The curse of the loopies

[spidermom]

I made a single side braid a few minutes ago, being very careful to comb my hair all nice and smooth multiple times as I worked. Yet when I hold my braid up to the light, I can see single loops of 1-4 hairs sticking out all along the length of my braid, loops that will free themselves so that hairs hang out of it and make my braid fuzzy and ugly. It doesn't matter how much oil and product I use or how much I comb my hair, I still get these loopy things!

Are you cursed by loopies? If not, how do you avoid them?

[*Aoife*]

Me too. I wish they would just go away!
Actually, no I don't. I just wish they'd lie flat and look nice!

I get them when bunning too, but I think buns look nicer when they get a little fuzzy

[Igor]

I get them too! I think it’s when my little fingers catch on the hairs in the braiding motion. No idea how to keep them from forming though (Short of amputating those mostly useless fingers?) so I’m following this thread :D

[got2pals]

I have the loopies, big time. Your hair is incredible, BTW! We have similar hair color, but you look to have twice as much of it. When I braid mine, it can look like an absolute mess of those in 15 minutes, 5 minutes if I'm wearing a shirt with a collar.

One thing that has helped mine is using a shampoo bar. I do have to use diluted vinegar for a rinse, and usually a little conditioner to deal with tangles because my hair is like that. I don't even have to use it every night, a few times per week is ample. When I do that, there are far fewer of those hairs that remind me of my dog sticking his head out the window when we're in the car. They don't like being buried in a braid!
The shampoo bar adds texture and, if I do it right, gives me more curl and wave and just sort of helps things hold together smoothly and neatly -- braids, updos. Does a lot to banish the fuzzies, gives a more polished look.

I have used only a goat's milk shampoo bar so far. I am planning on making my own (without the goat milk, though.) I tried a Dr. Bronner's soap bar last night which is a little more "residue-y" but it was sitting in the closet for 2 years, so I thought -- why not?
Good luck!

When I was a dancer I had to do all my buns with wet hair to avoid that look, maybe a spritz of hairspray. Probably wasn't good for it.

[embee]

My hair is stick straight and I get the things too. I hate them. Not only do they look bad, but they catch on things like earrings or fingers or buttons and pull out of the braid altogether.

I much prefer buns. At least for me the hair is more contained.

[ravenreed]

Another sufferer of braid loopies here. I usually pull them out because I would rather have fuzzies than loops that will catch on things.

[spidermom]

I can never wear anything with a zipper when my hair is braided because those cursed loopies grab onto the teeth of a zipper like nobody's business!

[squiggyflop]

i too am cursed with loopies.. ugh.. i sometimes have to redo my braids 3 times because of them

[pepperminttea]

I get these, too. Even after goodness knows how many braids, my fingers still seem to get strands mixed up, and loopies appear. I generally just bun the braid (unless it's for sleep), since it's less likely to catch on things if it's up out of the way. That's the theory, anyway... :rolleyes:

[sibiryachka]

I get them too! I think it’s when my little fingers catch on the hairs in the braiding motion. No idea how to keep them from forming though (Short of amputating those mostly useless fingers?) so I’m following this thread :D

That's my theory about how they form, too! It's especially bad on French braids. DBF has his own name for them: Dupe loops :p

[kwaniesiam]

I used to get those. When I braided my hair when it was slightly damp and smoothed with aloe it helped. Also braid a bit tighter, I mostly got them when doing loose braids.

[GRU]

Are they maybe caused by hair that has been caught in a "reverse braid" and got yanked out of formation?

Sorry I don't have any suggestions on how to stop them. I just know that I struggle to fight against reverse braiding, so I wondered if that might be a factor.

[spidermom]

I don't know what reverse braiding is.

[GRU]

I don't know what reverse braiding is.

It's when your ends accidentally get braided together (in reverse, and very messily) while you're braiding farther up. My curly hair is very "grabby" -- y'all would crack up if I showed you how I have to braid behind my head!!!!

[ravenreed]

I always braid tightly and I prevent reverse braiding as I go because otherwise I get a knot at the end, but I still get the loopies. :confused: Maybe I should do damp braiding and see how it works.


I used to get those. When I braided my hair when it was slightly damp and smoothed with aloe it helped. Also braid a bit tighter, I mostly got them when doing loose braids.


Are they maybe caused by hair that has been caught in a "reverse braid" and got yanked out of formation?

Sorry I don't have any suggestions on how to stop them. I just know that I struggle to fight against reverse braiding, so I wondered if that might be a factor.

[spidermom]

I run my fingers down my strands and comb through them every few turns of the braid to prevent tangling, so no reverse braiding problems. I do it rather loosely though; maybe that's my problem.

[Anje]

I get loopies all the time, everywhere, every hairdo. Even/especially loose. They are the bane of my hair's existence and the cause of kinked hairs and tangles for me.

[Igor]

I run my fingers down my strands and comb through them every few turns of the braid to prevent tangling, so no reverse braiding problems. I do it rather loosely though; maybe that's my problem.

