How do you all keep your hair from tangling up while you are french braiding it?  My hair is very fine and always wants to stick together.  Therefore, it is hard to separate in sections.  I hate to cause a lot of damage every time I braid.

My hair loves to tangle whenever I braid it.  I've learned to make sure each section is separated after each crossing/braid.  It might take a bit longer doing this, but at least I don't have the re-braiding that I have to untangle.

I was hoping you would reply, Bikerbraid.  I know you have fine hair like me.  Do you have any tricks for keeping your arms from getting tired?

LOL - PRACTICE!  The more you braid, the more your arms get used to being held above your head (and the faster you get!).  

When I was first learning to french braid, I did figure out how to hold the strands in one hand so that I could "rest" the other arm.

Try braiding your hair every night for bed.  This is excellent practice, since neatness is not a factor for sleeping.  You will be surprised at how quickly your braiding skills will develop.  (and another hint - DON'T use a mirror - it only confuses the brain).

Just found this thread.... My hair is fairly thick, but still loves to knot up. one tangle spreads in a matter of seconds into a mat of epic proportions, it seems.  I'm glad I'm not the only one who only gets confused by mirrors. Always want to go in the wrong direction :(   Then, I don't like mirrors much in general.  Except for looking at the back of my head to check it.

Braiding thick hair is tricky, simply because of the amount of hair you're dealing with.  You have to go slowly and take your time.  My greatest challenge is getting the divisions even-I have more hair on the left side of my head than the right.

Also, I used to take too large of a section for something like a French or Dutch braid.  It looks better with smaller amounts of hair taken into each section, otherwise the bulk of the hair distorts the pattern.

I'm the opposite - more hair on right than left. My biggest problem is getting braids to look half-decent. I always end up with lumps, or even worse, hair ending up in weird arches over the rest. Heh, I remember when I learned the evils of large sections. I tried to french braid my hair before school, and ended up with all the loose hair in the braid before i got halfway down my head. *shakes head* It looked rediculous, but the bus came before I had a chance to fix it. I ended up making a braided bun with the excess and passing it off as "something I saw somewhere".
I don't think anybody was fooled.

I'm the same,more hair I think on the right than the left.  I haven't even attempted to learn french braiding my hair.  I think that would truly be a nightmare.  Somethings are better left either in a simple braid or a ponytail........ ::)

I have more hair on my left side.  My arms get so tired, I quit braiding  :'(.  I have  admired those that could braid, their hair always looked soo lovely.  I have been practicing, but when I get to my shoulders my arms give out.  Of course, my hair weighs a ton.  Keep practicing and you will get it.

Debr

Most of the time, my hair is pulled back in a standard english braid(i never knew it had a name other than "braid" until I came here... that's the only way my arms don't kill me - even then I have to rest each arm at least once, and drape the braid over the shoulder to take some of the weight off. My hair's pretty heavy too, Debr. :) It is pretty odd that one almost needs to go to a gym to get the arm strength to fix one's hair these days.

Perhaps a rope braid would be good-its a two strand braid and all you do is twist in one direction and cross over in the opposite.  It is faster, once you get the pattern down so maybe your arms won't get too tired.  Mine will sometimes when French braiding, just because of the effort to make it look nice-all the thickness can make it a very slow process!

Now I'm wondering...I'm left handed and have more hair on my left side.  Does your quantity show up on the same side for you?  (Your dominant side)

Nope, sorry Sakina, I'm a leftie too. (well, I'm abidextrous for almost everything *except* my hair. my right hand does not understand the concept of combing and brushing. Its... defective in that regard. ) And I've never managed to get the hang of rope braiding... It always looks like my three year old niece got ahold of it when i'm done :(

LOL!  Yeah, us lefties are wired different.

It was just a curiosity-I'm ambidexterous also.

I didn't get the hand of rope braiding until I got this DVD, Bridal Styles Made Simple by Kathie Rothkop from her website www.hairrific.com.

There's some fun stuff on there, and when she does the rope braid she verbally repeats the directions and I think it finally sunk in.  Actually, right now I've got my hair in a rope braid bun with hairsticks.  I think its my new favorite!!

Count me in,too for being ambidextrous(?) 8-)

I wish I could do my hair with both hands, as easily as i can write... Forwards, backwards, lefthand, righthand, give me a pen(or two) and i'm set. And yet half the time i can't even complete a simple bun. Sometimes i think that when it comes to hair, I'm nonbidextrous.... Is there actually a word for that?

Most lefties end up having to be ambidextrous due to the fact that nothing is quite designed right(left?).
Or even worse, we're taught by righties who punish us for using our left. (kindergarten sucked).

Sorry your kindergarten experience sucked.  I got really lucky-they didn't try to make me write differently.  I write like a right handed person, except its with my left hand.  

Keep practicing with your hair, you'll get it!!!

Another ambidextrous person chiming in!  I too was forced to use my right hand in the early years of school, so I write and eat with my right hand, but do most everything else left handed or left sided.  (At least anything the teachers couldn't control 8-) )

Braiding is one of those activities that requires musclue learning.  Repitition will train the muscles of your fingers/hands to do the braiding without thinking about it.  Practicing every day helps.

What was really odd, mom had taught me to read and write by the time I was four... She's another ambi/leftie, so she taught me properly. That's why it was so confusing when my teachers told me I was doing it wrong. They also seemed to hate the fact that I could already read. Kept taking my books away during naptime. :( I didn't need sleep, I needed more stories!
Oddly, Anything musical, I'm better with my right hand.
The typical english braid, I can pull off in no time flat... It's when I try to get complicated, like adding sections that tings go awry. sooner or later I'll get to taking a pic of my horrible french braiding skills.

LOL, Kiraela, I'd love to see a pic of your "horrible french braiding skils".

Although I'm left-handed for writing, eating and brushing my teeth I do nearly everything else right handed.  I figured it would be less confusing to learn guitar right handed, so that's the latest right handed thing I do.

I agree, BB, frequent practice is required to get any braid down.

Augh! I KNOW! My hair is impossible, so I always end up with a simple three strand-braid. It's so boring.  :P But after reading this I've decided I'm going to learn how to french-braid anyway. Good thing I'm stubborn...  ;)

Joan-Ivy wrote on Jun 21^st, 2007 at 4:44am:

Augh! I KNOW! My hair is impossible, so I always end up with a simple three strand-braid. It's so boring.  :P But after reading this I've decided I'm going to learn how to french-braid anyway. Good thing I'm stubborn...  ;)

Hah! Done! I succesfully completed my first french-braid (on myself...) EVER!  ;D ...My arms feel like rocks.  :o

Congrats on completing your first french braid!  Keep practicing and your arms will get used to being help up (and you will get faster at it!).