Why doesn't anyone tell you.........?

[wednesday]

that taking down yarn braids is the biggest pain in the A** EVER?????!!!!

They were really cute but i can't see myself doing these braids again if they are this annoying to remove

 

[kandiekj100]

^^I know what you mean. I did yarn braids once and I did yarn twists twice. While I prefer the look of the yarn braids, I found yarn twists to be so much easier to take down. However, I have seen on youtube that drenching the braids in conditioner and/or oil greatly eases the takedown process. I think I may be willing to give it another go, espeically b/c I love how they look so much. I get to feel like I have locs without the committment.

 

[KurleeK5]

Also on youtube Longhairdonecare11 has a tutorial on how she removes her braids. It makes it a lot less stressful. She takes one piece of the three sections and tugs gently and it unravels upwards.

 

[Tiye]

I haven't done them on myself but I've done them on other people - I agree - taking them down sucks.

 

[HoneyA]

OP, are you natural or processed and did you suffer any damage? How did you care for your hair underneath the braids? I'm asking because a friend of mine suffered serious damage when she took hers down.

 

[afrikurl]

I watched videos on taking them out and the people who said it was easy had short hair. The pulling one strand only works up until your real hair. If your hair is medium to long, that doesn't help much. I think it took me two days. It was such a drag but they were too cute. I may do them again though.

 

[afrikurl]

OP, are you natural or processed and did you suffer any damage? How did you care for your hair underneath the braids? I'm asking because a friend of mine suffered serious damage when she took hers down.

I know you were not talking to me but I'm natural and I did not suffer any damage. They were similiar to traditional braids. I think they hold alot of moisture so you have to moisturize the yarn and your hair VERY well. I wore them for about 9 weeks. I co washed every two weeks to keep my scalp clean and moisturized with long aind curl activator gel.

 

[wednesday]

OP, are you natural or processed and did you suffer any damage? How did you care for your hair underneath the braids? I'm asking because a friend of mine suffered serious damage when she took hers down.

I'm natural 4b/c, my hair actually felt great when i took the braids down. I braided with Red Heart Super Saver 100% Acrylic yarn, before i put the yarn in my hair i moisturized it with S Curl spray and i also put shea butter on the length of my hair. I moisturized daily with S Curl spray/ African Pride Braid spray/ My own aloe,oil & glycerine spray or even just plain water. I would baggy overnight sometimes. i washed and conditioned with watered down conditioner every 2 weeks. I theink the yarn really held moisture in my hair because it was the best my hair had felt after braids.
I've heard people get damage with yarn braids when they use wool yarn.

 

[morehairplease]

OP, we are here ><......they are such a pain to take down. While I love the convenience of wearing braids I dread the take down.

 

[ycj1]

I took mine out about 3 weeks or so. It normally takes me btwn 4-5 hours to take them out depending if I don't stop and take breaks. They are a wonderful PS. But there is a downside besides putting them in and taking them out. For me I've been in them since March 2009 but had to bc again this past Oct bc I still had texturized ends which I wanted to get rid of.

I bc down to 3 inches of hair so now it's like I am starting all over again. The biggest downside at least for me when I wear the yarn braids is the after affect. My scalp stays sore for weeks after I take them out. And no I never ever put them in tightly knowing it's almost impossible to sleep and afraid of the damage tight braids will incur. They are still out and I think I will give it until the first wk of April or so to put them back in if that. I don't know why my scalp is overtly sore but it is. So I am loving this much needed break from them. But yes they are hell to take down besides putting them in. And yes I do only use 100% Acrylic

Anyways I welcome the freedom of not having them now bc I have the opportuinity to wash and dc better witout them in and to use other products just to see how they work with my hair.

Btw it did not matter about how many times you wash, whether it's once a wk or every other week cuz for the most part they are not pleasant taking them out.

 

[Fhrizzball]

Great this is giving me second thoughts about mine. I want mine to be BSL too. For those that wet their hair often while in it do you feel that that may be a contributing factor to the difficulty? Also are they harder or easier to take down verses regular braids?

 

[ycj1]

Great this is giving me second thoughts about mine. I want mine to be BSL too. For those that wet their hair often while in it do you feel that that may be a contributing factor to the difficulty? Also are they harder or easier to take down verses regular braids?

It all depends on how tight the braids are. I don't see any difference from synthetic to the yarn as far as braids. As far as wetting, to me from my experience it does not make any diff. as far as wetting or not. Any time you shampoo/cond/oil the scalp or how lightly you think your doing it, any application of any thing on the scalp will seep down and into the base of the braid. It cannot be avoided. Even the so called braid sprays does get into the base. The only thing I can half way see is if you don't use any type of product while yr hair is in the braids, but you run the risk of dry hair and scalp which will eventually lead to breakage.

So IMO the moral to this story is keeping yr hair and scalp moisturized and clean and you definitely will have to use something to keep yr hair and scalp moisturized and it's imperative to keep the scalp clean by washing or co-washing at least once a week or you will develop severe matting. One more thing I would like to add is no matter how much you wash your hair while in braids you still will have product residue in the base which cannot be avoided.

 

[wednesday]

Great this is giving me second thoughts about mine. I want mine to be BSL too. For those that wet their hair often while in it do you feel that that may be a contributing factor to the difficulty? Also are they harder or easier to take down verses regular braids?

I find yarn braid WAY harder to remove than regular braids. I can take down micros in 2 hrs, singles in 1 hr but i took out my yarn braids over a period of three days. My hair thrived in yarn braids though. I'm wearing my second set now. I hope to keep them in for 2 months, i put them in at the beginning of March.

 

[MsLizziA]

I know!! I love them and my hair thrives in them but they just take SO FRICKN LONG to takeout! I wish someone would have told me.... but i still want them back

 

[Urban]

LOL. Yep, they're cute but taking them down is a pain. When I did them I wrote a couple of blog posts pointing out that taking them down was one of the major drawbacks.

I did see a few videos on YT of people undoing them by combing them out. Although it took way less time ... I'm not comfortable with it. Looked like a road to split-endsville. No thanks.