KENYA STANDARD       DKS 2173: 2008 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Hair extensions — Specification  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT       Second  Edition 2018  
 
 
KENYA BUREAU OF STANDARDS  
 KENYA STANDARD       DKS 2173:2008  
 
© KEBS 20 18 — All rights reserv ed          ii  
TECHNICAL  COMMITTEE REPRESENTATION  
 
The following organizations were represented on the Technical Co mmittee.  
 
Department of Government Chemists  
Ministry of Health  
Mikes’ Beauty Salon and Barber Shop  
Nursing Council of Kenya  
L’Oreal East Africa Ltd  
Consumer International Network (CIN)  
Sana Africa Ltd  
Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH)  
Kenyatta University (K U) 
Kenya Bureau of Standards — Secretariat  
 
 
 
 
 
 
REVISION OF KENYA STANDARDS  
 
In order to keep abreast of progress in industry, Kenya Standards shall be regularly reviewed. Suggestions 
for improvements to published standards, addressed to the Managing Dire ctor, Kenya Bureau of Standards  
are welcome.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
© Kenya Bureau of Standards, 2018  
 
Copyright. Users are reminded that by virtue of section 6 of the Copyright Act, Cap. 130 of the laws of Kenya, copyright 
subsists in all Kenya Standards and except as provided under section 7 of this Act, no Kenya Standard produced by 
Kenya Bureau of Standards may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system in any form or transmitted by any means 
without prior permission in writing from the Managing Director.  
 
 
 KENYA STANDARD       DKS 2173:2008  
 
© KEBS 20 18 — All rights reserv ed          iii  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hair extensions — Specification  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
KENYA BUREAU OF STANDARDS (KEBS)  
 
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 KENYA STANDARD       DKS 2173:2008  
 
© KEBS 20 18 — All rights reserv ed          iv  
Foreword  
 
Kenya Bureau of Standards is a national standards body (NSB). The work of preparing Kenya Standards is 
normally carried out through national technical committees. Each member bod y interested in a subject for 
which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. 
National organizations, governmental and non -governmental, in liaison with KEBS, also take part in the 
work.  
Kenya Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the KS ISO/IEC  Directives, Part  2. 
The main task of technical committees is to prepare National Standards. Draft Kenya Standards adopted by 
the technical committees are circulated to the technical committee  members for balloting. Publication as a 
Kenya Standard requires approval by at least 2/3 of the members casting a vote.  
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent 
rights. KEBS shall not be  held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  
This Kenya Standard was prepared by Technical Committee KEBS/TC  140, Beauty Services.  
A hair weave is human or artificial hair utilized for the integration with one's natural hair. Weaves can  
alter one's appearance for long or short periods of time by adding further hair to one's natural hair or 
by covering the natural hair all together with human or synthetic hairpieces. Weaving additional 
human or synthetic pieces can enhance one's hair by g iving it volume, length and adding color without 
the damage of chemicals or adopting a different hair texture than that of their own. However, hair loss 
can occur either along the front hairline or above the ears due to the wearing of specific hair styles for 
a prolonged period of time, such as weaves. Such hair loss in known as  traction alopecia . 
 
While the first edition was restrictive to synthetic hair, this edition ex pands the scope to include both 
the natural hair as well as natural human hair. Being a trade document, traders found it easy to 
circumvent the former edition hence sold synthetic hair extensions as natural human hair. The current 
edition takes cognizance of this and has included test methods to differentiate synthetic hair from 
natural human hair.  
 
In the development of this standard, assistance has been derived from  
 
US 1532, Synthetic Hair Extensions - Specification  
 
This assistance is hereby acknowledge d. 
 
