How to Look After Hair Extensions:
The Complete Maintenance Guide
Washing, brushing, heat, sleeping and swimming — the routine that gets you the twelve months you paid for instead of six.
Cared for Properly
Extensions That Last
Hair extensions are one of the few salon services where the client does most of the work. The fitting takes a few hours; the next six to twelve months are entirely down to your routine. Two habits — the shampoo you use and the direction you brush — account for the large majority of extensions that fail early.
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Washing Your Extensions: Step by Step
Every two to four days is the right rhythm for most people. Washing more often loosens attachment points; washing much less lets oil and product build up at the tracks, which causes its own problems.
1. Brush First, Always
Detangle before the hair is wet. Wet hair tangles far more readily, and a tangle that goes into the shower comes out worse.
2. Sulphate-Free Only
Sulphates loosen tape, bonds and wefts and dull the extension hair. This is the single most important rule in the whole guide.
3. Shampoo the Scalp, Not the Lengths
Work shampoo into the scalp with your fingertips. The suds running down are enough for the lengths.
4. Wash Facing Downward
Head tilted forward or in the shower rather than piled up on top. Piling extensions on your head is how matting starts.
5. Conditioner Mid-Lengths to Ends
Keep it well away from the attachment points. Conditioner at the tracks is what makes bonds and tapes slip.
6. Dry the Roots Properly
Never sleep with damp attachment points. Blow-dry the roots on a cool-to-warm setting even if you air-dry the lengths.
The one that catches everyone: conditioner at the roots. It feels like good hair care and it is the fastest way to loosen an install.
Brushing and Detangling the Right Way
Direction matters more than technique. Brushing from the roots down drags every tangle in the lengths straight into the attachment points, and that is what pulls bonds loose and creates matting at the tracks.
Use a loop brush or a soft-bristle extension brush. Start at the ends, work upward in sections, and hold the hair above where you are brushing with your other hand so the tension never reaches the root. Two or three times a day is right for most people — morning, before bed, and after any workout.
If you hit a knot, stop pulling. Work it loose with your fingers or a little leave-in conditioner. Forcing a brush through a knot is how extension hair gets shed.
Heat Styling: What Is Safe
Extension hair does not repair itself. Your own hair recovers slowly from heat damage because it is attached to a living follicle; extension hair simply accumulates every session until it has to be replaced.
| Safe | Avoid | |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | Moderate settings with a protectant | ✗ Maximum heat settings |
| Protectant | ✓ Every single time | Skipping it “just this once” |
| Near the roots | Keep well clear of attachment points | ✗ Direct heat on bonds or tape |
| Passes per section | One, slowly | Three or four fast passes |
| Frequency | A few times a week | Daily straightening on high heat |
| Drying | Cool-to-warm at the roots | Hot air blasted at the tracks |
Sleeping With Extensions
A third of the wear on extensions happens while you are asleep. Friction against a cotton pillowcase over eight hours does more damage than most people's styling routine.
Braid or Tie Loosely
A loose braid or low ponytail stops the hair moving against the pillow all night. Loose is the operative word — tight ties create tension at the roots.
Silk or Satin Pillowcase
Genuinely worth the money for anyone with extensions. Far less friction than cotton, and better for your own hair too.
Never Sleep on Damp Hair
Wet attachment points plus overnight friction is the fastest route to matting at the tracks.
Brush Before Bed
Two minutes at night saves ten minutes of detangling in the morning.
In the Salon
Before & After
Extensions that still look like this after six months are extensions that were washed sulphate-free, brushed from the ends up and refitted on schedule.
Results shown are from services performed at Pierre Haddad Hair Management, Sydney CBD. Individual results vary with hair type, condition and aftercare.
Swimming: Chlorine and Salt
You do not have to give up swimming. You do have to do two things around it.
Before: saturate your hair with fresh water and apply a leave-in conditioner. Hair that is already full of clean water absorbs far less chlorine or salt, in the same way a wet sponge takes up less of anything else.
After: rinse thoroughly with fresh water as soon as you get out, then condition the mid-lengths and ends. Chlorine left sitting in extension hair is what turns it dry and brassy, and unlike your own hair it will not recover.
Tie it up loosely for the swim itself. Long loose hair in a pool tangles, and salt water tangles worse.
The Mistakes We See Most
In order of how much damage they do. The first two account for most early failures.
Using Regular Shampoo
Sulphates loosen tape, bonds and wefts and strip the extension hair. It is the most common single cause of an install failing before its time.
- Check the ingredients, not the marketing
- No sodium lauryl or laureth sulphate
- No sodium chloride either
Brushing From the Roots Down
Drags every tangle into the attachment points. Causes matting at the tracks, pulls bonds loose and sheds extension hair.
- Always start at the ends
- Hold above where you brush
- Use a loop or soft-bristle brush
Skipping Maintenance Appointments
As your hair grows, attachment points move away from the scalp, rotate and tangle. Overdue maintenance is a leading cause of genuine damage to your own hair.
- Every six to twelve weeks by method
- Do not stretch it to save money
- Damage costs more than the appointment
Conditioner at the Attachment Points
Feels like good care, loosens everything. Conditioner belongs on the mid-lengths and ends only.
- Keep it well clear of the tracks
- Rinse thoroughly so nothing settles
- Same rule for oils and masks
Maintenance Appointments
Every six to twelve weeks depending on the method, and it is not optional. As your natural hair grows, the attachment points travel down away from the scalp. Left too long they rotate, tangle with each other and put uneven tension on the roots carrying them.
At a maintenance visit the rows or bonds are removed, your natural hair is detangled and checked, and everything is repositioned close to the scalp again. With Genius Weft and microring the hair is typically reused, which is a large part of why the up-front cost works out over time.
Book the next one before you leave. Extensions do not fail because clients do not care — they fail because a maintenance appointment gets postponed twice and then it is fourteen weeks.
Pierre Haddad Hair
Extension Care at Pierre Haddad
Maintenance & Refits
Rows repositioned and re-sewn every six to ten weeks. Usually quicker than the fitting.
Every 6–10 WeeksGenius Weft
Hand-tied, cut-to-width wefts. Hair typically reused at every refit.
Flattest FinishTape-In Extensions
Flat, seamless bonds re-taped at each maintenance visit.
Most PopularMicroring Extensions
Individual strands repositioned without heat or glue.
Most NaturalRemoval & Aftercare
Professional removal with your natural hair checked and treated.
Do Not DIYColour Matching
Toning and blending so extensions stay matched as your colour shifts.
IncludedYour Questions
Extension Care, Answered
How often should I wash hair extensions?
Can I use regular shampoo on hair extensions?
How do I brush hair extensions without damaging them?
Can I sleep with hair extensions in?
How do I care for Genius Weft extensions specifically?
Can I swim with hair extensions?
How often do hair extensions need a maintenance appointment?
What temperature is safe for heat styling hair extensions?
Why do my hair extensions feel tangled even when I brush regularly?
Can I colour my hair extensions?
What is the biggest mistake people make caring for hair extensions?
Related Reading
Genius Weft Hair Extensions
Method-specific care for the flattest install we fit.
Types of Hair Extensions: The Complete Guide
Every method compared, with care requirements for each.
What Happens at an Extension Consultation
Where the maintenance rhythm is set, before you commit.
Do Hair Extensions Damage Hair?
The honest answer, and why maintenance is most of it.
