How to Braid Cornrows

Cornrowing is a beautiful art, and I'm happy to encourage people everywhere to take it up. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them on this hub. Don't be shy. Your question may help someone else who has the same one.

Before we get to the instructions for how to braid cornrows, here are a few tips to make sure you'll get good results within your first few attempts.

Tips for Braiding Cornrows

You need about 5 cm. of hair if it's very curly, and at least 7-9 cm. of hair if it's straight, for cornrows to hold. One should not have to pull your hair very tightly in order to braid it. Precise braiding and the right product, not extra tension, is what keeps a style.

If your hair is very slick, you need to use something called an "aqua wax" for hold. If you use a regular hair gel, it dries your hair out, and "boogers" of hair gel may form if you sweat or wash it in between styling sessions. The worst that can happen with aqua wax is that it would shine more.

Some people with straight but very dry hair get pretty good results from "sumo wax". It is more like a hair grease, where aqua wax is closer to a super moisturized or oily gel.

Make sure that you have set aside plenty of time. Cornrow styles often take a long time to complete. You can estimate somewhere between 10-15 minute for each row. Have some things around to amuse them, if you're styling a child's hair. The television, toys, something. Kids get antsy after a few minutes.

Even grownups need some diversion, and breaks too. Take a break every half hour to hour, depending on your and their endurance. Relaxing music and comedy movies help to pass the time.

Be patient with yourself. Very few people get it right the first time. Don't give up if it looks a little strange or unravels. Just keep practicing. It's best to use a doll or a hair stylists' mannequin until you feel confident enough to try it on a human, unless you have a very patient model.

Step 1: Plan your style.

Even if you're doing a very simple style like straight rows from front to back, you'll need to plan.  Different people have different hairlines, and as you braid cornrows, the braid becomes thicker as you go along.  So account for this when you part the hair.  A trick I do is starting at the middle of the head and working my way out.  This leads to more symmetrical styles because I can make adjustments as I go along.

Step 2: Make your initial parts.

You're going to part a long section of hair.  Use rubber bands or hair clips to hold other hair out of the way while you're working.

Step 3: Take a small amount of hair from the point where you will want the cornrow to begin, and braid 2 normal stitches.

This is to prevent too much tension at the hairline or beginning of the braid.  What you're doing is making a bit of slack.  Too many braiders skip this, and this is why you see so much traction alopecia (hair loss from pulling of the hair).

Step 4: Pick up a small amount of hair from the section, just under where you're currently braiding, and add this to the middle strand.

Try not to pick up too much.  If you do, it makes for an unbalanced braid, and the "stitch" will be too large.

Step 5: Braid a stitch, pick up more hair, finish that stitch, pick up more, and so on.

Basically, you're picking up more hair and adding it to the middle strand as you go along.  Be mindful that, especially when you're going around curves, you might need to do a regular stitch or two in order to make slack as you go.  You don't always want to do 1:1 braiding and picking up because it might be too tight or look unbalanced.