(01-22-2012, 04:13 PM)elvis Wrote: Thanks a lot! that really helped me. i wonder what it is though. i dont understand why i cant get my touch ups done correctly. i put glue where the lace has lifted. but it comes right back up. maybe im not putting enough glue? or maybe im not pushing the lace down hard enough. do i have to do ANY kind of scalp cleaning where the lace has lifted? or just make sure there no dried up glue there? there never really is.

Sorry, this is long ...

There are a lot of variables that could cause this, and all of these have been mentioned before, so forgive me if I'm being repetitive or stating the obvious, but we won't leave anything to chance, and maybe having all this in one place would be advantageous for you.

If the piece is newish, and the lace is releasing from the glue, w/ the glue still solid on your scalp ... then there might be factory residue (silicon, etc.) on the underside of the base. Solution: shampoo the lace, w/ some direct rubbing on the underside of the lace. Dawn dishwashing liquid might be even better.

[[[ be advised, I've had a random lace piece that must have had way more silicon, or other factory residue on it than usual ... wouldn't stick, even after a casual dip in soapy liquid, and a few shampoos on my head! ... I had to remove it, clean the piece, spray alcohol on the underside of the lace, then use shampoo w/ some scrubbing on the lace to get it solved. ]]]

The lace being wet could cause your touchup to fail in this way too. Make sure it's dry ... blow dryer on cool, or low heat if necessary.

If glue is gooey and stuck to the underside of the lace at the lift spot, then it's breaking down, and your oily scalp is the culprit ... old glue or oil residue that was never properly cleaned could cause this too. Solution: take Paul's advice and shorten your bond time. And in this case, cleaning residue from lace and scalp w/ alcohol, and applying fresh glue may be necessary for the touch up.

If you are getting over a week without lift, then your glue IS likely breaking down (your body chemistry), and you'll HAVE to shorten your bond time ... maybe experimenting w/ some other glues could allow the longer bond, but shortening the time is the best advice.

[[[ btw, I concur w/ Paul, Mighty Tite is not that strong, it's basically watered down Ultra Hold, if I recall correctly. Also I'm not really sure how long the front is holding for you before it lifts ... but I don't think I've read one post in which a wearer has gotten the advertised bond time from ANY glue w/ no frontal lift. ]]]

It is possible you are not using enough glue (and I like Paul's advice on adding layers on the initial bond). The glue obviously needs to dry and go tacky, and the lace must sit IN the bed of glue, not lightly on top of it. The dry glue should just start to "fill in" the holes in the lace when it's pressed in. This makes the lace disappear as well ... this is why it CANNOT be wet, cuz it'll be a mess in the roots of the hair.

It is possible you're not pressing the lace in hard enough. Use a fine tooth comb w/ a LITTLE alcohol on the teeth. Angle the comb parallel to the scalp, glide the teeth into the hair at the root, close to the base, so that the hair is going between the teeth, and press firmly into the scalp at the touchup spot(s) ... the sides of the teeth are pressing the lace, not the points. This keeps the hair from being mashed down into the the tacky glue, but lets the lace get firmly embedded.

Wild Speculation ...

Could there be too much tension on the lace ? ... do you stretch it much on application ? If the lace is stretched and pulling back from the hairline, this could cause it not to sit, or create some buckling in spots.

Is it possible your glue is not totally dry, but you are using so little, you don't notice it getting up into the hair ? I generally find touching up small spots of lift at the hairline w/ clear glues a giant PIA It's very hard for me to lift enough of the edge up to work, and to keep it out of the new glue while it dries. Like Paul, I end up lifting up more lace so I can clip it back, and have a decent area to work in, and then I often end up redoing most of the front.

Here is a test to see if your solvent based (clear) glue is dry enough ... but this is impossible to do with a small touch up of the very front edge. But you can do this on an initial bond, or if you lift a decent amount of the edge up and clip it back ...

... when you think it's dry enough, take the "spine" of a comb, or something similar, and gently tap/bounce it into your glue. If the comb pulls ANY strings of glue off, it's not dry enough.

Sorry for the novel, but perhaps you'll find a solution buried in here somewhere ...

~FB