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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- As British Petroleum continues to try to stop the oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico, thousands of salons around the country are preparing to help clean up the mess with hair.

One salon group is collecting hair  in Colorado Springs and told FOX21 News how anyone's hair can help.

Hair that is cut and falls to the floor usually ends up in the trash. But stylists at Phenix Salon Suites and salons all over the country have started collecting the scraps to help clean up oil spills.

"Hair absorbs oil. Hair is the most absorbent product that we have that absorbs oil," said Jennifer Hadley, hair therapist and owner of studio 111 at Phenix Salon Suites.

The scraps are sent to an organization called Matter of Trust ® who then fills nylon stockings with the hair to make booms.

"They’ll set up warehouses where they’ll donate the time and then they start collecting. They also collect nylons, women’s stockings. That’s what they put them in and they call them booms and so they stuff them and then drag them through the water and collect the oil," said Hadley.

The hair can also be used to make mats which are quite effective at soaking up the oil. The mats can also be rung out and reused over and over again.

Any type of hair can be donated, even animal fur, and it doesn’t have to be a specific length.

“Just even the little tiny pieces of hair actually qualify,” said Hadley.

Phenix Salon Suites has just started collecting but is optimistic about how much hair they can gather.

"We have over 5,000 people a month that come into our properties which is just a great amount of traffic," said Jason Rivera, president of Phenix Salon Suites and Franchising®.

And say it’s a campaign they hope to continue for a long time.

"We can really make an impact, not only for this oil spill but for oil spills across the world,' said Rivera.

A stylist in Alabama came up with the idea to use hair to absorb oil spills after watching TV coverage on the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Salon Suites has two locations in Colorado Springs: 1747 Briargate Blvd. and 2130 Vickers Dr.

View a You Tube demonstration of a hair mat soaking up oil here.