Braiding hair when damp

[coscass]

I wonder, has anyone ever tried to rope braid hair when damp? If you did ropebraid pigtails, what do you think the turn out would be? Tonight isn't my wash night, otherwise I'd try it.

I'm curious as to what would happen. I think you'd need to do maybe 3 rope braids to get anything decent, and maybe if you did a lot of little ones you'd get too many tangles.

[Peter]

I did 2 rope braids on damp hair a long time ago:

(Click for larger version)
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?pictureid=30718&albumid=2191&dl=1233512918&thumb=1 (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=2191&pictureid=30718)

[Hana]

i dont do it soaking wet! otherwise it never dries.
when its sort of half wet, i do one large, loose plait. sometimes i sleep on it.
then in the morning undo, GENTLY run fingers through it and you're ready to rock'n'roll.

i tried doing it with little ones, BAD IDEA. frizz and pain undoing them.


I did 2 rope braids on damp hair a long time ago:

(Click for larger version)
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?pictureid=30718&albumid=2191&dl=1233512918&thumb=1 (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=2191&pictureid=30718)

absolutely gorgeous. i am entirely envious.

[Capybara]

I have! I find most of my braids hold better if done when wet, or, if not after a wash, if done when oiled. My hair is quite straight though, so the result is (firstly) a braid that stays in without all of those annoying flyaways, and then (secondly), braid waves! Rope braid waves tend to look a bit sloppy on me, though. I like the structure of the waves a traditional english braid gives, although you might not have to worry about that, seeing as (judging by your stats) you already hae beautiful curly hair!

I think the main thing is making sure that it's not too wet so that it dries while in the braid. Two rope braids would give a good result, I think (:

[Angharad]

I always braid my hair when it is still wet; I believe you keep the moisture "locked in" this way.

I make one braid when I go to sleep and in the morning I just brush my hair with the tangle teezer and my hair is still a bit damp; this way I get my hair more flat and not that bushy (it is the only way to keep control of my rather thick hair).

[Honey39]

I only ever braid my hair when damp - too much like hard work otherwise! The braid waves I get are so exaggerated and OTT that I never use them, they just look a bit stupid on me. My hair is very wurly, and so any braid waves are always super-exaggerated.

I usually braid my hair when I need to look neat for work and I'm running late. I also have a trick of using it to saturate my hair in the braid in coconut oil. Damp hair + coconut oil + a tight braid = super soft conditioned hair the next day when I wash it all out :-)

[Ash]

I only ever braid my hair when it is damp or wet. My hair will not stay in one if it is dry. I have not worn a rope braid out but I kept one in damp hair for 2 hours at home and it stayed decently, compared to the time I tried to do it in dry hair and it wouldn't even stay twisted long enough to fasten.

[GoddesJourney]

Braiding hair wet is normal for me because I do it right out of the shower. It's usually still wet when I come home from work and take my braid out. I found my hair was in the best condition ever when I used to do this every day. I guess it not only keeps it protected but keeps it moisturized. Also, it keeps the braid from falling out so quickly.

[verene]

I've done rope braid pig-tail in my hair while damp. While they left a slight bit of body to my hair I didn't get the waves I'd get with a 3-strand braid, or even a herringbone. Sort of like bun waves, but with less volume, and they fell out quickly. I find my rope-braids look better when done on damp hair, but as I'm not much of a rope braider in the first place this is not a style I've done often.

I very frequently 3-strand braid my hair while damp. Cuts down on tangles, leaves lovely wavinesss in my hair, and my hair loves the moisture. The wetter the hair at time of braiding the more body/waves it receives upon complete drying.

[Twil]

I've only braided my hair wet, the rope turns out great because I can braid it loose and have it tighten throughout the day. A perk of shrinkage

[Star Eagle]

thanks for that piece of info... I only braid when wet also..because it gives me curly hair when it dries...

[Gumball]

Oh my I've made the mistake of rope braiding wet hair. It's not utterly terrible when it's just one. I'm not saying I'd do it much, but it's definitely better than doing two or more rope braids on wet hair. If you can imagine twisting hair to bun it, and having it not want to straighten and unwind after you let it go, then that's what my hair does when I take those out. Ugh. Combing them out to do anything, even a three-strand braid, takes a lot of time because my hair gets the need to wind back up. I've learned my lesson (a few different times). Haha. It can work for others. Just not me! Curly hair loves reasons to be curly.

[ArienEllariel]

If my hair is the least bit damp when I try to braid it, it ends up looking messy and bumpy. I just can't seem to get decent sections to lie the way I want them to when it's damp. That's why I braid hair when it's dry. ^^ Works for me and I still get awesome braid waves. Of course I've only ever done french and dutch braids or regular 3 strand braids this way. I may try damp braiding for rope braids and see if I get the same effect.

[zeldagirl7491]

Is it damaging to your hair to braid it while it's wet?

[tralalalara]

Is it damaging to your hair to braid it while it's wet?

I don't think so. My hair was at its thickest when I braided it wet on wash day, then wore the waves or re-braided it the next day as it grew out.
It was good for benign neglect growth too: It got to waist this way before I cut it all off.

[AJoifulNoise]

You mean some of you manage a rope braid on dry hair? I always do it with wet. Same goes with regular braiding. If I do it on dry hair it's only before I'm about to clip it up because it's super fuzzy from the start.

[florenonite]

I've done twin French rope braids on damp hair when I washed early evening, then took them out in the morning. My hair was still damp when I took out the braids, but dried fairly quickly.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?pictureid=36633&albumid=1012&dl=1239646354&thumb=1 (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=1012&pictureid=36633)

[MandyBeth]

How do you rope braid on dry hair? :) I've got the two rope braids into one rope braid on my half up - and I can tell, it's not even close to dry yet - but it's not the worst thing for me as if my hair is up at all, it won't dry. If I let my hair dry first, it won't twist and stay twisted, my hair starts to fuzz out, then I just have a fuzzy mess.

However, french braiding while wet - that's a messy disaster. But since most of the ends get caught up in the braid, slightly less mess.

[zeldagirl7491]

Oh, ok. I'm going to start that now. :)

[italianamama]

Pretty much the only way I can get a braid to stay put in my very thick hair is to braid it while damp. It takes longer to dry, but it makes my hair happy so I'll just keep rolling with it.

[walterSCAN]

You mean some of you manage a rope braid on dry hair? I always do it with wet. Same goes with regular braiding. If I do it on dry hair it's only before I'm about to clip it up because it's super fuzzy from the start.

I almost never do any kind of braid on wet or even damp hair... if I do, it will never, EVER dry!! ::shakes her fist at her own hair:: :wink:

Actually, I've never left a wet/damp braid in longer than about 36 hours because my scalp hair and the shorter hairs near my face get fuzzy from sleeping... maybe 48 or 60 would eventually let it get dry? :shrug: I sense an experiment in my future...

I do get braid waves from dry-braiding though, so it's ok.

To the OP: I get smooth (not tangly) dread-looking things initially that turn into really soft waves after I've combed it gently when I rope braid my hair.