I'm still not sure why people seem to like tape, but I decided to give it another try. In the past I've used ST-30 successfully, but I find it a pain to apply to the unit and then to attach to my head. ST-30 gives me a 2-week hold with some touch-ups.

This time I tried USA tape. I didn't like it. Despite the advertising, I found it to have way too much tape shine (at least when used with gel and hair spray), and it left a nasty residue at clean-up time, even though it's suppose to be no-residue. After a week, its adhesive became all gooey (not between the tape and the lace, but between the tape and my head), and that's as long as it would give a good hold. To make matters worse, it's stiff and has a sharp edge that is very detectable to touch.

I also have been trying the Walker No Shine tape for the front lace. As advertised, it's shine is very low. It also left no residue. Unfortunately, it wouldn't stick to my head without glue, which seems to defeat the purpose.

At the moment, for variety, I'm trying new new "low-shine" Supertape (not to be confused with ST-30). So far, so good, except that it has very distinct shine. I have to spray Prothik on the tape just to cover the shine. And this is with 75% density. It doesn't have the sharp edge, however, that USA Tape does. Also, it hasn't yet gotten gooey, but I think it's too soon to tell for that.

So far, my best attachments by far have been using Perma Rite #15 glue, plus touch-ups with CP ORWG. That gets me up to three weeks, with no tape shine issues, and no having to spend hours fiddling with little bits of tape. With glue, I can also stretch the lace hairpiece to my head for a more accurate fit.

Friday when I arrived that evening at BA's in Windsor
for the convention ... Debbie did a cut-in for BA.
He used the new Perma-Rite sample you sent him ...

He woke up the next morning ... and had to bond
the front of his piece again with another brand of glue ...

Guess it doesn't work for everyone ....
He had pretty high hopes as did I for this glue
which you are having a pretty significant level of
success with.

As they say ... 'Back to the drawing board."

Guess it doesn't work for everyone ....

Alas, it seems that no one thing works for everyone, which is why when you're a newbie, I think it's best to buy small quantities of a bunch of different glues and tapes and see which one works best for you.

I don't think I've heard of anyone getting three weeks out of any other white glue, though, so the Perma Rite glue seems to be one of the better ones. I've heard of people getting such long bonds only from the solvent-based ones and the crazy-glue like ones. But those are more of a pain to deal with, and probably more toxic.

I tried out Supertape for a week. It worked great, never got gummy like USA Tape did, nor did it have the sharp edges that USA Tape has. It seemed like it might hold for another week without problem, though who can tell with these things for sure without trying? I didn't like the shine, though, and so I sprayed Prothik on it to cover up the shine. My stylist says that I can probably dull the shine by rubbing baby powder into it, but I prefer glue in any case.

If I ever switch to using tape again, I'll have to do a run-off between Supertape and ST-30.

its wierd how people have such different holds with different things- Darius- I am baffled how the walker tape does not stick to your scalp without glue but people are equally baffled by my bodies reaction to all glues. as of yet 3 days seems to be max without major touch ups and i have tried acryllic glues as well.

Guess people prefer tapes because it gives a stronger and longer hold for many. walker no shine is really good and has the lowest shine of all the tapes i have tried. However like all tapes shine can appear- i.e. at night time when room lights are on the shine will be seen somewhat as the light will highlight it. during day this is not an issue obviously.

homer Wrote:as of yet 3 days seems to be max without major touch ups and i have tried acryllic glues as well.

I've discovered that a proper cleaning regimen and allowing the glue to set for a day before running your head under a shower can make the difference between a one day hold and a three week hold. I wrote up my cleaning regimen (which is just a summary from postings by others here and elsewhere) and I posted it here:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://groups.google.com/group/st30/web/maintenance-cleaning-head">http://groups.google.com/group/st30/web ... aning-head</a><!-- m -->

Try blueliner tape it works great I can get almost a 2 week hold from it. If you apply it to your forehead place the shiny side on your forehead. If you apply it to the lace then place the matte side on the lace. I know it sounds strange but its best to apply your unit at night after you apply it get a long scarf and comb your hair back and tie up your perimiter in the morning it will be a great hold. If you can tie your head up every night before you go to bed. This also applies to adhesive.

As a newbie .. went to Di Di - Toplace NYC stylist
yesterday ...

She was pretty amazed at the hold the ST-30 and
the Walker tape had ...

I have the poly around the edges where she
applied the ST tape ... and the walker
was applied about an 3/4 of an inch from
the front ... rest was glue

we're trying the Tite-Grip glue this go-around
as the I-Glue only gave me a 1-day hold
even with several applications.

I video-taped her washing my piece with
my little handy hand-cam ... and I will
be posting it for those newbies .. like
myself .. who need all the help they can
get

Pssst....I'll let you in on a little secret....

If you need to kill the shine on most any tape, apply two thin coats of white glue, "smearing" the glue as it begins to dry.

One extra step, problem solved.

JRob Wrote:If you need to kill the shine on most any tape, apply two thin coats of white glue, "smearing" the glue as it begins to dry.

If you're gonna use glue, though, why not then just use glue?

I've also heard that rubbing baby powder into tape through the lace will reduce shine, but I haven't tried that myself.