acrylic yarn is used. Do NOT use wool yarn, as your hair will begin to loc. And you really just braid like you would with hair. You can use as many or little pieces as you like. For braiding, I've use 2 strands (folded to make 4) and 3 (folded to make 6). And watching YT really does help. That is how I figured out how to do it. Blackonyx77 is who I watched. She demonstrated botht he 2 and 3 strand method. For upkeep, I would use a leave-in conditioner and regular water in a spray bottle, spritzing my hair once to two times a day. I washed my hair in the braids. When dry the braids are really light, but do get heavy when wet (like if you had a wet piece of clothing on your head).