Five-strand braid difficulties

[Larki]

I'm trying to learn the five-strand braid and I'm about ready to KILL my hair! It's so silky/slippery that it keeps slipping undone, since I'm only working with 3 out of the 5 strands at any given time, and the other two just hang loose. Plus, the other two strands get in my way while I'm trying to braid the three I'm working with! I'm so frustrated! Has anyone successfully learned the 5 strand? Are there any good tutorials out there that tell you how to contain the rogue strands??

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Most of it I can't help you with as I can't do a 5 strand braid. But try it when your hair is dirty, dirty hair holds much better and it won't be as slippery.

[Sharysa]

Dreamweaver braiding helped LOADS with my five-strand braid (though it was on cord, not my hair). Here's the page about five-strands! Her updated instructions on the right side are really good for me.

dreamweaverbraiding.com/braids/5strand.htm

[Becs]

I'm new here, but I absolutely loove braiding and have successfully learned up to a 9 strand braid on myself. However, it was difficult to manage more than 3 strands when I started doing multiple strand braids. If it's the holding/manipulation of the multiple strands that is giving you trouble like it initially was for me, I would recommend braiding each of the 5 sections into a 3 strand braid first, and then braiding these together to form a 5 strand. This helps because it keeps each of the sections separate from the others, and the braid is less likely to fall/sag as you work on it because it is tighter at the top because of the individual braids. It does take longer since you have to braid the individual sections first, but it really helps to learn the technique and get it down. Then once you understand it you can do it with just loose hair again and it will be easier. Hope that makes sense!

[gus]

I managed to master it after practice-braiding my hair when it was wet - as in, just braid it all, undo it, then braid it again, about a half-dozen times. For me, my wet hair tends to be way easier to keep in separate strands (and also you don't have the problem of the loose strands just slipping through). And even though doing it a half-dozen times per wash-day for about a week was... really boring, honestly, it gave my fingers the muscle-memory to be able to do the braid when my hair was dry - and weirdly, once my fingers knew what to do, I didn't have nearly the difficulty with slippery hair.

[~honeyflower~]

I kinda...cheat
I section hair into how many sections I want. Take the three middle strands, braid loosely into a english 3 strand braid. Then I make another braid but weave one side of the braid into the first braid. Thats my seven braid.

[meteor]

I can only do this as a side braid. What helped me:
- misting the 3 sections with water before beginning and giving each of them a gentle twist to help them stay separate,
- holding 2 sections in one hand and 2 opposite sections in the other hand, with 1 section hanging in the middle,
- saying "over and under" to myself to really keep track,
- watching YT tutorial while doing this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_JyiaPuG6w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJWlodeufZE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZEsf2uXzZU

[meteor]

I kinda...cheat
I section hair into how many sections I want. Take the three middle strands, braid loosely into a english 3 strand braid. Then I make another braid but weave one side of the braid into the first braid. Thats my seven braid.

Yep, that braid is really impressive and mermaid-like. Here's a very easy-to-follow tutorial for this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1gx83leT6Q

[Impulsive]

I had a lot of trouble with the five strand braid, too. Through much practice, it got to the point where I could do the braid, but the process was very frustrating- I was constantly dropping strands and forgetting where I was in the weave.
I found this tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHVzicWm7zA
The way this woman weaves is completely different from anything I had ever seen. I had to watch the video a few times and then practice often in order to teach myself a new hold, but once I got the concept the braid became super easy for me. She has several videos I found helpful, so if this helps you at all I would recommend going through her list. The lighting on some of the older videos isn't the best , but they are still worth the time, I feel.

[Larki]

Thank you, everyone! I did one!!! I practiced on wet hair doing a tiny braid with a 1 1/2 inch section, and when I had that down I moved on to a side braid!

http://i62.tinypic.com/10hp1kz.jpg http://i57.tinypic.com/34ifudd.jpg

[Darkhorse1]

I have struggled with this braid as well. No matter how many youtube video's I watch, I just can't do it unless I do it as a side braid.

I tend to get the ends knotted/tangled and by the time I manage to free the ends, I've lost my way. UGH! I think I will have to attempt this with wet hair, like I did with the french braid. Finally mastered that and was able to do it with dry hair. So, I feel your pain. :D

[Larki]

I have struggled with this braid as well. No matter how many youtube video's I watch, I just can't do it unless I do it as a side braid.

I tend to get the ends knotted/tangled and by the time I manage to free the ends, I've lost my way. UGH! I think I will have to attempt this with wet hair, like I did with the french braid. Finally mastered that and was able to do it with dry hair. So, I feel your pain. :D
Oh man, I don't even want to think about trying to do a normal five-strand, not a side one. I can't even do a normal English braid anymore! :p Once I get to the nape of my neck I can't braid anymore and have to pull it over my shoulder to finish it, and I always lose my place and mess it up. Lol. But side braids are cool, they're the only braids I can actually do. I recently learned the fishtail, too, and I definitely couldn't do as anything other than a side braid.

The French braid was my enemy for months, I spent so many weekends trying to learn that thing! I eventually got it, but ugh! The Frenchie is evil.

[parallellines]

Larki, what a wonderful job, the braid is so glamorous. Do you have any secrets to reveal about how you did it, besides practice?

Pretty sure when my hair is (once again) long enough to try this, it will take me much practice -- with my previously longish hair, I wasn't able to do that at all and had to braid my hair when it was wet. For some reason, even my "wait a day or two" hair is too slippery to handle much dry braiding, or even covered elastics.

[Larki]

Larki, what a wonderful job, the braid is so glamorous. Do you have any secrets to reveal about how you did it, besides practice?

Pretty sure when my hair is (once again) long enough to try this, it will take me much practice -- with my previously longish hair, I wasn't able to do that at all and had to braid my hair when it was wet. For some reason, even my "wait a day or two" hair is too slippery to handle much dry braiding, or even covered elastics.
:D Thank you so much!

It definitely took me a few tries, and the first two or three go-arounds on the braid are the worst. Several times the braid just fell apart at the beginning. Once it got established, it was easier because the hair wasn't able to completely unbraid itself. It was a side braid over my right shoulder, and I found that if I held the two "inactive" strands while I braided the other three, I was able to braid much easier. When the inactive strands were on the left side of the braid, I held them in my teeth while I braided, and when they were on the right side, I held them in a couple of fingers with my right hand. The teeth thing worked, but ended up being a little uncomfortable toward the end of the braid, because the braid was so long that it would be turned upside down. ;) I think now that I kinda sorta have the hang of it, I'll just try using my left hand instead.

[Lady Una]

I think the side braid thing is a great idea! I often have trouble doing more complicated braids because they always seem to twist partway down when I pull them over my shoulder to finish them...I hate that.

[Larki]

I think the side braid thing is a great idea! I often have trouble doing more complicated braids because they always seem to twist partway down when I pull them over my shoulder to finish them...I hate that.
Yes! I can't even do an English braid properly at the back of my head, because when I pull it over my shoulder I get lost and mess it up. :p

[parallellines]

Larki, thank you for the description of how you accomplished the braid.

I look forward to trying this later (probably much, much later, grow hair grow!) :)