Free for stylists
A tape-in aftercare card your clients will actually keep.
Every rule a tape-in client needs, on one 6 x 4 card, with your name and her next appointment on the front. Free, no sign-up, print as many as you like.
A tape-in aftercare card is a small printed card a stylist hands the client after install. It should cover the first 24 hours, washing, keeping oil off the tabs, drying the bond, brushing, sleeping and the date of the next move-up. This one is free, written for tape-ins only, and has blank lines for your name.
Aftercare said out loud at the end of an appointment doesn't all make it home. She's looking in the mirror, not at you. Then a tab slips in week two, and the install gets the blame for a bottle of hair oil. A card doesn't fix that on its own. It gives her something to read at eleven at night when a tab feels loose, instead of a search result written for clip-ins.
The card, front and back
The front is yours: your name, your salon, the install date and her next appointment, all on blank lines you fill in by hand. The back is the rules. Press print and only the card prints, front and back as two 6 x 4 in pages.
Your tape-in aftercare
Your stylist
Salon & phone
Installed on
Next appointment
Your move-up, 6 to 8 weeks after install. Keep it.
Tape-ins hold when the bond stays clean, dry and oil-free. Everything that keeps it that way is on the back. If something feels wrong, call me before you try to fix it yourself.
Looking after your tape-ins
The first 24 hours
No washing, swimming, sauna or hard workout. The adhesive is still setting.
Washing
- Wash as often as your scalp needs.
- Shampoo the scalp between the rows, fingertips only.
- Conditioner from mid-length down. Never on the tabs.
- Dry the tabs first, every time. Never go to bed with them wet.
Every day
- Keep oil, serums and dry shampoo off the tabs.
- Brush from the ends up, holding the hair above the tabs.
- Sleep in a loose, low braid. No high bun.
- Keep straighteners and curling irons off the tabs.
- After a swim or a sweaty workout, rinse, then dry the tabs.
Call your stylist if
A tab slips, the hair mats at the tape, or a tab pulls or feels sore. Don't re-press a slipped tab yourself.
Aftercare doesn't stretch the move-up. Keep your next appointment.
Full guide: vanityhairsolutions.com/learn/tape-extension-aftercare · Not medical advice · Card v1, Sept 2026
Or press Ctrl+P (Cmd+P on a Mac). Set the paper to 4 x 6 in, margins to none and scale to 100%.
What should a tape-in aftercare card say?
A tape-in aftercare card should say five things: no water, sauna or hard workout for the first 24 hours while the adhesive sets; oil and conditioner kept off the tabs; the bond dried first after every wash; brushing from the ends up and sleeping in a loose braid; and the next appointment, six to eight weeks out, written by hand.
The paid aftercare cards we found in September 2026 were mostly written for extensions in general, so a tape-in client gets advice meant for beads or bundles. Ours is tape-ins only, and the copy is on this page as plain text, so you can check every line before you print it. Each rule comes from a guide we have already published for wearers. The card is the short version, and the table below shows where each line comes from.
| Line on the card | Why it's there | Full explanation |
|---|---|---|
| No washing, swimming, sauna or hard workout for 24 hours | The adhesive is still setting. A broken 24-hour set is one of the usual reasons a tab slips in week one or two | The 24-hour rule |
| Wash as often as your scalp needs | Scalp oil is made exactly where the tab sits. Stretching washes to a schedule leaves it against the adhesive for days | How often to wash |
| Shampoo between the rows; conditioner from mid-length down | Conditioner is made to coat the hair, which is its job on the ends and what loosens adhesive at the bond | The wash, step by step |
| Dry the tabs first, every time | A bond left wet mats, and matting at the tape line isn't brushed out. It gets cut out | Drying and heat |
| Keep oil, serums and dry shampoo off the tabs | Oils break an adhesive bond down from the edge inward. Dry shampoo builds up in the adhesive the same way | Washing |
| Brush from the ends up, holding above the tabs | The pull stops at her hand instead of reaching the bond | Brushing and sleeping |
| Sleep in a loose, low braid. No high bun | Wet hair plus friction starts matting at the nape. A high bun hangs the hair's weight off a few tabs all night | Sleeping with tape-ins |
| Straighteners and curling irons off the tabs | Heat on the adhesive softens it, and softened adhesive slides | Drying and heat |
| Rinse, then dry, after a swim or a sweaty workout | Chlorine, salt and sweat left sitting for hours cause the trouble, not the swim itself | Swimming and the gym |
| Call your stylist if a tab slips, mats, pulls or feels sore | A tab that has let go needs a fresh one, and tenderness at the bond line is the one not to wait on | When something slips |
Two things are left off on purpose. There is no sulphate-free shampoo rule, because our aftercare guide treats it as a preference and a client whose scalp reacts to a sulphate-free formula should listen to her scalp. And there is no line saying good aftercare lets her keep them in longer. It doesn't. Six to eight weeks is set by how fast her hair grows, which is why the move-up date goes on the front.
How do you hand an aftercare card to a client so she actually uses it?
Fill in the aftercare card while the client is still in the chair: your name, the install date and her next appointment, booked six to eight weeks out. Check no tab pulls, show her where the tape line is on her own head, say the 24-hour rule out loud, braid her hair once, then hand her the card.
The cards we found for sale explain their design. None of them explained the handover, which is where the card either becomes a habit or ends up in the bottom of a handbag. This is the order we'd use at the station.
- Fill it in while she's still in the chairWrite your name, your salon and number, the install date and her next appointment. Book the move-up now, six to eight weeks out, before she stands up.
