How To Fix Matted Hair Extensions

At the salon we often get requests on how to fix matted extensions. 

Not as often as before, because wearing quality hair is now required, but there are incidents!  We try to help with making it look better, however, this depends on how long you kept them this way!

In hair extension infancy, before the explosion in global trade and opening of barriers

to regular individuals, finding “quality” hair was like striking gold.  Ladies would flock to stores that sold one hundred per cent human hair from parts of the Orient.  Eventually, the route veered to South America.  Nowadays, one can buy hair described as virgin or remy at fairly decent prices.  They do not get matted easily but there are people out there that break impossible records.  I shudder to think what they would have looked like with the hair we had to deal with as young women.

If you wear hair extensions, there are basic rules you MUST follow, such as:

• Comb your extensions from root to tip regularly.
• Do not wet your extensions before combing them out.
• Do not rub your extensions in many directions or in a rough manner.
• You should budget to fix your extensions in three weeks.  After three weeks, and depending on the method used, your hair can become entangled in the extensions.  The sight is scary and the breakage can be legendary.
• Unless you are prepared to remove the extensions after one trial, please make sure you have the money to continue the maintenance on a regular basis.

Warning:  having thick, luxurious, flowing hair is addictive.  It is emotionally damaging to return to boring, thinner hair.

If you happen to have a situation and want to know how to fix matted hair extensions, here

are some steps you can take:

• Apply a conditioner/detangler and comb hair from end to root – going from the bottom up, row by row.
• Use a wide-tooth comb at first then a fine-tooth comb to ensure you got all the knots.
• Detangle the hair in small sections 
• You might have to trim the ends as they can become frizzy.

If you are unable to successfully detangle them, consult a professional or prepare to repurchase hair.

It is not difficult to know how to fix matted hair extensions of good quality, but it does require time and lots of patience.

By Paula Barker, Silkie Locks Hair Design

Books:  “Talking Hair”, “Filling My Head” & “Dreadlocks – A Hairstylist’s Manifest”.