Best Conditions for Hair System Tape Installs

When it comes to running the salon, you are the pros. There is so much that goes into creating the service you provide for each client. But spending time testing new tapes in the lab with chemists and product engineers, why would that responsibility fall on you? After all, that’s why you’ve got us. So, what are the best conditions for hair system tape installs?

 

At Walker Tape, we provide the science end of tape so you can focus on the science end of the salon. But since we do spend an extraordinary amount of our day experimenting with adhesives, we have a handful of tips that could prove handy around the shop. We thought we’d share them with you to best see how to potentially incorporate any of the following.

 

Luckily, tape offers us an easy acronym to remember these tips: TAPE

 

• Time
• Application
• Pressure
• Environment

 

Time: the best waiting intervals for a tape’s full strength

 

Tape takes a bit of time to build to its ultimate bond potential. This is not unique to Walker Tape. All tapes require similar time periods before they reach full strength. It’s simply the inevitable result of a tape’s chemistry. For the adhesive on the tape to form a bond to any surface, that bond requires time to form.

 

Since our tapes are made of modified acrylics (and one natural rubber adhesive in the case of German Brown), they strengthen faster than other options. In an hour after install, our tapes are already at 75% of their full strength. But after one day, their bond power is somewhere between 90-100%. 

 

That’s why we suggest encouraging your clients to wait 24 hours before putting extra stress on the hair system. These activities include things like showering, swimming, and working out. Although our tapes at 75% are still incredibly strong, it’s better to play it safe.

 

But hold on, who said we couldn’t cheat science a little bit?

 

At Walker Tape, we’ve created a scalp protector that makes it so you can offer your clients the choice to get right back to their lives.  Use Max Hold Sport on your clients, and they can swim, shower, and work out immediately after install without waiting 24 hours.

 

Application: the best tips to maximizing a tape’s performance

 

Tip #1: Wear gloves. Our fingers leave traces of oily residue on what they touch. Normally, it’s such a small amount that we can get by without really being aware of it. But in the tape world, even the smallest amount of skin oils or skin cells on a surface can mess with the results. Gloves allow us to handle hair systems and our client’s skin without compromising a tape’s performance.

 

Tip #2: Avoid touching the tapes adhesive. Even with gloves on, try as best you can to avoid touching the tape’s sticky sides. Any stickiness you touch can potentially alter and maybe even compromise that portion of the tape.

 

Tip #3: Wash your client’s bio hair with Bond Breaker Shampoo. While too strong for daily use, Bond Breaker Shampoo is made to remove leftover product from your client’s hair and scalp. That leftover product is what the tape will stick to, instead of the surface of your client’s scalp that it’s meant to stick to. Bond Breaker Shampoo ensures you know there’s no product left on your client’s scalp that could affect the hold of tape.

 

Tip #4: Clean your client’s skin and hair system with 99% Alcohol. This removes dead skin, dust, oils, shed hair, anything that could be lingering on a hair system or a client’s skin. The principle here is simple: tapes attach to whatever is on the surface of the skin or hair system. If there is dirt or dead skin or dust or oils, then instead of attaching to the skin, the tape attaches to those loose things on top of the skin. If the surface isn’t clean, then we’re basically turning the tape into a lint roller. 

 

Pressure: the best way to activate the tape

 

Firmly press the hair system to your client’s head. This step is absolutely essential to achieving the best conditions for the tape to succeed. The pressure activates the tape to help ensure the hold is solid and the tape’s bond is getting stronger. 

 

In the tape world, tapes are also called pressure-sensitive adhesives (or PSAs). This is simply because you don’t need to add heat or water or anything else to get it to stick. You just need to add a little bit of pressure.

 

Environment: the best places for a tape’s success

 

Tape is like Goldilocks. If a place is too cold or too hot, then tapes can be affected. In the cold, before application, tapes can harden into more of a glassy substance. In the heat, before application, tapes can melt. Drastic temperature changes from hot to cold can also affect the tape’s ultimate performance. Considering these points, we suggest applying tape in room temperature (64-72°F / 18-22°C). 

 

Also, to help ensure surfaces stay clean for application, we recommend installing hair systems in a place that’s ventilated with clean air. If there’s a lot of dust, then it can be harder to make sure that dust stays out from between the tape and your client’s skin.

 

Last point, before application, a tape’s adhesives are affected by sunlight. So, we’d recommend staying on the safe side of things and avoid installing systems directly exposed to the sun. But we have an entire blog on storage tips that goes more into this point. 

 

TL;DR

• Our infographic’s got you covered 

 

Ready to test some of these tips in your salon? Enjoy Walker Tape’s entire line of hair replacement tapes for the best price by becoming a wholesale customer today!