Taking proper care of your hair extensions is imperative and is something you should take very seriously. If you neglect your hair very quickly, these beautiful extensions won’t look so nice anymore, and you must replace them. That means spending more money and time. In case you haven’t bought hair extensions yet, please refer to hair extensions buying tutorial that goes from A to Z.
To avoid this situation and maintain your extensions in a pristine state, you simply need to follow a couple of rules. These tips will also extend the lifespan of your extensions significantly. So, if you want to get the most out of your hair tresses, follow our advice!
This guide works on all real hair extension types. Including tape-in human hair extensions, flip-ins, i-tip, stick tip, u-tip, keratin, clip-in hair extensions, micro-loops and wefts. Also, we note the differences if some of these tips need to be approached slightly differently (for cold or hot fusion hair extensions)!
There are some differences along the way, but we cover them all.
Quick Access
- Brushing hair extensions
- Tangling and shedding
- Dyeing and curling hair extensions
- Washing hair extensions
- Drying and styling hair extensions
- Storing hair extensions
- The lifetime of hair extensions
- Repairing damaged hair extensions
- Homemade remedies for dry hair
Combing your hair is one of the most crucial parts of maintenance and aftercare. It may not seem as important, but if you don’t brush your strands regularly, you will experience matting and tangling. That means your extensions will not look good and will quickly become unwearable.
To extend the life of your extensions, you should learn how to brush them properly and what kind of comb to use.
Types of Hair Brushes
When you brush hair extensions, a double-row steel toothcomb is always better than a plastic or wooden one. These are known to damage hair strands. However, that’s not the best choice anyway! If you want to use a brush, you can choose from a couple of ones.
Loop Brush
This is a default choice that every hairstylist or hair store will recommend. The loop brush is used when you need less tension, which means that is great with all hair extension types, even synthetic or curly ones.
Bristle Brush or Boar Bristle Brush
The nylon bristle brush is used to do massive detangling. So, any time that you have human hair that is pre-bonded or in fine strands, this is a great brush to use. To jump on the bandwagon, companies now market such brushes as “made for hair extensions.” Often featuring dubious claims.
How to Brush Hair Extensions?
You can brush your extensions while your hair is wet or dry. The process is very similar and interchangeable. The general rule is to be very gentle and careful. You should under no circumstance brush aggressively or pull on the strands! This can lead to damage to both the extensions and your natural locks.
The brushing process should be repeated several times a day, and you should not forget to do this. If you comb it regularly, tangling will be a thing of the past, and you won’t need to buy new extensions every few months.
Dry-brushing is nothing to write about. Just treat it as your hair. The other method is trickier.
Brushing Wet Hair Extensions
- To brush your hair while it’s wet, you should first towel dry it after washing. Please don’t rub it aggressively, as it’s known to cause further tangles or matting. Just tap it gently. You can also use this brushing technique in the shower if you have some conditioner in your hair.
- After towel-drying hair, spray in a leave-in conditioner. It will not affect the bonds of the extensions. Instead, keep the hair soft and manageable.
- Run your finger through your locks to see if you have a lot of knots. Usually, what women do is find a knot and yank at it. The result? Hair extensions either fall out or pull out their strands, something you want to avoid.
- Take small sections of the hair and start from the bottom. Gently untangle it piece by piece. Always hold the section of the hair with your hand and continue from bottom to top. Just be patient, and your hair will be perfectly brushed soon!
Let’s be honest; all extensions tangle, no matter how expensive or high-quality. Your natural hair also tangles, so it’s only logical that extensions do the same thing. Although you can never avoid that completely, you can do something to reduce the tangles!
The same goes for shedding! Your natural hair sheds about 100 strands a day. Even though extensions are attached to a weft when you brush through them, wash them, or style them, they will shed at least a little bit. Therefore, any extensions, whether they’re clipped in or the ones you have bonded in your hair, all have a lifespan anywhere from three months to a year or longer. It depends on how you wear, style, and wash them.
Proper Brushing Techniques
The first tip is brushing, of course. So, always carry a comb in your bag. That way, when you go to the bathroom, you can quickly brush your locks. See the first section of this guide for more tips about brushing.
Sleeping Correctly with Hair Extensions
How do you sleep with hair extensions? Tie your hair in a ponytail or make a braid. This method will prevent the strands from moving around too much and creating knots. The hair’s friction creates tangling, which can be avoided by tying it down. And, of course, if you have clip-in extensions, always take them out before going to bed; there is no need to sleep with them.
A detailed guide that covers sleeping with hair extensions can be found on our blog.
Using Proper Products or No Products
Lastly, use high-quality products that will help you with preventing tangling. So many are available so you can find something that suits your needs. We have written an article that covers more than eight.