- Check nothing pullsHave her turn her head fully both ways and tilt it back as if onto a pillow. A tab that tugs now will tug all night. Fix it before the card comes out.
- Show her the three zones on her own headScalp, tape line, lengths. Shampoo goes on the first, nothing goes on the second, conditioner goes on the third. A client who can find her own tape line washes around it.
- Say the 24-hour rule out loudNo washing, swimming, sauna or hard workout on day one. It's the rule people break most, because the hair looks finished the moment she leaves.
- Braid it once, low and loosePlait it at the nape so she feels how loose is loose. That is the sleep rule on the card, shown instead of described.
- Hand it over, and suggest a photoGive her the card with the back facing up. Suggest she takes a photo of it on her phone, so the rules are still with her when the card isn't.
The card doesn't replace the conversation
It's what she reads at home when a tab feels loose and you're not there to ask. Point at the oil line while she's in the chair. Oil reaching the bond is one of the two usual causes when several tabs slip at once. The other is the install, and that one is yours.
How do you print the aftercare card at 6 x 4 inches?
Press Print the card. Only the card prints, as two pages: the front, then the back. In the print dialog, set the paper size to 4 x 6 inches, margins to none and scale to 100%. Print onto index card stock or matte photo paper, or save it as a PDF and take that to a print shop.
The 6 x 4 size is the standard index card and postcard size, so many home printers with a photo tray will take it, and most print shops can run it. The design keeps a white border all the way round, so there is no bleed to set up and nothing gets trimmed off.
| Setting | What to choose | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Paper size | 4 x 6 in | The page is built to that size exactly |
| Margins | None | The white border is part of the design |
| Scale | 100% (not "fit to page") | Keeps the type at its printed size |
| Two-sided | Print the front, flip the stack, print the back | Front and back come out as separate pages |
| Stock | Index card stock or matte photo paper | A pen has to write on it. Gloss can smear ballpoint |
| Colour | Black and white is fine | The card is designed to read in one ink |
Browsers name these settings slightly differently, and some printers need 4 x 6 set in their own dialog too. Print one card and check it before you run a stack.
Can you put your own name and salon on the card?
Yes. The whole front of the aftercare card belongs to you: blank lines for your name, your salon and phone number, the install date and her next appointment. Write them in by hand or use a salon stamp. The rules on the back stay as written, so every line keeps matching the full guide printed at the bottom.
The lines are handwritten on purpose. If you print in batches, a date typed into a template once is a date that's wrong for the next client. A pen at the station makes the card hers.
Vanity takes one small line on the back: the address of the full aftercare guide, so a client who wants the reasoning behind a rule can read it. There's no product on the card and nothing to buy.
Why is this card free, and is there a catch?
There's no catch and no sign-up. Vanity Hair Solutions makes tape, tabs and a tape remover. We don't sell hair, shampoo or aftercare products, so there's nothing on the card to sell your client. It's free because the stylists who print it are the ones doing move-ups every week, and that's who our system was built for.
There's no email gate either. A gate stops the stylist who wants to print a card before her two o'clock, and the card is more use the further it travels. Print it, copy it, hand it out.
If you're licensed and you do tape-ins every week, there is a licensed-stylist discount on our products. How it works is on our wholesale page, which also covers salon owners and schools buying for a team.
What this card doesn't cover
This is a tape-in card. K-tips, beads, sew-ins and clip-ins follow different rules. It doesn't replace a consultation or a scalp check, and we haven't measured whether handing it out reduces slips or improves rebooking. It's the written version of what we tell every client in the chair, and nothing more.
It also can't fix an install. Sections that are too thick, too much weight on fine hair, or tabs set tight to the scalp will slip or hurt however carefully she follows the back of the card. Tenderness that lasts is a reason to take those tabs out, and new or patchy shedding is a question for a dermatologist, not a stylist. The card says "not medical advice" for that reason. When the tape-ins come out for good, send her to hair care after extension removal.
For the awkward situations the card is too small for, like colour, holidays and being unwell, send her to the hard-cases guide. For a tab that has already let go, there's what to do with a slipped tab.
Questions stylists ask about the card
Is the card only for clients wearing Vanity tape?
The daily rules apply to double-sided tape-ins in general. The 24-hour wait is the one we give for our own tabs. Other tape makers set their own wait, so if you use another brand's tape, follow its maker's instructions.
Can I change the move-up window on the card?
The front says six to eight weeks, which is the window our guides use. The appointment line is yours, so write the date you actually book. That date is the one she'll look at.
Does the card work for k-tips, beads or sew-ins?
No. It's written for tape-ins only. Other methods have different bonds and different rules, and giving a tape-in client bead advice is the problem this card was made to avoid.
Will the card change?
If a rule in the aftercare guide changes, the card changes with it. The version and date are printed on the back, so you can check yours against this page before a reprint.
How do licensed stylists get the discount?
There is a licensed-stylist discount on proof of licence. How to set it up is on our wholesale page, alongside the route for salon owners and schools.
How we wrote the card
Every line on the card comes from three guides already on this site: tape-in extension aftercare, how to wash hair with tape-in extensions and sleeping with tape-in extensions. Those are the rules we give clients at Vanity Hair Salon, from ten years of daily tape-in work. It is practitioner guidance from a licensed cosmetologist, not a clinical study. If one of those guides changes, the card changes with it, and the version on the back changes too. More of what we publish for professionals is on the education page.
Stylists & salons
The card gets her to the move-up.
The kit handles the move-up.
Our remover is oil-free, so the hair is clean at removal and you can re-tab in the same appointment without a second wash.