Last week was my first install of my first unit. Overall I am very happy and have gotten compliments. My Mother in law did not notice for two days. The only issue is how noticeable the poly band is to the touch. Between it and the glue, it feels like a small speed bump. How much less life will I get out of a unit if I order with out? I guess the cleaning is not as easy? Is the outcome much better? I would like my wife to b able to run her hand without having a big bump.

Hello Mathew, my first piece was polly all arround and I loved how easy it was to clean up and the eaze od detaching. Yes the trade off was the little bump one felt. I have since then bought my pieces with poly on sides and back. There is a really big difference from one tape to the other. Supertape Low profile is a very thin tape and I notice no bumps. Some tapes are really thick and are to noticable for me at the touch. Go ahead and try differend tapes. Make sure the area where the poly lyes is clean shaven and not resting on a full ridge of hair. That usually adds to the bump effect. I am willy to trade of the little feel because the poly goives me more durability. I would not like to clean the glue residue from an entire lace piece. I just do not have the patience for that. BUT to eacvh their own and what ever works for you is the right choice.

Mathew one little pointer that worked for me is the following, when I first started to wear everyone was telling me to apply the glue slightly behind the lace and the poly. One day I was in a rush and the tape was applies ever so slightly in front of the poly and the lace. I mean ever so slightly. When I attached to my head I noticed it really cut down on the speed bump effect. It also did wonders for my front hairline. It looked so natural because the hairs seemed they were growing out of my scalp. The trade off for this is that you have to be a little more careful in the front hairline with the cleaning. The exposed tape can get dirtier faster but a little cotton ball and some alcohol quickly takes care of that.

I don't really think there is a need for poly going around. Unless your having problems with tape sticking to the lace.. which I don't.. or you are using a liquid adhesive and find it easier to clean glue from poly than lace.. I don't see the point of it.

When people say tape is easier to attach and remove from poly.. take it with a grain of salt. Tape is just as easy for me to apply on lace as it is on poly.. and removal is much easier on lace. A lot of polys the tape is hard to get off, and a lot of times leaves a sticky residue on the skin that is tough to remove. Theres different types of poly. the thickest one is probably the easiest to work with, but if u get a thinner poly it can be really annoying to remove tapes. With lace all you do is squirt alcohol through the lace and it comes right off clean.

The salon only used glue. What is the advantage of tape? Seems like it would not last as long. I am trying to get 2 weeks out it at a time;

Hello Mathew to get the most out of the bond, prepare your scalp properly. Apply the tape to your piece, use Scalp protector and then apply a thin , I mean THIN coat of tape in a U shape to your scalp, exactly where the poly will lye on your scalp. I do not glue the front because I do not want the glue to sap thru the lace and mess up the hair. However if you have poly all arround apply the glue in the front, BUT make sure not to apply the glue beyond where the front of the hair piece will lye. This should give you some extra time to your bond. Like I said do not be affraid to experiment a little to see what works best for you.

You can't listen to people 100 percent. YOu have to find out what works best for yourself. Its trial and error. I like tape because its easy to put on, and easy to take off, especially if you have an all lace with no poly. I am assuming you have the thicker poly.. like those P/u perimeters so getting tape off those isn't so bad. But the thinner polys are a pain in the ass.

Theres nothing to clean when you use the right tape. And I use glue for the front hairline.. because it looks the best. I use tape on the sides of the front hairline like walker no shine.. And for the very front center and extending a little bit to the left and right I use ORWG.

So the point of getting lace only without poly would be less of a ridge? I mean more realism I would think. A couple questions.

1. If one had a lace only unit, would tape put a ridge back and undermind its purpose? wound glue be best if a woman ran her hand through your hair?

2. How much shorter life comes out of a lace only system opposed to a poly?

I haven't heard anyone say the thin skin causes a ridge. I thought a thin skin with glue would give the least detectable to the touch feeling on the back and sides when lined up correctly, no? We are talking about a material that is 0.08mm thick.

This is new to me. So by thin skin, you mean tape? So thin tape is less revealing than glue on a lace system with no poly?

I think the terms of reference in this thread are getting a little muddled!

Thin skin is a poly base and comes in varying thicknesses 0.3 being (I believe) the thinnest.
This is the entire base material and is an alternative to lace.

A poly perimeter is usually thicker (but again can vary in thickness) and is exactly what its name implies, just a perimeter around a lace base.

I can imagine that a thicker poly perimeter would create a ridge (or bump) because lace is much thinner.
If you added a thicker tape to that perimeter, it would only exasperate the bump.
However as stated by others above, you can get thinner perimeters and thinner tapes.

I have all lace and use glues. I have tried a perimeter bond with glue & just lace and I've not experienced the bump factor.
But lace (without a poly perimeter) can fray.
That said, I've never had to prematurely discard a unit because of perimeter fraying from the back & sides.
The front hairline, however, does fray more and I do trim this back periodically.
But, I would prefer to do this than have a poly perimeter at the front because, for me, the poly defeats the benefits of the natural hairline I get with pure lace.

Referring to what msebas said above about extending the tape VERY slightly beyond the edge of the front and going against conventional instructions, it really DOES work and creates a great illusion of the hairs coming straight out of the scalp.
You just bring some of the front hairs slightly forward and press them into the extra adhesive.
It applies to tapes & to glues.