To prevent shedding, you shouldn’t use many products or wash your hair often. Most of the time, you don’t need any products on your hair; they are only for special occasions or nights out. Therefore, the fewer products you use on your hair, the less often you need to wash it.
Since AiryHair extensions are made of the natural human hair, you can dye and curl them. However, our hair has been processed to even out the color, and technically, it is no longer considered virgin hair. Therefore, we don’t recommend doing that alone, as one needs a very skilled hairstylist. Inappropriate treatment can and will make hair dry, resulting in falling out and tangled hair.
If your hair does not match the extension’s color, you can dye your natural locks instead. This is a much easier and safer, and you don’t have to worry about ruining your extensions. You can get advice about what hair color to use from your stylist.
Curing or straightening your locks should be done as little as possible if you have extensions, mostly because the heat could damage them over time. However, occasional use of hot tools should be fine, and it’s a good way to blend in your extensions better. Matching the texture of your natural strands will result in a seamless mix, and nobody will ever notice that you have extensions.
Now, this topic has tons of misinformation online, be it from “qualified” hairstylists or YouTube fashionistas.
How Often Should You Wash Extensions?
Despite what you might think, you should wash your extensions very rarely. You wash your natural hair so often because oils come from the roots of the hair and make it greasy. Extensions don’t have a scalp, so nothing makes them oily or dirty. That happens only if you use a lot of products on it.
We generally recommend that you wash AiryHair extensions only after 30 wear cycles. That’s once a month if you wear them every day. That might not seem like enough, but trust us, it is optimum.
How to Properly Wash Hair Extensions
Wait 24-48 hours after fusion attachment before wetting them to ensure proper adherence. It would help if you got shampoo everywhere, especially around the area of your scalp where the braids are. Scrub lightly to make it perfectly greasy-free and clean. Because of the braids and extensions, the scalp area may be hard to reach, but if you wait for a couple of moments, the shampoo will get in there. Don’t forget to wash your ends as well. Rinse thoroughly because shampoo residue can have the same effect as dirty hair.
Saltwater and chlorine can also damage your extensions, so protect them under a swim cap. Washing your hair right after every refreshing dip will remove any harmful chemicals that infiltrate your cap.
Washing real human hair extensions like clip-in or flip-in is even easier. Mix a little shampoo in lukewarm water. Soak extensions for 10 minutes without swirling them in the solution to avoid tangling. Rinse under cold running water to lock in moisture. Wring out excess liquid gently, and that’s it.
What Hair Products to Use?
We ask our customers to use a high-quality, mild shampoo. You should be careful when choosing which products to use because some might be wrong. Anything that has a lot of different chemicals or is very harsh on the hair is not good. The more natural the shampoo is, the better. You want something that will moisturize and revive the hair and give it shine. A good example of mild shampoo is baby shampoo.
It is also recommended that you use a leave-in conditioner suitable for your hair texture. It will restore your hair’s shine and keep it healthy for a long time. You should avoid other products like hair spray or too much oil because that will require you to wash your strands more often, which is not good in the long run.
Now that we have learned to wash hair extensions properly, the next step is drying.
How to Blow Dry Hair Extensions?
Although you are recommended to leave your hair to air dry naturally, sometimes you don’t have time for that. In that case, use a blow dryer at a low temperature and apply a heat protectant.
It’s not as simple as you might think, and with hair extensions applied, rules change.
- First, concentrate on removing moisture from the roots of the hair, where the extensions are attached.
- Section off your hair in four parts and clip it away.
- Take one section of the hair and place a round brush underneath it and the nozzle of the blow dryer over the hair.
- Make sure that the airflow is facing down, and the blow-dryer should follow the brush down to the ends of the hair.
- Repeat this process on all sections until your locks are dried.
Styling Hair Extensions
Since extensions are genuine human hair, they can burn as quickly as your own. Use a thermal protectant spray with hot tools before styling to prevent frizz and heat damage. Set your curling or flat iron to about 350 degrees. Some tools can reach sweltering readings up to 500 degrees, but don’t let yours exceed 380. Instead of pausing your iron on a clamped section, let it glide through strands quickly to avoid scorching effects.
This applies only to extensions that are non-permanent, like clip-ins and flip-ins. When not wearing tresses, please store hair extensions in the original package and put them in in a cool, well-ventilated place. To use them again, take them out and shake gently. You should also brush your extensions before storing them and tie them into a ponytail.
Hair extensions should be completely dry before being stored. Extensions that are stored wet are much more likely to break down and have mildew buildup. Avoid just taking your wefts and sticking them into a box. Be more careful with this process to have nice hair when you take it out.
