 bacterias for treatment
• Hair Fiber Absorption, Manu Kettunen, Paula Nurminen, Justiina Halonen and Mervi Koistinen (finnish)
• Inlet Guard Storm Drain Maintenance Pilot Report
• Biodegradation of Medium Chain Hydrocarbons Research Paper
• EPA Letter to Phil McCrory – oil spill hair mat inventor
• Use of hair mesh for oil spill management International Journal of Creative Research Thought
• Study of Adsorbtion of Oil from Oily Water Using Human Hair
• Adsorbtion of Natural Oil Spills Using Human Hair as a Sorbent
• Report of results using Booms devices in Lake Villarrica, Chile
• Adsorption of Oil from Waste Water by Using Human Hair Nitin W. Ingole, Sanju S. Vinchurkar, Sachin V. Dharpal 

• Hair Force Research Call, August 4th, 2022. Please email us for the password.
• Hair Force Research Call, January 17th, 2023. Please email us for the password.

• Hair mats to maintain the moisture of the soil, Study with avocados plants, Chile
• Hair mats to increase food production, study in Atacama Desert, Chile
• Modeled water balance report for corn crops with Hair Mats, Atacama Desert, Chile (spanish)
• Not felted hair, experience in public square in Providencia, Santiago, Chile
• Testing liquid fertilizer made with hair in publica square in Providencia, Santiago, Chile
• Soil Remediation report, San Francisco National Park, California
• Whendee Silver Lab for Composting Research
• Nitrogen resease of hair in the soil, Stephanie Hodgson
• Human Hair as a Nutrient Source for Horticultural Crops, Valtcho D. Zheljazkov, Juan L. Silva, Mandar Patel, Jelena Stojanovic,
  Youkai Lu, Taejo Kim, and Thomas Horgan
• Water saving report, Alpens, Catalonia
• The effect of hair mats on soil moisture and Agate Glycine max (soybean) growth rate, Dora Fields
• Earth.com, Moths More Efficient Pollinators Than Bees!
• An investigation into the effect of hair on the growth of Elodea canadensis, C. Knight
• Plant nitrogen nutrition: The roles of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, PubMed
• Wool Fertilizer, MoT Chile

• The Influence of Recycled Fibres on Water Quality Indicators, Matter of Trust & The Phyto Lab
• The use of human hair waste as a phenol biosorbent, Fawzi A Banat, Sameer Al-Asheh
• Use of Chemically Treated Human Hair Wastes for the Removal of Heavy Metal Ions from Water, Helan Zhang, Fernando Carrillo-Navarrete, Montserrat López-Mesas and Cristina Palet 1
• Novel use of human hair as fiber in concrete, Naraindas Bheela, Paul Awoyerab, Oluwatobi Alukoc, Santosh Mahrod, Amelec Viloriae, Carlos Alberto Severiche Sierra
• Sound absorption of hair mat, Idiem (spanish)
• Fire resistance of hair mat, Dictuc (spanish)
• Thermal conductivity, Idiem (spanish)
• One-Pot Extraction of Bioresources from Human Hair via a Zero-Waste Green Route
• What Antarctic seal mummies can tell you, NBC News
• Use of Hair Booms in Water Treatment Plants, MoT Chile

• Purchase Sample of Industrial Hair Mats
• Teacher / Student Oil Spill Clean Up Lesson Plan / Handout
• Cosco Busan and BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spills Photo Galleries
• FAQs for how to Donate Hair, Fur, Fleece, etc.
• What can I (my kid, classroom, scout troop..) do to help the Hair Matters program?
• Oil Spill Demo
• Tech sheet of “Hair mats as Oil Spill Sorbent”
• Tech sheet of “Hair mats for Agriculture use”
• Tech sheet of “Hair mats for Insulation in housing”

• Newest Hair Matters Flyer
• Do you have oil leaks or spills? Flyer
• Looking for a green job/business opportunities Flyer
• Pet Groomer’s Poster
• Hair Salon Poster
• Fleece and Fiber Poster
• Products’ flyer

Molting and Shedding:

Ask Nature First:  Does Mother Nature make hair mats?  We call it a “quiet cycle.”  

In springtime you see pollination as well as shedding and molting.  All of this fiber gently falls to the ground and whether it is a mother seal rubbing off a winter pelt in an estuary where seagrass starts to grow, or it a bison rubbing off fleece against a tree, or a rabbit shedding in a grassland or a bird preening out winter feathers… all of this fiber mixes with soil or seabeds providing a (somewhat matted) structure for mycelium to coat and then remediate the soil.  The fibers are hydrophobic so rain and fog go through them and into the soil.  Hair mulch provides shade and wind protection, reducing evaporation and increasing soil water retention.  Bugs and birds that like to eat plants and seeds don’t like fur and so it is a natural pest repellant.  Most importantly it attracts moths and is a slow nitrogen release into the soil.