Opinions

Hair-wraps
By Claire Reppucci - May 21, 2001

Editor's Note: Visit this craft site to find out how to do your own hair wraps --BB

If you have a daughter between the ages of three and eighteen and you are staying on-site at Walt Disney World (WDW) or off-site at the major hotels, chances are you will end up paying for a hair-wrap sometime during your vacation. What - you don’t know what they are? A hair-wrap consists of four pieces of cotton string knotted into a piece of hair, with the various colors wrapped around the other strands to create a colorful wrap of the hair. The ends usually have coordinating colored beads attached to them.

At Port Orleans, Riverside the green umbrella hair-wrap kiosk is located on the boat landing outside the lobby. The attendant was happy to be interrupted on this cloudy overcast day. She was very pleasant and gave a wealth of information about this business.

First, all the hair wrap stations at WDW are operated by an independent business that employs the women who staff each location. So they are not WDW employees, however they do wear the official nametags of the WDW employees. The employees do not work the same hotels each day or week. They are rotated on a regular basis, which this woman seemed to like since it gave her a break from the monotony of each location. In the state of Florida, hair wrap stylists have to be licensed. There is two days of school, which includes classroom instruction and practical application. This is followed by a written exam consisting of 300 questions.

The actual process of the hair-wrap takes approximately 15-20 minutes depending upon the length of your child’s hair and how quickly your child makes decisions! Let me explain. The first major decision is what four colors of cotton thread does your child want for the hair wrap? The bobbins of string are in bright, beautiful colors. There are 16 colors of 100% cotton floss, which allows the hair to breathe. It is hard to decide what colors to pick that will compliment each other. You should offer help only in the form of a suggestion of what colors would go well with your child’s color of hair. The hair-wrap lady told us that you should always have at least one color that she can use as an accent within the wrap. So you don’t want all your strings to be blue and green. You should select a yellow or a red to stand out in the wrap in this situation.

Ok, now the colors are selected, and your child is seated on a tall stool so that the hair wrap person can start the process.

The next decision you need to make is where to attach the strings in the hair. Now mind you, not every hair-wrap person will tell you this is a decision. Last year I wasn’t even asked this question. This year I learned that there are at least two locations to attach the strings. The first is on top of the head so that it hangs down on the side of the head and mixes with the hair. The second is to attach the strings to the underside of the head near the back of the ear. This is the less expensive route since the cost of the hair wrap is by how long it is. The going rate is $1.50 an inch at WDW. The one starting at the top of the hair would be much longer than one started down below.

I would highly recommend getting the hair-wrap behind the ear because it is much cheaper and because it is less uncomfortable when sleeping. The other reason is that it really depends upon the child how long the hair wrap will remain in the hair. When my youngest was four, she got her first wrap and the woman attached it too hard to her scalp. Within two days, I was cutting the strings to remove them, $15.00 wasted. However, my oldest daughter was seven and she maintained hers in her hair for four months!

The next decision you need to make is whether you want gold or silver metal accents mixed with the beads that are attached to the end of the strings. The hair-wrap person recommended the silver, since the gold didn’t really look like gold, the silver usually stood out much better and she told us that the gold tarnished a little making it look less appealing after awhile.

The last and final decision is on which type of beads to attach to the strings. All the ceramic beads are hand painted, and imported from Greece. The multi-colored Fimo beads are individually hand crafter from fine German Clays. If you specify you want the standard colored beads they come at no charge. The person will pick out the coordinating colors and using a needle, thread them onto the strings, tie them off, and then cut the ends. If you decide to let your daughter pick out her own - beware! The special beads are very pretty and can cost as much as $5.00 a piece.

Remind the woman to give you the extra string that she cuts off from the end of the hair-wrap. This can be made into either a bracelet or an anklet.

The woman told us that her best customers are men who bring their daughters. They frequently leave with bills for $35.00 and more. She also told us her worst customers are women who bring their daughters specifying that they just want the standard beads attached, then complain when there are only small beads attached to the wrap.

So the final damage you ask? For my oldest daughter who has chin length hair with one special bead and the hair wrapped from the top, the cost was $21.00. For the youngest daughter who has shoulder length hair, no special beads were attached and her wrap started behind her ear, the cost was $10.00. You will receive a bill that you have to bring to the dock office to pay. Then you need to remember that it is customary to tip the person who performed the hair wrap.

How long have the hair-wraps stayed in? This year my youngest child had a bead crack and come off after 12 days. Two days later the entire wrap came off at day-care. The oldest still has hers in after two weeks.

Is it worth the money? I would have to say a resounding “YES”. We only go on vacation once a year so this is one thing that they look forward to. They get to choose the colors and for children that don’t want to wear barrettes or other accessories in their hair it is a welcome change.

One tip I will leave you with is that the kiosk also carries, pre-made hair-wraps that you can buy which clip into your hair. The hair-wrap person told us she was wearing one of them herself. You can purchase one of these or wait to have one custom made for you. This would be my choice if I were to get one for myself!
Here is the sheet that you will get after your hair-wrap is completed.

Things to Know about Hair-wraps:

• Made from the finest quality 100% cotton floss, which allows hair to breathe.



• There are sixteen different colors to choose from, you may choose up to four.



• The multi-colored Fimo beads are individually hand crafted from fine German Clays.



• All ceramic beads are hand painted, and imported from Greece.



• You may swim with your hair-wrap, chlorine won’t hurt it.



• Shampoo and condition your hair-wrap right along with your hair.



• Care should be given not to get caught when engaging in vigorous activities.



• Remind small children not to pull, twist, or tug on their hair-wraps.



• Also be careful not to get it hung while brushing your hair.



• Hair-wraps length of stay varies depending upon care (instructions listed above), and the type and texture of the hair.



• You may remove your hair-wrap at any time without damage to the hair by simply, snipping the knots at every color change, and unraveling.



• It is also fun to make jewelry from the beads, once your hairwrap has been removed.