  
KENYA STANDARD        CD 15/SERV/2013  
 
 
 © KEBS 20 18 — All rights reserved           1  
Hair extensions — Specification   
 
 
 
 
1  Scope  
 
This Kenya Standard specifies the requirements and methods of test for hair extensions for use on humans  
 
2 Terms and definitions  
 
2.1  
wigs  
artificial covering of synthetic hair worn on the head for personal adornment as, part of a costume, or to 
conceal baldness. Wigs are hair strands with tips stitched together and encapsulated with a confortable 
backing fabric, elastic in nature, and which is not visible from outside. It is meant to be worn over wh ole or 
part of the scalp. The wig weaving is done using lace caps.  
 
2.2  
weave  
hair strands with tips stitched together in a linear manner. They usually vary in length, size and style and are 
meant to enhance or cover the natural hair or cover baldness  
 
2.3  
braids and hair pieces  
hair strands, usually loose in nature, used as attachments in order to elongate the hair. They may be wavy, 
curly, or straight and can either be used with hot water or cold (room temperature) water to style them.  
 
NOTE A braid  (also called plait) is a complex structure or pattern formed by intertwining three or more strands of flexible 
human hair.  
 
3 Classification  
 
Hair extensions shall be classified into three broad categories:  
 
a) wigs;  
b) weaves; and  
c) braids and hair pieces.  
 
 
4 Requirements  
Hair extensions shall comply with the requirements specified in Table 1 when tested in accordance with the 
methods specified therein.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DKS 2173:2008  
 
© KEBS 201 8 — All rights reserved           2  
Table 1 — Requirements for hair extensions  
S/NO.  Characteristic  
 Requirement  Method o f test  
1 Shine test  Free and straw like -
showing that resembles 
natural hair  -  
2 Freedom from unwanted 
matter  Free from any foreign 
matter or fibre or lice or 
fleece and moulds  Visual/microscopic  
3 Texture  Either standard (slight 
wave, body wave) or curly 
(tight wave, loose curl)  Visual  
4 Stitching for weaves and 
wigs, min.  Lock stitch of seven 
stitches per centimetre  -  
5 No of stitches per cm, min.  3  Annex A  
6 Mass, g, min.  Weave strand: 138 ± 0.5  
Wigs: 93 ± 10  
Braids: 137 ± 0.200 or  
              75 ± 0.500  Annex B  
7 Strand diameter, mm  1 ± 0.200  Annex C  
8 Linear density (in tex. g/1 
000 m), min.  4.00  Annex D  
9 Differentiation test  
(Fibre Burn test)  It burns briefly with an 
orange flame and then 
chars leaving a dark ash 
that turns to powder 
when crushed.  
The odour is of burning 
flesh or burning feathers.  Annex E  
 
5 Packaging and labeling   
 
5.1 Packaging  
 
The hair extensions bundle shall be packed in suitable materials/bags that will prevent damaging of the 
contents duri ng normal handling, transportation and storage.  
 
The retail package shall be such that it allows the buyer/consumer to clearly see the contents either wholly or 
partly.  
 
5.2 Labeling   
 
The following information shall be legibly and indelibly marked on ea ch bundle package:  
a) name and address of the manufacturer;  
b) registered trade mark, if any;  
c) type of hair extension;  
d) the words "Heat Sensitive, or “For hot water use”, and so on;  
e) batch number or code;  
f) country of origin or manufacture;  
g) colour;  DKS 2173:2008  
 
© KEBS 201 8 — All rights reserved           3 h) pictorial of the contents; and  
i) the words, " Synthetic hair extensions".  DKS 2173:2008  
 
© KEBS 201 8 — All rights reserved           4 Annex A  
(normative)  
Stitch width test  
A.1 General  
This test is intended to ensure that strands of hair do not come out during the normal combing exercise. This 
is usually determined by the manner in which stitching is done.  
It measures the total width per given length.     
A.2 Apparatus  
Metre rule  
 
A.3 Procedure  
Lay the weave on a flat surface and measure the width of the stitch. Count the stitches in 1 cm leng th. 
Repeat five times and obtain an average.  
 
