Single drawn vs double drawn hair: how fullness differs

The short answer

"Drawn" describes the length mix in a bundle, not the quality of the hair. Every head of hair has strands of many lengths. Drawing removes the shorter ones so that more of what is left reaches the full length. Single drawn hair is drawn once and still has a natural taper. Double drawn hair is drawn again until most of the hair reaches the end. Super drawn goes further, until almost every strand does.

The hair inside the bundle is the same in each case. At Suvita it is South Indian temple hair, raw, virgin or Remy, with the same life of 3–5 years with proper care. What changes is how full the ends are, how much hand work went in, and therefore the cost.

What drawing is

Drawing is hand work. A worker clamps a lock of sorted hair, root end held together, onto a drawing board fitted with rows of fine steel pins. The lock is pulled through the pins in small sections; the shorter hairs stay behind in the pins and the longer hairs come away. The shorter hair is not thrown away: it is sorted again and used for shorter lengths.

Each pass removes more of the short hair from a lock. One pass gives single drawn hair. A second, more careful pass gives double drawn. Repeating until the lock is close to one length gives super drawn. Because every pass keeps the root ends together, drawing done properly does not disturb cuticle direction, which is why Remy and raw hair can be drawn to any level.

Drawing is the step where a lot of a factory's time goes. It cannot be automated well, because the hair has to stay aligned and untangled throughout.

How fullness differs from weft to tip

All three start equally thick at the weft: a 100 g bundle has 100 g of hair sewn into it, whatever the drawing. The difference is how much of that hair is still there at the bottom.

• Single drawn thins steadily from top to bottom. On a client it looks like hair that has grown out naturally: full near the head, soft and lighter at the ends.
• Double drawn stays close to its weft thickness down to the last inch or two. It looks thick all the way down, which is what most sew-in and wig clients mean when they ask for "full ends".
• Super drawn is close to one length, with blunt, heavy ends. It suits a one-length look and wig makers who want perfectly even ends, and can look too uniform for a natural blend.

Length makes the difference more visible. At 10 or 12 inches a single drawn bundle can look nearly full; at 24 inches and above the taper is obvious, because a head of hair has fewer strands at that length to begin with. The hair length chart shows where each length falls on the body.

How to measure it on a sample

Vendors use the words differently, and there is no standard for how much short hair "double drawn" allows. Do not rely on the label. Five checks on a sample bundle tell you what you have bought.

Keep the photograph from the lay-flat test. When you reorder, lay the new bundle beside the same tape measure and compare the two pictures; it is the simplest way to see whether the next batch matches the first. The full set of sample checks, including weighing, is in how to vet a hair supplier, and our journal post on requesting hair samples lists what to ask for before a sample ships.

When single drawn is the better buy

Double drawn gets most of the attention, but single drawn is often the right choice.

• A natural taper. Clients with fine or layered hair look more natural in hair that thins towards the ends, as their own does. Blunt double drawn ends can show where the extension finishes.
• Volume where it is needed. For crown work, leave-out blends and toppers, the fullness at the root matters more than the ends.
• Lower cost. Less hand work and less hair set aside per finished bundle mean single drawn costs less at the same length and weight.
• Very long lengths. Long hair is scarcer to begin with, and drawing it heavily sets aside more of it, so single drawn long lengths are easier to supply in quantity.
• Braiding and wig making. Bulk hair for braiding or ventilating is often bought single drawn, because the maker shapes the ends anyway. See single drawn bulk hair.

Choose double drawn when the client wants thick ends, for full sew-ins, blunt bobs and wigs. For the business side of stocking each, our journal post on why salons should care about drawn hair looks at it from the salon's point of view.

What drives the cost

We do not publish prices in this guide, but the reasons drawn hair costs more are worth knowing when you compare quotes:

• Hand labour. Every extra pass on the drawing board is more time per bundle.
• Hair set aside. The more short hair removed, the more sorted hair it takes to make one finished 100 g bundle at that length.
• Length. Long hair is scarcer, and heavy drawing at long lengths uses up more of it.
• Texture and processing. Steam-set patterns or colour add their own steps on top of drawing.

If two quotes for "double drawn" at the same length are far apart, ask each vendor for a lay-flat photograph of the actual bundle beside a tape measure. The difference is usually visible.

Ordering

To compare our double drawn bundles, bulk hair and weights and to place an order, go to wholesale double drawn hair. To work out how many 100 g bundles an install needs, use the bundle calculator. A sample kit lets you run the checks above before you order in volume: kits start at $99, and the $99 kit is credited against a first order above $990 placed within 30 days.