A tab is one adhesive rectangle. Two tabs around a section of natural hair make a sandwich. A pack of 60 tabs is therefore 30 sandwiches. Getting this vocabulary right is the fastest way to compare packs honestly, because brands count in both units.
This category has a working vocabulary that's used precisely behind the chair and loosely everywhere else. Vendor descriptions get sandwich and move-up wrong constantly, which makes comparing two products harder than it should be.
Here are the words, used the way a stylist uses them.
The terms
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Tab | One adhesive rectangle |
| Sandwich | Two tabs around a section of natural hair. 60 tabs is 30 sandwiches |
| Weft | The hair piece itself |
| Move-up | The maintenance appointment where tape-ins are removed and re-tabbed |
| Re-tab | Putting fresh tabs on an existing weft |
| Bond line | Where adhesive meets natural hair |
| Dwell time | How long solvent sits before the bond releases |
| Rattail | The fine-pointed comb used to separate a sandwich |
| Clean release | The bond letting go without residue or scraping |
| Grow-out | How far the bond has travelled down the shaft since install |
The counting trap
Some brands price by tab and some by sandwich, and the two differ by a factor of two. A 60-tab pack and a 60-sandwich pack aren't comparable purchases, and the second is twice the first.
Ours is 60 tabs, which installs 30 sandwiches, at $45. That is $1.50 a sandwich. Work any competing pack down to the same unit before comparing and the shelf prices start to mean something.
What a full head takes
| Density | Sandwiches | Packs of 60 tabs |
|---|---|---|
| Fine | Around 30 | 1 |
| Medium | Around 40 to 50 | 1 to 2 |
| Thick | Around 50 to 60 | 2 |
Working figures from one salon. Length going in moves these as much as density does.
One tab per weft, so your weft count is your tab count. Counting your own head is covered in how many tape-ins you need.
Why the words are worth learning
Partly so you can compare prices. Mostly so a conversation with a stylist is quicker. Saying a tab has slipped is a different problem from saying a weft has slipped, and the fix is different too.
It also makes aftercare instructions make sense. Keep oil off the bond line means something precise once you know where the bond line is.
Where the vocabulary stops helping
Knowing the words does not make an install a home job. Sectioning and placement are where the skill lives, and neither is vocabulary.
Brands use these terms inconsistently, so even a correctly-read pack description may not match what arrives. Checking the tab count on the pack itself is worth doing.
And our figures for sandwiches per head come from one salon rather than a survey. Treat them as a starting point for a consultation, not a specification.
What we sell for this
Close to this question
- Double-sided tape tabs. Covers pre-install tab failure: contamination, liner handling and storage conditions.
- Tape for extensions. The head-term explainer: how tab packs are counted and specified, and why hold and release are a single decision.
- Replacement tape for tape-in extensions. Frames tabs as the recurring consumable in a move-up cycle and works out the annual pack count.
- Single-sided hair extension tape. A diagnostic for buyers who have searched the wrong product name, resolving the confusion in two questions.
- Extensiones de tape: a bilingual glossary. Bridges Spanish and English tape-in terminology for bilingual stylists working from English documentation.
Questions we get asked
What is a tape tab?
One adhesive rectangle. Two of them around a section of natural hair make a sandwich, which is the unit an install is actually counted in.
How many tabs are in your pack?
Sixty, which installs thirty sandwiches, at $45. That works out at $1.50 a sandwich.
How many sandwiches does a full head need?
Roughly 30 for fine hair and up to 60 for thick, with the length going in moving that as much as density does.
What is a move-up?
The maintenance appointment every six to eight weeks where the wefts come out, get re-tabbed, and go back in higher up the head.