Do you have old sew-in wefts or tape-ins that you wish to use for more of a temporary solution for adding length and volume to your hair? We all know that extensions are a long term commitment and can get pricey. Instead of throwing out the hair your paid big bucks for, why not turn it into something you can still use?
*This tutorial works for hand tied/machine tied wefts and tape in extensions only.
Here are the materials you will need:
Preparing The Hair
For the tape-in extensions you will need to remove the old tape and wash the hair. You can use Tape in Solvent to remove the tape if you are having issues. Then wash the hair in the sink with your normal shampoo and conditioner. Make sure to hold at the extension’s point of attachment with one hand and wash the hair in a downward direction to prevent tangling. Next blow dry the hair until it is no longer damp and feel free to add some hair oil or leave-in conditioner to the ends to give it some life. Finally, you will need to take your double sided hair extension tape, peel off the white cover and attach the panel of the extension to the panel of the tape. Pull the extension off of the plastic sheet with the new tape and attach another extension piece to the panel. Basically you are sandwiching two panels together with the tape in between holding them together (if you are having trouble you can refer to this video). Sandwiching two pieces together gives more volume than if you just used one piece.
For the sew-in wefts you will need to wash the hair with shampoo and conditioner. Make sure to hold at the extension’s point of attachment with one hand and wash the hair in a downward direction to prevent tangling. Next blow dry the hair until it is no longer damp and feel free to add some hair oil or leave-in conditioner to the ends to give it some life. Then take your measuring tape and measure the sections of your head where you will place the extensions (if you do not know how to properly install clip-ins please read this blog post). Now cut the weft into the lengths that you measured. If you have a hand-tied weft you will need to use adhesive to seal the ends because if you don’t the whole weft will come unraveled. Sometimes the weft (more often hand tied) is too thin by itself and you will need to double up to achieve the correct volume. With that said, you can either cut two or three pieces of the same measurement and place them on top of one another, or you can cut double or triple the measurement and just fold it on top of one another (if you have curly hair extensions you will have to cut them and lay them facing the same direction). Finally, add adhesive onto the point of attachment and in between the cut pieces to keep them together (you also have the option to sew them together instead).
Attaching The Clips
For tape-in extensions take one of the no sew wig clips and slide the two hooks onto the panel of the extension. Then take your pliers and close the hooks in the panel. Repeat for each piece.
Using Your New Clip-Ins
As pictured, the wig clips have comb that slide into your hair and are rounded to fit against your head. They snap shut by pressing down on the sides and open by pressing the center and pulling up on the sides. Make sure you practice opening and closing them so that it’ll be easier when you actually clip in the extensions.
If you do not know how to properly install clip in extensions then read this blog post.
Hope this helps some of you to give life back to your old extensions and be sure to send me pictures of your DIY clip-ins!
XOXO
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