SHEDDING VS. BREAKAGE – YOUR HAIR EXTENSION SHEDDING DUE TO A POOR WEFT OR POOR HAIR QUALITY? CAN YO
Most people will purchase hair extensions with the expectation of not having to deal with excessive shedding throughout the lifespan of the hair, which in our case is a year to 2 years depending on how each individual maintain the hair www.MyHairMade.com – www.Iriextension.com.
It is unrealistic to think wefted hair should never shed! Some customers would like for their vendors to guarantee that their hair will never shed. I am in agreement with the concept if your hair extension is professionally wefted you should NOT experience excessive shedding, however, no matter how professional a wefting job is done on your hair extension, if the quality of the hair is substandard bottom tier hair, then BREAKAGE will introduce itself in the form of SHEDDING.
Too often my wefting service WWW.WeftingService.com is sent hair extensions for re-enforcement of the weft because the wearer is experiencing excessive shedding. In a few of cases, it was not a poorly made weft that was the root of the problem, but the quality of the hair. Your hair extension will break and shed for a variety of reasons:
POOR WEFTING
A poorly constructed weft could result from the type of machine used to construct the weft and also the wrong wefting technique.
SUBSTANDARD HAIR QUALITY
Highly discounted cheap hair is usually unhealthy, weak, dry and breaks easily.
LOW MAINTENANCE
Not taking any precautionary measures to ensure the lifespan of your hair extensions
HIGH THERMAL STYLING
Too much high heat lessen the lifespan of your hair extensions
APPLYING WRONG HAIR PRODUCTS
Alcohol base products will result in your hair extensions being dry and brittle causing breakage.
BLEACHING OR COLORING
With no natural oils, your hair extensions will become brittle and dry resulting in breakage
THE ENVIRONMENT
Climate change and hard water can reap havoc on your hair extensions
So, in order for you to be crystal clear as to what it is you are experiencing with your hair extension you must first know how to accurately determine excessive shedding or breakage.
CORRECT WAY TO CHECK FOR SHEDDING
When your hair arrives, in some cases it will have loose hair mixed in that was not completely combed out, this is normal. You will see this loose hair accumulate in the sink after your initial wash. It is recommended to thoroughly wash and condition hair before install.
Incorrect: When you receive your hair extension we have the tendency to thrust our fingers below the weft and slide our hand downwards.
Correct: You should NOT do this. Checking for shedding in this manner causes friction and as you slide your hand down the hair breaks. When you first receive your hair extension you should use a large tooth comb and gently comb from the bottom upwards towards the weft. This method gentle detangles hair, creates less friction allowing you to determine if the hair is shedding in long strands from the weft. Short strands are usually an indication of breakage.
Incorrect: When you receive your hair extension holding it firmly at the top and tugging aggressively at the bottom.
Correct: This is done quite often, but it should be done in such way that it does not break the hair. if you tug too aggressively, depending on the manner in which you are holding the hair will result in the hair breaking. You should first make sure that the hair has been correctly combed through as explained above and hold the bundle with one hand making sure not to apply too much pressure at the top of bundle. Then with the other hand carefully pull in a downward motion a few times to see if any long strands pull out of the bundle. If you hold the top of the bundle too tight as you pull the hair downward it will break off. You will sometimes feel or even hear the breakage.
Incorrect: Cutting the weft to check for shedding
Correct: You cannot determine if your entire bundle of hair will shed by cutting the end of the weft because it is a fact that once the weft is cut you will likely lose some strands. What should not happen is continuous shedding from the end that was cut. Depending on the wefting method once that initial loss occurs after the weft has been cut it should stop! Applying glue will stop the shedding! The correct way is to avoid cutting the weft when doing your install.
Incorrect: Poking your weaving needle through the weft.
Correct: A weft is made out of hair so It is not recommended to poke the weft with your weaving needle. Every time your weaving needle penetrates through the weft it compromises the integrity of the weft. Done repeatedly whenever you redo your weave weakens and break the hair, which weakens the foundation of your weft. The correct way is to weave under the weft.
Incorrect: Splitting the Weft
Correct: Depending on the technique that your vendor utilizes to make your weft some stylists will split the weft especially if it is made too thick. VERY BAD IDEA!! Not all wefts can be split in two, but when you do split the weft shedding is inevitable. This is a no brainer! Splitting the weft not only destroys the foundation it also loosen the thread that secured the hair. There is no correct way to do this, just don’t!!
Hair sheds for a variety of reasons and on average our natural hair sheds 50 -100 strands a day naturally with our natural oil, so therefore, it is ridiculous to think that human hair extensions, which have absolutely no natural oils once it is cut from the head will never experience minimal shedding.
In some cases, it is not always the fault of the vendor or the wefter whenever your hair extension sheds. If you fail to follow minor hair extension care instructions or the correct way of handling your hair extensions, then it will break and shed due to your negligence. To that end, If you are not happy with your current vendor’s weft log on to our website: WWW.WeftingService.com and find detailed information regarding or wefting and re-enforcement services.
