There's no standard name for a braid size. What one braider calls medium, another calls smedium, and you won't find out which until you're halfway through the install. The chart above turns each size into a part size you can measure, a braid count, the packs to buy and the hours it takes. The planner works it out for your head, your length and your style.
What do braid sizes mean?
Every size starts with the square of scalp under each braid. Shrink the part and everything else grows with it: you get more braids, you use more hair, and you spend a lot longer in the chair.
- Jumbo: parts 2 inches or more, around 24 braids.
- Large: parts about 1.5 inches, around 40 braids.
- Medium: parts about 1 inch, around 75 braids.
- Smedium: parts about 0.75 to 1 inch, around 103 braids.
- Small: parts 0.5 to 0.75 inch, around 130 braids.
- Micro: parts under 0.5 inch, around 200 braids.
Those counts are for an average adult head. Thick hair takes more braids, so the planner's high-density setting raises medium from 75 braids to 89.
Smedium is the size people argue about. It sits between small and medium, and every number we give for it is the midpoint of the two. If your braider says smedium, plan for more braids than medium and fewer than small.
Braid parting charts
The parting maps above draw each size on a head, so you can see the grid before anyone picks up a comb.
Small parts
Small parts are 0.5 to 0.75 inch square. The map shows a full head in 100 to 150 braids, 130 on an average head. Small braids hang light and move a lot, but you're signing up for a long day in the chair.
Smedium parts
Smedium parts run about 0.75 to 1 inch, between small and medium. Expect 80 to 120 braids, around 103. The look is full without the hours of small.
Medium parts
Medium parts are about 1 inch square, the size most people picture when they say box braids. A medium head runs 60 to 90 braids, about 75. It's the planner's default because it's where most people land: full enough to look like a lot of hair, and quick enough that you're done in a day.
Large parts
Large parts are about 1.5 inches, for 32 to 50 braids, around 40. Fewer braids means a shorter install. Each braid carries more hair, though, so each one is heavier on your scalp.
Jumbo parts
Jumbo parts are 2 inches or more, for 20 to 30 braids, around 24. They go in fastest of any size on the chart.
Knotless braid sizes
Knotless braids use the same parts as box braids. What changes is the hair. It's fed in a little at a time along the braid, so knotless takes about 15% more hair than box braids of the same size, and each braid takes a bit longer.
Medium knotless
Medium knotless means 1-inch parts and about 75 braids. To mid back (26 inches), that's 7 to 11 single bundles, 9 to buy, and about 7 hours. The same size in box braids takes 8 bundles and 6 hours.
Smedium knotless
Smedium knotless is about 103 braids on 0.75 to 1-inch parts. To mid back it takes 8 to 12 single bundles, 10 to buy, and about 9 hours 30 minutes.
Small knotless
Small knotless is about 130 braids. To mid back you're looking at 8 to 12 single bundles, 10 to buy, and about 12 hours 15 minutes.
Large and jumbo knotless
Large knotless is about 40 braids and 3 hours 45 minutes. Jumbo knotless is about 24 braids and 2 hours 15 minutes. At mid back, large takes 8 single bundles and jumbo takes 6.
Braid length chart: how long should your braids be?
Pick your length by where the braids land on your body, using the length chart above. Don't go by the number on the pack.
Pack length and finished length aren't the same thing. The hair gets folded where it joins your own, and the ends get tapered, so a pack labeled one length rarely hangs at that length. Plan for the landmark, then let your braider pick the pack.
Length also doesn't scale hair the way you'd think. Every braid needs hair at the root and the end, whatever its length, so a 12-inch braid still takes 70% of the hair of a 24-inch one. Going from bra strap to waist in medium knotless moves you from 8 bundles to 10, not to double.
Got your length? Choose the color next with our braiding hair color chart.
How many packs of braiding hair do you need?
Medium knotless to mid back takes about 724 grams of hair. How many packs that is depends on which pack you buy, and this is where most people come up short.
- A single bundle weighs about 85 grams.
- A 3X pack weighs about 240 grams, close to three singles in one.
So "buy 3 packs" means two very different things. Three single bundles is 255 grams. Three 3X packs is 720 grams. For medium knotless at mid back, the first leaves you more than half short, and the second still falls a few grams under, so buy 4.
