Materials for Design

Horsehair

Body hair as a raw material for industrial and consumer applications is not as unusual as it might first seem; after all, it is one of nature’s renewable materials. Consider also, that there are many varied types and uses of hair, such as badger-hair shaving brushes, horsehair paintbrushes and, of course, sheep’s wool for yarn. Beyond this, there is also armchair upholstery, which, if you have ever seen an old one with seams that have come loose, reveal the fibrous brown horsehair construction inside.

Because there are ever more companies and reasons to search out natural, rapidly renewable materials, the exploration into materials such as hair goes into more and more depth. Hair is often combined with polymers that act as fillers, ...