Washing a braid
Posted by The Kid on August 12, 2001 at 18:17:13: Previous Next
I'm still tryin to braid my own hair-I think it would be easier with real long hair (I only got around 7"). When I finaly do get it down, how long will the braid last and how should I wash it?
Re: Washing a braid
Posted by Mermaid on August 13, 2001 at 22:37:31: Previous Next
In Reply to: Washing a braid posted by The Kid on August 12, 2001 at 18:17:13:
: I'm still tryin to braid my own hair-I think it would be easier with real long hair (I only got around 7"). When I finaly do get it down, how long will the braid last and how should I wash it?
1) If a professional braider does it for you, it doesn't have to be longer than 7 inches--if you can handle having African braids and look okay with them, you could get cornrows (not especially handsome with angular skull shapes or jutting noses, etc.) or those mini-braids that hang straight all over your head. It's mostly women who have these. (I had them with cornrows instead of bangs for that Bo Derek look, from the film, "10." I got extensions, 'cuz I've got straight, baby-fine hair.)
2) Braids, or one braid as well, will last until you take it out, if it's tight enough. There was a story about a tourist who went to Jamaica and got ONE braid done by a local braider... a year later, the tourist went back and asked the braiding woman to change the rubber band on the braid she'd made for this woman. B-r-r-r. Scary.
3) You can wash braided hair by squeezing shampoo suds through it, and rinsing it. The hair does NOT have to be unbraided. For cornrows or a headful of hanging braids, wearing a stocking or something similar over the head and squeezing the suds through that is recommended to keep all the hair in place. My braider gave me an anklet stocking with a wide elastic "comfort" band at the top, and said to put it on my head and gently shampoo suds in the SAME direction as the braiding and hair growth. For straight hair growing out (or wavy or kinky hair, for that matter) at the roots of a fully braided head, COMB the new growth to keep it from tangling. I didn't know this--my roots "locked" or matted, so now I've got dreadlocks. When you dry your hair, wrap the towel around in and pat, blot, and squeeze the moisture out. Don't rub the hair with the towel, or it'll give you a fuzzy head and ruin the style; the braids would have to be taken out and redone. The longest amount of time any braiders suggest that braids be left in is about 3-4 months. I left mine in for 7. No wonder it matted, they told me. :-) After 4 months, it should be unbraided, conditioned, combed out, given a rest for a week or more if you can handle being without the braid(s), then rebraided.
Gracias!
Posted by The Kid on August 14, 2001 at 05:40:00: Previous Next
In Reply to: Re: Washing a braid posted by Mermaid on August 13, 2001 at 22:37:31:
Muchas gracias!
: : I'm still tryin to braid my own hair-I think it would be easier with real long hair (I only got around 7"). When I finaly do get it down, how long will the braid last and how should I wash it?
: 1) If a professional braider does it for you, it doesn't have to be longer than 7 inches--if you can handle having African braids and look okay with them, you could get cornrows (not especially handsome with angular skull shapes or jutting noses, etc.) or those mini-braids that hang straight all over your head. It's mostly women who have these. (I had them with cornrows instead of bangs for that Bo Derek look, from the film, "10." I got extensions, 'cuz I've got straight, baby-fine hair.)
: 2) Braids, or one braid as well, will last until you take it out, if it's tight enough. There was a story about a tourist who went to Jamaica and got ONE braid done by a local braider... a year later, the tourist went back and asked the braiding woman to change the rubber band on the braid she'd made for this woman. B-r-r-r. Scary.
: 3) You can wash braided hair by squeezing shampoo suds through it, and rinsing it. The hair does NOT have to be unbraided. For cornrows or a headful of hanging braids, wearing a stocking or something similar over the head and squeezing the suds through that is recommended to keep all the hair in place. My braider gave me an anklet stocking with a wide elastic "comfort" band at the top, and said to put it on my head and gently shampoo suds in the SAME direction as the braiding and hair growth. For straight hair growing out (or wavy or kinky hair, for that matter) at the roots of a fully braided head, COMB the new growth to keep it from tangling. I didn't know this--my roots "locked" or matted, so now I've got dreadlocks. When you dry your hair, wrap the towel around in and pat, blot, and squeeze the moisture out. Don't rub the hair with the towel, or it'll give you a fuzzy head and ruin the style; the braids would have to be taken out and redone. The longest amount of time any braiders suggest that braids be left in is about 3-4 months. I left mine in for 7. No wonder it matted, they told me. :-) After 4 months, it should be unbraided, conditioned, combed out, given a rest for a week or more if you can handle being without the braid(s), then rebraided.