Two clocks run on a tape-in. The weft — the hair you paid for — can be reused for months if you treat it well. The install — the tabs holding that weft to your own hair — should be taken down every 6–8 weeks.
That window is about grow-out. Your natural hair grows. The tab does not walk with it. After two months the bond is lower, the tension is weirder, and matting starts at the tape. Leaving them “because they still feel stuck” is how you get a felted nape.
Compared with clip-ins (daily on and off), sew-ins (longer but a different injury profile), and keratin tips (often 3–4 months but a harsher take-out), tape-ins sit in the middle: fast to install, fast to move, only if the adhesive actually releases.
What shortens the cycle: oil at the bond, a daily tight ponytail, chlorine without a rinse, installing on dirty hair, skipping the 24-hour no-wash. What should not shorten it: a clean-release tape doing its job.
Budget the refill. Sixty tabs is thirty sandwiches. That is one full-head move-up for most installs, or two smaller ones. The weft stays. The tab does not.