The simplest and more visual explanation of a braid comes from the braid a mother makes with her daughter's hair, from three wicks of hair. Laces and braids are narrow stripes of different materials, made from the crossing of the threads on the machine's circuit producing flat braids, or tubular ones according to the machine's settings.

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Braids can be made from 10, 30, 60 or more threads, each one of those also being made of several threads. The main quality of a braid is its high resistance to decay and its solidity (as for climbing ropes).