With proper care, hair extensions can last up to 6 months. The lifetime of hair extensions is determined by you. That’s why you should take the time to do the maintenance. This will save you a lot of money and time.
Some many tutorials and videos explain extensions aftercare in detail. That way, you can find a routine that fits you and your type of extensions best. There is no excuse not to do it. To prolong the lifetime of your hair extensions, we recommend buying two or more sets of the same item. This will allow you to treat them properly without rushing and/or damaging hair.
If you don’t take care of your extensions properly, don’t despair. There still might be a chance to restore them to shape. If you neglected them and didn’t brush or wash them, they’re probably in a bad state and not wearable.
The Casual Method
Repairing damaged hair extensions takes a lot of time and effort. For extensive tips on how to fix messy hair, be sure to check our article on this very subject. Still, here is one of the simplest ways to repair extension damage.
- Use a tangle teaser and a loop brush to eliminate all the knots and tangles. Be very thorough and patient.
- Place your extensions in warm water and add some conditioner.
- Leave it overnight, which should moisturize extensions.
- Take hair extensions out of the water and dry them with a cotton or paper towel.
- Follow hair brushing tips and comb the hair. Let it dry overnight.
Many women who bought from our competitors complain of dry or damaged hair extensions. This can be a result of poor quality, dyeing hair often, too much exposure to the sun, hot tools, or simply not properly caring for hair.
Of course, everybody would like to have perfect, shiny, healthy, and voluminous hair, but sometimes that’s not the case. You can buy many different products to treat your dry extensions and even some procedures your hairdresser offers. However, those are often very expensive. That’s why many people turn towards more natural, homemade remedies that are much cheaper. So, if you want to restore the health of your hair, look at these ingredients! You can use these to make your homemade remedies, and your extensions will be restored in no time!
Olive Oil
Olive oil is the go-to base ingredient for DIY homemade recipes for hair. It is rich in antioxidants, vitamins A and E, that help combat DHC. it’s the hormone that wears down the hair follicles and leads to hair loss. Overall, olive oil helps protect keratin, which is a natural protein that makes up most of the hair, and it also helps with moisturizing your hair.
Olive oil can be used as a mask that you rinse out, or you can heat it and make a hot olive oil mask. You can also put a few drops on your split ends to help with dryness and styling. Olive oil can also be used as a base for your homemade remedies! Lastly, you can add other ingredients to make your hair mask.
Jojoba Oil
Jojoba oil is somewhat like your hair’s natural oil. It protects the scalp from irritation and bacteria. Plus, jojoba oil is full of saturated and mono-saturated fats for ultimate moisturizing! Especially if you heat it for a hot oil hair or extensions mask treatment. It also fights dandruff and promotes hair growth.
Eggs
Another popular home remedy for damaged hair is raw eggs. They are loaded with protein, which helps hair grow and can also help straighten extensions. Eggs in your hair is one of those treatments that you want to be sure to completely wash out.
Mayonnaise
Sure, you can mix previous ingredients, eggs, and oils to create the perfect homemade remedy for your hair. However, you can also use natural mayonnaise because it already includes all those ingredients and many more.
You get a ton of benefits with only one product you have at home. Mayonnaise is like a classic hair mask because it provides deep nourishment. It softens strands and can even help protect against the future use of harmful styling products. Mayonnaise is full of omega fatty acids, which are good for moisturizing.
Furthermore, vinegar can help restore hair’s pH balance, which helps promote overall hair health. Simply apply natural mayonnaise to your hair, let it sit for 30 minutes, and thoroughly wash it out.
Avocados
We all know how tasty avocados are! However, can you use them for your hair extensions? Avocados are full of many vitamins like A, D, E, and B6, plus proteins, amino acids, and many other healthy substances.
Avocados can help moisturize hair, promote new growth, prevent dandruff, and revitalize extensions. Simply mash them up, add olive oil or jojoba oil, and you’ve got an awesome homemade remedy for your extensions.
Honey
This is another great ingredient that is usually mixed with other ingredients to create a healthy treatment for damaged hair. Honey is full of vitamins and minerals, so it adds shine and increase hair volume. It can even strengthen hair follicles and has antibacterial properties.
Yogurt
This is another healthy ingredient for your homemade remedy. Yogurt can be a good base in which you can add all other ingredients. It is full of different vitamins, protein, and moisture-friendly properties. Yogurt can help nourish your extensions and make them shiny.
Conclusion
Taking care of Remy hair extensions is not that hard! Make these a part of your daily routine, and your locks will last you months. Use a mild shampoo with a high-quality, leave-in hair conditioner. Let the hair dry naturally, but if you must use a blow dryer, blow-dry the hair on the lowest setting. When storing your hair extension, brush it out first, use a case, and don’t store the hair wet
