It’s called bonding. And it’s the way you use tape and liquid adhesives to attach your lace front wig or hair system to your head. So, if the explanation is that simple…

What’s with all the choices?!?

The reason you have so many options to choose from, is because you’re hair system, body chemistry and wear preferences all make you very unique. So, whatever choice you make should best fit your specific needs. In other words, when it comes to hair system bonding, one size does not fit all!

There are two main categories of adhesive? Double-sided tape (sometimes called strips) or liquid (sometimes called bond) adhesives. Both categories then have several sub categories and the list just keeps growing from there. 

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Tape Adhesives

all tape adhesives used for hair system attachment are double-sided and most are commonly referred to as “surgical” or “medical grade”. These terms mean that the tape was made in a sterile environment, but don’t necessarily indicate the level of quality or tack.

There are two types of tape adhesive; cloth and clear-liner.

Cloth tape, sometimes referred to as “opaque” or “brown” is the thicker of the two and is most commonly used with polyurethane (skin) bases. Cloth tape has less tack than the clear-liner and will often times leave fewer residues after you take your system off. However, because it isn’t transparent, most people only use cloth tape if they have dense hair or wear a thick base system.

Clear-liner is the second type of tape adhesive, and it’s by far the most popular among hair wearers today. There are several varieties of clear-liner tape depending on how long you wear your system before taking it off for cleaning and re-bonding. Most people that wear mesh fabric (lace) bases prefer clear-liner tape because it’s transparent and the additional tack will stick better to the lace material (which has less surface area than polyurethane).

As mentioned, there are several varieties of clear-liner tape.

White: Sometimes just called “clear” it’s the most common and is ideal for daily wear. It has the least amount of tack among all the clear-liner tapes.

Red: Slightly more tack than white, and also ideal for daily wear. However, red clear-liner tape will stay secure for up to 3 consecutive days. Red tape is also the only clear-liner that is not “medical grade” and in rare cases, may cause an allergic reaction during use.

No Messy Residue: A bit more tack than red, NMR tape will stay secure between 1-2 weeks. We like to call this tape “Less Messy Residue” because despite its name, it will probably still leave a residue after you take your system off.

Blue: This tape offers the second highest amount of tack and will keep your system on tight between 2-3 weeks.

Pro Flex: Offering the highest amount of tack available, the Pro Flex strips have a blue backing (like the blue tape) but they’re also dotted with small holes which allow the scalp to breathe. Pro Flex strips are ideal for extended wear and will provide a secure bond up to 4 weeks.

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Liquid (Bond) Adhesives

Like tape, there are two main types of liquid (or bond) adhesive. Water and Solvent based.

Solvent based liquid adhesives are currently the more popular of the two and offer more brand-name choices than water based. In general, they also provide more tack than water based adhesives and allow for a longer wear time.

So how can you tell if its solvent based? Besides checking out the label, the easiest way to identify a solvent liquid adhesive is by its color, which will always be clear.

Water based adhesives on the other hand are white, but turn clear while drying. This makes water based a little easier to work with because you can tell when it?s dry ? Though it does take longer to dry than solvent.

Despite the fact that water based liquid adhesives are less popular and currently can’t provide as much tack as solvent based, we believe the formulas will get better. And many hair wearers will begin to prefer water based because it is less invasive over the long-term.