This colossal hairball, named Hoss, was created by Steve Warden (USA).
Hoss weighs a hefty 102.12 kg (225.13 lbs) and holds the record for the largest ball of human hair, beating the previous record by over 25 kg (55 lbs).
Its weight is equivalent to 300 cans of soup or 15 bowling balls!
Hair stylist Steve Warden owns and operates a salon named Blockers in Cambridge, Ohio, USA, and was inspired by his son to create Hoss.
“I got more spiritual as I’ve aged and [I] wanted to leave some kind of legacy when I’m gone, and it hit me. I’m going to build a giant hairball.” – Steve Warden
Steve set to work and transformed part of his salon into a hairball studio.
“I took a corner of my salon and I built a hole into the side of the wall and into the basement [and] made a chute.”
After collecting the hair for a while, it was finally time for Steve to mold it.
“When it came time to actually take all the hair that I saved and actually form it into a ball, I went to the hardware store and I bought several different types of glue.”
“I literally just put gloves on, grabbed a bunch of the hair and kind of formed it into a ball. The first ball was about the size of a baseball.”
With Steve’s dedication, Hoss continued to grow and was eventually featured in the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! book.
“From there, it was possibly going to go into a museum and it was pretty much going to end there.”
But little did Steve know, Hoss’ journey was only just beginning.
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! decided to put Hoss on display at their stand at Orlando Comic Con, and encouraged attendees to add their own hair to the humongous ball.
“[They] put a little note up: ‘donate a piece of your hair and be a part of the Ripley’s display forever’,” Steve explained.
“It just became a thing, it kind of blew up. People liked the interaction.”
“Even though it may sound silly on one end, you know, ‘this is a hairball, what’s the big deal?’. When people donate to it they just feel empowered. They feel like they’re a part of something else.”
So, Hoss continued to tour around, gathering more contributions to its ever-expanding circumference along the way.
“That’s one of the most fascinating and cool things about it. It’s everchanging – it keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger everywhere it goes.”
Hoss soon attracted the attention of Guinness World Records, who believed that it could break the long-standing record for the largest ball of human hair.
Steve then started to receive donations via post, with people far and wide wanting to contribute to Hoss and help it break the world record.
Hoss’ record-breaking weight of 102.12 kg (225.13 lbs) was confirmed at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Orlando on 13 December 2021.
“It actually has changed my life,” says Steve.
“I did it because of the love for my children and my future grandchildren, and just to show that you know, if you have a crazy idea, don’t worry about what people are thinking, just do it.”
The previous record, which stood for over 13 years, was held by barber Henry Coffer (USA) from Charleston, Missouri, who passed away on 2 March 2014.
His ball of human hair weighed 167 lb (75.7 kg), was 4 ft (1.2 m) high and had a 14-ft (4.26-m) circumference.
He gathered many hair clippings from the 50-plus years he worked as a barber, and used them for many thing including patching potholes and gardening.
