REF: HAIR2/HCR

Issued: September 07

Application Study for

Product: HAIR TRESS

Objective: Comparison of the combability of a hair tress treated with different hair
products

TA Settings: Mode: Measure Force in Compression

Option: Testmaker Sequence
Test Speed: 5 mm/sec
Cycles: 10
Data Acquisition Rate: 500 pps

Accessory:
Hair Combing Rig (A/HCR) with a 30 kg load cell

Test Set-Up:
Screw the comb holder into the load cell and position the hair support frame loosely on the instrument
base with the two M6 screws and washers provided. A typical frame set up for a 300 mm combable
length hair tress is shown in figure 1.

Figure 1. Typical frame set-up for a 300 mm combable length of hair tress
Ensure the comb holder is in the horizontal position (figure 2) and move it close to the bottom stop of the
hair support frame. Ensure the Frame Top Stop is set at 360mm from the hair rig base. The Frame
Bottom Stop should be positioned 20mm above the length of the free hanging hair tress, e.g. for 300mm
tress length the Frame Bottom Stop would be positioned at 80mm as shown above. This is to ensure that
the comb passes through the entire length of the tress for complete tress characterisation.

The distance the comb moves through the hair is determined mechanically by the position of the Frame
Bottom Stop and does not have to be entered into the software TA settings.

Run the probe height calibration as described in Rig Calibration below (to mechanically mark the Frame
Top and Bottom stops which are used automatically in the test sequence). Knock the comb into its
vertical position (figure 3) and load the hair tress.

Figure 2. Comb holder in horizontal position

Figure 3. Comb holder in vertical position

The hair tress must be positioned behind the two guide rails of the comb holder (figure 3). This ensures that
the hair will be guided into the comb during the test.

Rig Calibration:
Go to TA, Calibrate, Calibrate Height and set return distance to 10 mm, the return speed to 20 mm/s and
the contact force to 50 g.
Sample Preparation:
The hair tress was washed in warm water using:
Shampoo
Shampoo + Conditioner
Shampoo + Conditioner + Hairspray (applied on blow dried hair)
Shampoo + Conditioner + Serum (applied on towel dried hair)

The hair tress was dried using a hand drier for equal lengths of time. The shampoo only tress was
combed through with a wide toothed comb (wider than the pin spacing on the fixture comb) to remove
tangles that would lead to the load cell overloading during the first cycle. When conditioner was applied a
wide tooth comb was used to comb through the conditioner. The tress was then also combed on drying,
but before application of hairspray. Hair serum was applied to towel dried hair and then combed through
before blow-drying.

Observations:
The first test cycle will start from a position 20 mm below the frame bottom stop, with the comb holder in
the vertical position. If the comb is not in this position it will move to a position of –20 mm past the
bottom stop to knock the comb into the correct start position. The comb will move up to the top stop and
the comb holder will be guided into the horizontal combing position. The comb then travels a short
distance through the hair at slow speed before commencing data collection as it moves down through the
hair tress at 5 mm/s to just above the bottom stop. Data collection is stopped and as the comb moves past
the bottom stop it is knocked into the vertical position and disengages from the ends of the hair tress.
The cycle is complete and a further 9 cycles are conducted to finish the test.

As the comb moves through the hair the force increases, this is due to increasing amounts of hair being
pulled through the comb as the cycle progresses. A peak at the end of the cycle is sometimes observed
and this is due to knots in the ends of the hair tress.
Force (g)
2000

1800

1600

1400

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0
0 100 200 300 400 500
Time (sec)

Graph 1.Typical Texture Analyser Plot for a Combing a Hair Tress

Data Analysis:
Once tests have been performed, values of particular interest for sample analysis can be automatically
obtained by a MACRO, e.g.

Clear Graph Results

Redraw
Search Forwards
Go to Min. Time
Found = 1
Target Distance 1 = 75
Target Distance 2 = 200
Change X Axis Type Distance
DO
Go to..Distance Target Distance 1 mm
Drop Anchor
Go to..Distance Target Distance 2 mm
Drop Anchor
Go to Abs. +ve Value Force Current Units X
Mark Value Force X
Gradient Active vs Active *
Mean Active *
Area Active vs Active *
Go to Peak –ve Value Distance X
IF FAIL
Found = 0
END IF
WHILE Found > 0

Graph 2. Texture Analyser Plot for a Hair Tress Treated with different hair products
 The MACRO above was used to calculate four parameters from each cycle of the test. Two anchors
were dropped at 75 mm and 200 mm distance as this corresponds to the position at which the hair has
fully engaged with the comb. These parameters were:
Peak force
Gradient
Mean force
Area or work of combing

The trend in peak force (table 1 and chart 1) between the two anchors was found to reduce as the number
of combing cycles increased. There was some fluctuation observed in the peak force levels recorded and
this is likely to be due to tangles, arising from movement of the hair tress during the test.

Test ID Peak Force (g)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Shampoo 1177 906 838 695 720 735 704 727 673 685
Shampoo and
Conditioner 827 817 773 694 689 737 717 691 703 710
Shampoo,
Conditioner and
Hairspray 3968 1247 841 825 800 721 945 855 691 800
Shampoo,
Conditioner and
Serum 764 693 763 675 647 635 595 603 601 662
Table 1. Peak Force Data for a Hair Tress

Chart 1. Peak Force Trend with Increasing Cycle Number

 The highest peak forces recorded were from the hair tress with hairspray. After two cycles the force had
returned to a level similar to the other hair tress treatments and so the effects of hairspray appear to be
limited to the first two combing cycles. The strong negative gradient of the first combing cycle on the
hairsprayed tress indicates that the resistance to combing was encountered at the roots of the hair. This is
converse to the observation of the shampoo only hair tress where the strong positive gradient shows that
the resistance was encountered at the ends of the hair. The small positive gradients seen in the hair tress
treated with serum show that most of the tangles from the ends of the hair have been removed. This is
clearly illustrated on graph 2 where the flat plateaus of force on each cycle show how effectively the
serum has removed end tangles (the absence of a peak at the end of each cycle should be noted).