You could try combing instead and see if it helps? :shrug:
(At least that’s what I do: Braid when damp, use leave in-conditioner and comb the length frequently)

[SpinDance]

Interesting thread. I don't usually get loopies and if I do, I will redo the braid, or the few turns that have problems. I braid fairly tightly, so that it stays as neat as possible for as long as possible. They always end up fuzzing, though. I think that's just the nature of the beast.

I'm trying to figure out what I do to prevent loopies, but it's been so long that I've got to watch myself do this to figure it out! Let's see. First, I almost never try to braid hair the day I wash it. I've got some wave/body to my hair that makes it want to frizz, each hair away from its neighbor. This is not good for braids. So, 2nd or more day from wash, or oiled if I'm going to be swimming, to give some protection to the hairs and help them lay nicely together.

I do not use a brush. I finger comb while braiding, just to keep the strands laying together neatly in the sections. I tend to use my pinkie fingers to hold the strand being worked. Every turn I separate the loose hanging sections, straightening as I go. This prevents the reverse braid problem, too. When French braiding I add the new section then sort of gently pull and straighten the newly combined section so that it is all smooth and together before making the next turn.

Mostly it's just practice, practice, practice!

[Peter]

I make sure to keep the 3 strands from touching each other. That dramatically reduces the number of loops I get. If I see one as I'm braiding, I'll undo it then re-braid.

I also comb the ends of the strands to keep them from tangling as I braid.

[heidihug]

I get them if I don't use a brush to prep my hair before braiding (Denman vented, there's nothing better for smoothing hair for updos, in my opinion). I brush through the strands every second crossover or so, just to smooth and separate them. I do have rather straight, fine and thin hair, though. I think the curlier the hair the more naturally loopy the 'do. I second the aloe suggestion.

[curlylocks85]

I guess I am the odd one out. I get "loopies" all the time, but I do not think they are a "curse". In fact, I like them. They give my hair character. I am not really sure what the big deal is, maybe it is because I have curly hair and I have stopped fighting my hair and now work with it. :shrug: To each their own...

[spidermom]

I do comb through my strands every few turns of the braid, and with a real comb, not my fingers. Lack of combing/smoothing is not my problem. I've even used my paddle brush on occasion -- no help there. Aloe vera gel and other gels/styling products don't help, either.

I guess I'm just cursed! And it's not a great, big, fat hairy deal, just annoying. I'd like a braid to stay "finished" for 10 minutes, not be fluffing out all over the place before I even get out the door.

[Paniscus]

Once again you make me smile, Spidermom! I never knew *they* had a name such as "loopies"! Too cute.

And yes, I do get those. By the end of the day, my braids are always fuzzy, especially if I do a single braid down the back. I hate this! I have no idea how to stop it, but will try some of the suggestions within this thread. Thanks for posting the query, as I'm a huge lover of braids and would enjoy keeping them smooth throughout the day if I could!

[haibane]

I wonder if loopies are related to how slippy the hair is. I used to have a (pin straight) synthetic wig that would get loopies like crazy, but rinsing it with fabric softener helped a lot. (not suggesting anyone use fabric softener in their hair though! :p )

[Jessica Trapp]

I smooth my palms down my hair with each stroke as I'm braiding. I don't remember ever getting loopies. Aloe vera gel before you start might help too.

jes

[got2pals]

The more I think about this, the more I recall that when i was a dancer, the only way to make it neatly through a day of jumping, spinning, and taking warm-ups on and off over your head was to have your hair a little damp when you braided it, bunned it or whatever. Everybody I knew did that. Especially the folks with soft, fine hair.

[curlylocks85]

I did not mean to sound like this is not important. It is depending on what the braid is for. I can understand that this could be damaging if the loops are big enough. I guess with me my hair blends together, so when there are loopies in my hair it is not too noticeable.

[countryhopper]

I don't think i get loopies (I've never noticed them, and they sound like an inconvenient thing to have, so I think I would have noticed).

Do you loopy-sufferers wash your hair daily? Do you you cones? It almost sounds more like hair behaving in a certain way from the products used, not necessarily from braidiing techniques.

Just throwing an idea out there!

[ravenreed]

I am not currently washing my hair daily and I do not use any products in my hair regularly other than conditioners and oils (no cones, either). I have not noticed a difference between freshly washed hair vs. third day hair in the amount of fuzzies/loopies, but now I guess I will have to pay more attention.

I didn't braid my hair much back when I was using cones, so I don't know if cones would make things better. I don't want to buy a coney conditioner to test it though. I wonder if I have a coney one in my product graveyard. *wanders off to search the dusty bottles*

ETA (a day later):I don't usually damp braid because I am not overly fond of the extreme braid waves I get. However, in the spirit of experimentation, I wet my hair and used aloe vera gel and some oil to see if it made a difference. I still got loopies, but when I tried to gently pull them out the hairs stretched and snapped. That doesn't normally happen when I braid my dry hair. I will stick with dry braiding, I guess.