Single Drawn vs Double Drawn Hair Extensions

“Brazilian, Malaysian, Indian, and Vietnamese.” these are the types of answers that you usually get when asking your friend what kind of weave they prefer to wear. Most of the time you take that answer and attribute it to quality or grade of hair based on how their hair extensions look at the time you asked. However, a bundle’s ethnicity is not the only indicator of good quality. Good quality hair has a minimum amount of split ends and looks healthy from root to tip, and you can only achieve a full bundle from top to bottom during the drawing process. What you really should be asking when questioning someone’s hair choice is whether their hair is single or double drawn.

What Is Single Drawn Hair?

Single drawn hair is one bundle of hair taken from one donor. In layman’s terms: This hair is one person’s ponytail transformed into a bundle. The hair is cut from the top of the donor's rubber band, measured, processed, and wefted depending on whether or not you are receiving virgin hair extensions. The single drawn weft emulates the hair that most of us have. It is thick at the root with some weathering and thinning towards the ends. The hair may have some short split hairs down the length of the shaft, but it is cheaper to vend and therefore less expensive for you to purchase.

The Single Drawn Process:

Hair vendors will take one regular sized bundle or ponytail that they have cut from one head. For example, to create an 18” bundle of double drawn hair, they may do the following:

1. One bundle is measured to be between 14 - 19 inches
2. The bundle is measured individually with a measuring tape. It is then combed so that all of the hairs reach their maximum length. The hair is then tied together with a rubber band to create one bundle.
3. The vendor will more than likely cut split ends at the very tips of the hair by giving it a dusting. However, the effort to resolve the thinning at the last quarter inch before or after the wefting process will be minimal.

What Is Double Drawn Hair?

Double drawn hair simulates healthier looking hair. Using this process the vendor draws all of the hair in a bundle and makes it the same length. There is no thinning along the length of the bundle. It will appear to have a uniform thickness from the top of the weft to the tips of the bundle. To achieve this the hair is processed more than once, and this extra step equates to a higher priced bundle. Double drawn hair also tends to have multiple donors. This can be problematic, you can end up with a bundle that has hair from three different people. Although manufacturers will always try to bundle and weft hair that is a lot alike, no two donors are the same. Multiple donors could leave you with one bundle that responds differently to weather elements, heat tools, and styling techniques throughout the length of the weft.

The Double Drawn Process

Lets go over the process of double drawn hair... Hair vendors will take three small bundles or ponytails that are about the same length for double drawn hair. For example to create an 18” bundle of double drawn hair they may use the hair below: 1st bundle: Measured to be between 14 - 16 inches 2nd bundle: Measured to be between 16 - 18 inches 3rd bundle: Measured to be between 18 - 20 inches

Step by Step:

1. Each bundle is measured individually with a measuring tape and combed so that all of the hairs are the same length. They are then tied together with a rubber band to create one bundle.
2. The vendor will then go through an additional step of stretching the 1st bundle and combining it with the second bundle by brushing them into each other so that there is no variation amongst the lengths. The two bundles are then tied together as one.
3. The vendor will repeat this process with the third bundle to combine it with larger bundle just created. They will only use one single rubber band to tie them all together.
4. To resolve any split ends or straggling pieces that did not flow well into the bundle the vendor will cut blunt ends at both ends of the combined ponytail and proceed to weft the double drawn bundle.

You can get the look of double drawn hair extensions while still only processing the hair extension bundle one time. Some vendors will bluntly cut the ends of their weaves to give it a uniform look. Other vendors may source donors that have little to no split ends along their hair shaft. This process is something that you definitely would want to speak to your vendor or wholesaler about before committing to a more expensive double drawn process for all of your bundles.

The Biggest Misconception

It is not always about density... A big misconception that some stylists may have when sourcing hair is the density factor. When inquiring about the density of your hair extensions, please realize that the density of the hair does not refer to the process of a bundle being single or double drawn. In other words, the mass does not impact or indicate how many short strands are present in one bundle. Density refers to the volume of hair and can typically come from the root of the bundle. It is possible to increase the density of a bundle at the weft and not get the look you are going for once styling your hair. This is because double drawn bundles have a fullness that increasing the density can not emulate at the ends or tips of the hair extension bundle.

Which Is Better

So which is better? Well, that is up to you! Each process has its pros and cons. Private Label Extensions has managed to use a single drawn method that ensures full bundles for our customer. This helps keep our customers from having to style and maintain multiple textures in each bundle! Remember that the next time you see your hair extensions are flowing and your stylist executed the layers in your 14/16/18 inch Brazilian install. You will love how the texture of the hair responds. Also, the fullness of the bundle from root to tip will help you slay your hairstyle! Did you learn something new about single or double drawn hair? Did we clear up any misconceptions? We want to know so comment below!