Test ID Gradient (g/mm)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Shampoo 5.94 2.52 1.95 1.70 1.39 1.49 1.79 0.49 1.76 1.44
Shampoo and
Conditioner 0.05 0.83 0.61 0.19 0.31 0.51 0.72 0.49 0.30 0.87
Shampoo,
Conditioner and
Hairspray -7.82 -2.23 -0.11 0.41 0.26 0.48 1.61 2.05 0.85 1.61
Shampoo,
Conditioner and
Serum 1.33 0.06 1.86 0.54 0.09 0.23 0.26 0.39 0.32 0.72

Table 2. Gradient Data for a Hair Tress

Chart 2. Gradient Trend with Increasing Cycle Number

 The trend in mean force was similar to the results shown by peak force. This data does more effectively
show the differences in the treatments applied to the hair. The hair tress treated with serum had generally
the lowest mean force across the cycles. The conditioned hair tress should have been ranked the next lowest
but the shampoo only hair tress was recorded as the next lowest mean force. This is likely to be due the
combing required to prevent the load cell from overloading during the first cycle. The ends of the shampoo
only hair tress were very tangled and extensive combing was required to allow the test to be conducted on
this hair tress.

This experience highlights the importance for a proper hair tress preparation procedure. A preparation
procedure would specify the method of washing, duration of combing and method and duration of drying.
A good hair tress preparation procedure (and of course execution of that procedure) should allow the tests to
be correctly ranked.

Test ID Mean Force (g)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Shampoo 775 738 692 598 644 638 610 654 596 594
Shampoo and
Conditioner 761 712 715 661 667 700 677 652 643 639
Shampoo,
Conditioner and
Hairspray 3005 1082 797 795 742 691 765 714 658 692
Shampoo,
Conditioner and
Serum 670 642 665 633 591 594 574 569 557 599

Table 3. Mean Force Data for a Hair Tress

Chart 3. Mean Force Trend with Increasing Cycle Number

 The work of combing data followed a similar pattern to the mean force and is a useful compliment. This
parameter showed more clearly that the serum treated hair required the least work to comb.

Test ID Area – Work of Combing (g.mm)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Shampoo 96846 92247 86512 74706 80445 79725 76254 81692 74546 74231
Shampoo and
Conditioner 95146 88938 89418 82673 83345 87505 84596 81544 80399 79824
Shampoo,
Conditioner and 37560 13526
Hairspray 3 6 99591 99334 92720 86316 95580 89274 82222 86453
Shampoo,
Conditioner and
Serum 83705 80202 83062 79079 73886 74238 71777 71113 69608 74844

Table 4. Work of Combing Data for a Hair Tress

Chart 4. Work of Combing Trend with Increasing Cycle Number

Of the four parameters used here to analyse the effect of hair products on the combability of a hair tress the
peak force and gradient are the most effective at differentiating. In addition these parameters allow useful
interpretation of the results with respect the location of tangling and where the products are having the most
effect. It would be recommended that mean force and area (work of combing) are also used as these
parameters give more general data that can be used to complement the gradient and peak force data.

Only one hair tress treated with each of the four hair treatment listed above was tested here. No claim is
made in this report over the repeatability and reproducibility of this test method and fixture. Further work is
due to be carried out on more human hair extension tresses. Although it is likely that due to the amount of
hair required to conduct repeat testing, the hair tresses will come from different individuals (heads of hair).
It is thought that the treatments used by hair extension manufacturers will sufficiently normalise the hair and
so reduce any variation between hair samples to acceptable levels.

Monofilament hair extensions have been trialled for repeat hair testing and due to the nature of the
monofilament hair to tangle this type of extension did not give either repeatable or comparable results to the
human hair samples tested here.

Notes:

The method used in this report could be extended to other hair and synthetic hair materials. However,
thicker hair may require a different comb design and a larger capacity load cell.

To vary the number of combing cycles click on TA Settings and adjust the Count number to the required
number of cycles.

To vary the combing speed click on TA Settings and adjust the Test Speed.

It is important that the hair tress clamp is positioned above the top stop. This prevents the guide horns on
the comb from touching the hair tress clamp which could cause the loadcell to underload. If an
underload occurs simply raise the hair tress clamp by loosening the clamping screws and sliding the hair
tress clamp further up the rails. Tighten the screws into position. The height must also be recalibrated
against the bottom stop as this is lost when the instrument over or underloads.

The hair tress must be retained between the guide rails throughout all of the cycles and therefore must
hang lower than the bottom stop.

The maximum hanging length of the hair tress must be at least 60mm above the base. This ensures that
the comb clears the hair tress at the end of each cycle. If the hair tress is too long or is very tangled it
may not be released from the comb at the end of a cycle. If this happens, gently free the hair tress
manually to minimise the introduction of tangles on the next cycle.

N.B. This application study has been designed for a specific sample(s) and it therefore must be noted that any deviation from this
sample in terms of sample size, shape, formulation etc. may cause large deviations or indeed may require a different testing
method.

Copyright 2007 Stable Micro Systems Ltd. All Rights Reserved

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http://www.stablemicrosystems.com
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