A.4 Reporting  
Express the result to the nearest whole number.  DKS 2173:2008  
 
© KEBS 201 8 — All rights reserved           5  
Annex B  
(informative)  
Mass  
B.1 Apparatus  
Electronic weighing balance , with accuracy of up to 0.001  
 
B.2 Procedure  
Place the strands of hair  shall be on an electronic weighing balance which has been calibrated and weighed.  
Take up to five readings and calculate the average.  
 
B.3 Results  
Express the result in grams.  DKS 2173:2008  
 
© KEBS 201 8 — All rights reserved           6  
Annex C  
(normative)  
Strand diameter  
C.1 General  
The objective of this t est is to ensure that the hair extensions are not having diameters too large than those 
of the natural African hair.  
 
C.2 Apparatus  
Projection microscope (CH-9435)  
 
C.3 Procedure  
Take a strand of hair and place it under the projection microscope and pr oceed to take the readings in 
accordance with the manufacturer's manual. Repeat the procedure for at least five strands and calculate the 
average.  
 
C.4 Results  
Express the result obtained in the fo llowing manner:  
 
Strand diameter = x mm  DKS 2173:2008  
 
© KEBS 201 8 — All rights reserved           7  
Annex D  
(norm ative)  
Linear density test  
D.1 Instruments  
 
D.1.1 Weighing balance with an appropriate capacity and a sensitivity equal to 1 part in 1 000 of mass or 
the specimen to be weighed  
 
D.1.2 Metre rule  
 
D.2 Procedure  
 
D.2.1 Remove a strand from the bundle of  hair and lay it flat on a flat surface.  
 
D.2.2 Measure the length using a metre rule.  
 
D.2.3 Weigh the strand and record the mass in grams.  
 
D.3 Calculation  
Calculate the linear density as follows:  
 
Linear density = 
  
 
where,  
 
m is the m ass, in grams, of the strand; and  
L is the length in metres.  DKS 2173:2008  
 
© KEBS 201 8 — All rights reserved           8  
Annex E  
(normative)  
Differentiation or Fibre Burn Test  
E.1 Introduction  
Most obvious way to determine if hair is real or fake is to conduct a microscopic test to find out the 
chemical compos ition of the extension hair.   However, since most of us do not have a microscope 
readily available or have a degree in forensic science this is probably not a suitable option?  
 
E.2 How to Test if Hair is Human or Synthetic?  
 
The textile industry conducts w hat is called a “ fibre burn” test to identify the content. The same test 
can be done on hair.  
1. Remove single strands of hair from different areas of the questionable unit.   
2. Hold a single strand with tweezers and use a lighter to keep a steady flame.  
 
Note:  Do not use matches as they will mask the odor.  
 
3.  Pay attention to the odor, ember and flame.  
 
E.3 Results  
E.3.1 Human hair  is a protein fiber that burns with a small flickering flame and will not continue to 
burn unless you hold the flame continuously to the strand. It burns briefly with an orange flame and 
then chars leaving a dark ash that turns to powder when crushed. The odor is of burning flesh or 
burning feathers.  
Synthetic fibers are either nylon or polyester and each burns quite differently.  
 
E.3.2 Nylon fibers  burn briefly but rapidly and then melts. It has a sparkling flame that has a blue 
base and orange tip. The ash is like hard amber beads. The odor smells like boiling green 
vegetables or burning celery.  
 
E.3.3 Polyester fibers  burn and melt  quite rapidly at the same time. It has an orange sputtery flame 
with black smoke and gives off a sweetish odor. The ash drips and is sticky to the touch before 
forming into hard black beads.  Remember to burn test each fiber separately as your piece may 
contain a blend of both human hair and synthetic . 
 
E.4 Report  
 
 
 DKS 2173:2008  
 
© KEBS 201 8 — All rights reserved           9 If the hair burns with a white smoke and turns to ash, it indicates it is human hair and no synthetic 
fibers have been added to the bundle. If the hair burns with a black smoke and turns into a sticky 
texture, it indicates that synthetic fibers have been added to the hair bundle.