The planner gives you both answers: 9 single bundles or 3.5 3X packs for that style, with a range for heads that run light or heavy. Why a range and not one number? Two braiders working the same size won't cut the same number of parts, and a medium head can land anywhere from 60 braids to 90. The low end of the range covers the braider who parts big, and the high end covers the one who parts small. The buy number sits on the average head. If your braider tends to part small, buy toward the top of the range, because running out halfway through the install is the one outcome you can't fix.
Buy every pack in the same code from one brand, and use the color chart to match it before you open anything.
How long do braids take?
Install time is braid count times the minutes per braid. Box braids run about 4.8 minutes a braid, knotless about 5.6, so size matters far more than skill:
| Size | Box braids | Knotless |
|---|---|---|
| Jumbo | 2 hr | 2 hr 15 min |
| Medium | 6 hr | 7 hr |
| Small | 10 hr 30 min | 12 hr 15 min |
| Micro | 16 hr | 18 hr 45 min |
Doing them at home? You don't have to finish in one day, and you shouldn't try with the small sizes. Small and micro are the sizes worth splitting. Small knotless is 130 braids, so four nights of about 33 braids each comes to a little over 3 hours a night. Braid the back first while your arms are fresh, and leave the front for last so the parts you see most are the ones you did best.
How do you braid a child's hair?
A child's head takes fewer braids. The planner's child setting cuts the braid count and the hair by 15%. Medium knotless to the shoulder for a child is about 64 braids, 6 single bundles and 6 hours, against 75 braids, 7 bundles and 7 hours for an adult.
Six hours is a lot to ask of a kid. Split it into two sittings of about 32 braids each, with snacks, a show and real breaks. A child who's comfortable sits still, and still means neater parts.
Keep the tension light, especially at the edges. A braid should sit snug. If it pulls the scalp up into a bump, it's too tight. If your child winces, ease off on that braid and redo it rather than hoping it settles.
Most of the battle happens before the first part, at detangling. Parents of tender-headed kids told us what changed for them:
"Great brush! My daughter is very tender headed and I was able to do her hair in record time with no tears! Great buy!" Kierra G.
"Detangling my tender headed 5 y/o isn't snag free but it is MUCH easier and almost no fuss about pulling kinky or tangled spots! ZERO tears! We were able to wash, condition, oil and style (wet) in an hour!" Andrea R.
"Love this brush! I bought it specifically for my daughter because she is tender-headed, and it drastically reduced the amount of screaming while detangling. 😁 Highly recommend." Ivy C.
When the braids come out, go slow. Same as installing, two shorter sessions beat one long one.
How do you part clean braids?
Clean parts make braids look finished. Every braid gets the same square, so every braid takes the same hair and hangs the same way.
- Mist the hair lightly with a fine-mist spray bottle so it's damp, not wet. Damp hair holds a line.
- Split the head into four sections and clip three away.
- Draw rows across the working section, front to back, at your part size. One inch for medium.
- Cut each row into squares with the tail of the comb, and braid one square at a time.
- Smooth the edges with an edge brush once the hairline braids are in.
Sleep in a satin bonnet from the first night. It keeps the parts flat and the frizz down for the whole wear.
How do you detangle after taking braids out?
Box and knotless braids are planned for 6 to 8 weeks, feed-in cornrows for 2 to 4. Your own hair keeps shedding the whole time, and that shed hair stays trapped in the braid until takedown.
Expect a lot of hair to come out. Most of it is that shed hair, not breakage.
Take the braids out one at a time and work the shed hair out of each section with your fingers before you go near a brush. Then detangle in sections, ends first, working up to the root, with a wide-tooth detangling comb or the Easy Detangler. One customer said it plainly:
"Amazing brush. I had just taken down some braids i had in too long. So of course i had build up, this brush made the process so much easier!!" Serita N.
Wash and condition after the detangle, not before. Water on a head full of shed hair tightens every knot.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
Braid counts, grams per braid, pack weights, minutes per braid and wear times come from published braiding hair calculators and pack weights, cross-checked, as of October 10, 2026. Smedium figures are the midpoint of small and medium. The child setting is 0.85 of the adult braid count and hair. Hours and packs on this page are worked out from those figures with the same formulas the planner uses.
Pick a size and length in the planner above, and take the pack count with you when you shop.