It seems the general consensus is that doing a good deep conditioning to the system shortens its life span by loosening the knots and causing shedding but the hair just feels so much better after. I'm wondering if anyone does a good conditioning while trying hard not to hit the knots? I'm thinking doing a little at a time and just using two fingers to rub the conditioner into the hair while doing my best to avoid the base and knots. Thoughts?

I usually only shampoo and condition my piece when I take it off, which is once a week. I do try to avoid getting the conditioner on the knots, which is easy enough, because you can scrunch the base up and keep the conditioner on the hank of hair. The rest of the time - e.g. at the gym - I just let the water run through the hp hair and the lace base, which I find is enough.

Coniditoner contains oil which coats the hair and makes it shiny. And when using a rinse out conditioner (the kind you apply in the shower and leave in the hair for a couple of minutes then rinse it out) it unfortunately coats the knots with oil too. This causes the knots to loosen and the hair to shed. So I always recommend that customers use a spray on conditioner (the kind you spray on towel dampened hair when you get out of the shower). It has oil too but as long as you don’t put on too much it won’t run down onto the knots--only the hair shafts.
Regards,
John

Do knot sealers work?

I've never used them since shedding has never been a problem with my systems, but (just in case) I do have some from Debbie Theriault (Splitends.com) that is water soluble, less toxic and not much of a smell. Worth it?

I shampoo and condition every few weeks i use loreal pure colour conditoner my piece only noticeably starts shedding around the crown area after around 5 months. I do use knot sealer every now and then. i assume it helps ive used it from the start.