7 Essential Steps for Washing Clip in Hair Extensions

Learning how to keep your clip in hair extensions clean is essential if you want them to maintain a healthy and natural looking appearance.  The first step in maintaining human hair and synthetic clip in hair extensions of any texture is getting to know the steps you’ll need to take to wash them correctly.

Here’s a step by step wash day routine for clip in hair extensions that will get your extensions clean and keep them looking fresh:

Step 1

Remove your clip in hair extensions

While it may save time and appear easier to do, giving your hair a wash while your clip in hair extensions are still attached isn’t recommended. The motion of your hands combined with the weight of your clip in hair extensions on your wet hair may cause strands of your own hair to become entangled in the clips of your extensions resulting in unnecessary and unwanted damage to your hair.

Step 2

Brush your clip in extensions thoroughly

Use a sturdy brush to smooth out any clumps, knots and tangles that may have formed in your clip in extensions. You can detangle your clip in hair extensions while they are completely dry with your fingers or dampen your extensions with a detangling product so that any stiff, tangled or matted sections of your clip in hair extensions slip apart a little easier.

Step 3

Prepare the water

For best results wash your synthetic or human hair clip in hair extensions in cool water. Fill a sink with water or place a large bowl or container on a flat non slip surface and fill it with the water you’ll use for your clip in hair extensions.   

Step 4

Add shampoo

Add a few drops of shampoo to the water you’ve prepared. If you have 100% human hair clip in hair extensions you can wash them with the same shampoo you use for your own hair or opt for a shampoo that moisturizes and conditions or protects color treated hair from the gradual loss of color with the passage of time but the opposite is true for clip in hair extensions made from synthetic fibers.  The moisturizing and conditioning elements present in moisturizing shampoos can weigh synthetic clip in hair extensions down and make them look and feel greasy or even a little sticky. Clip in hair extensions made of synthetic hair are best cleaned with deep cleaning clarifying shampoos.

Step 5

Wash

Gently swish and swirl your clip in hair extensions in the soapy water to remove product residue, dirt and debris. Remove the dirty soapy water and refill with clean water that is cool to the touch. Add a few drops of shampoo and repeat the process.

Step 6

Rinse

Hold your clip in hair extensions under a stream of running water and massage them gently to remove lingering shampoo. Continue to rinse your clip in hair extensions until soap bubbles are no longer visible and the water runs clear.

Step 7

Dry

Lightly squeeze the water out of your clip in hair extensions. Pat your extensions dry with a large towel to remove any excess water.