So I'm starting the dread process and I have a few questions because I'm a little confused...some people urge against things, while others approve... It's clear to me not to use wax, or bands, but besides that, what do a lot of you have to say about sea salt and lemon juice? Would you say it would be better to use sea salt and lemon juice, or better to just let them go, and not use anything on them ? (besides soap, in a couple weeks) My other question is... my boyfriend started backcombing last night, but the comb I got ended up breaking... I got a metal flea comb, just like I've seen many people recommend on here, but it didn't hold up too well. Is there any specific type of comb, or brand that works best? Is there a preferred method to backcombing? What he did so far was, twist the hairs together, and back comb... By the way, if sea salt + lemon juice is a good thing to utilize, when should that be started? Immediately, or later on? I also read your posts about using stockings overnight... I feel a little dumb, but I'm not sure I know what that means...what kind of stocking? *so clueless* I think that just about concludes my questions for now...
Aw shit, I miss spraying my dreadies down with sea salt. Never tried the lemon juice, but I'd probably be afraid of the acidity... I'm just not very tolerant to acidity, generally, by any means.
i wouldnt bother twisting them up when you backcomb... that makes it way harder to do good and makes them look like twists. If your OK having really messy hair for a while (which you should be since your planning on growing locks) you could always ditch the comb and just use your fingers to backcomb. This will make them look much more natural (and loads bettter IMHO) As for sea salt lemon juice. Just mix like 2 tablespoons of real lemon juice (not the bottled crap) and like a 6 tablespoons (maybe less, i go by taste) of sea salt in a bottle with warm water. Shake it up good then spray your shit down like once every 2 weeks or so. It does help if you use it before backcombing to just let it dry first.
i think the spray sounds like a good idea in that case, my hair easily mats together for dreading, but has trouble keeping locked. Thanks!
Hmm I know that when I started backcombing I was using a plastic comb and I broke like every bristle on the darn thing, so I got this wider toothed dog comb and it worked pretty good but I still backcomb with my fingies every day along with touque wearing which kinda mats it together more in my opinion and keeps them down, so you dont look like sideshow bob from the simpsons. But when it comes to fleacombs if you are bending the bristles its because you are combing to far from the spine of the comb, push the comb all the way to the spine in your fair then push towards the scalp. The bristles will transfer more of the force to the spine rather then the joint. Worked for me! Best of luck!
Thank you abseeley-- I'll definitely take note of that. From the looks of it though, this comb just might not have been the best pick. It was difficult for me to judge when purchasing it though because it came in a package so I couldn't really tell how flimsy or durable it was going to be. I'll try a different one, and the method you suggested and see if that works. Thanks soo much
Well I got a different comb...its metal, but its not technically a flea comb, but seems to do the job still. The flea comb did come in handy for smaller parts... I sprayed some lemon juice + sea salt on my hair, let it dry, and then backcombed and it seemed to go much more smoothly that way. About the twisting, by the way, the twisty look has gone away since I've been palm rolling and using my fingers to back comb constantly... With new dreads, is it safe to get my hair wet, or should I wear a shower cap when I bathe? I don't want to fuck them up, so I've just been kind of washing my body, outside of a shower, paranoid I'm going to ruin them... thanks for all the advice so far
Well mine are still pretty young like a couple weeks at most, but me and my buds always go swimming at this old train bridge that burnt down, and usually i just put my dreadies in elastics at the base so the hair stays kinda somewhat where it should, but other then that ive had no problem with rinsing them every now and then. As long as you dont wash like everyday you should be good, i wouldn't worry about the shower cap, but do make sure they dry out well, because you don't want mouldies, I just like take a towel and like squeeze each one to get them real dry.
Yeah, if only I had a digital camera or something. I took some pictures on my phone, but I'm not sure how to get them on the computer. I did 98% of the dreading all myself, so I'm pretty proud of that. But, I'm not so sure about the ends... Everything seems to be backcombed tightly, but the ends just kind of hang there... is that okay in the early stages? Everyone seems to talk of problems with roots in the beginning, but my roots seem to be holding up ridiculously well... they are knotted tightly and I haven't had to fuck with them hardly at all. I stayed away from wax, and I only used bands the first couple nights sleeping with them so that they didnt all just start knotting together... but the bands are out now, and they seem to be doing really well... though I am still a bit nervous about the ends. I already have a favorite The dread nearest to the left side of my face...fucking beautiful. It was the only one I got done with an actual flea comb, so maybe that's why it turned out so nicely, but as I said before the comb kept bending and breaking so I couldn't accomplish my entire head with that comb. I got a different pet comb, it's like a flea comb but the bristles are a bit farther apart, and much stronger. I'm thinking of trying to find a stronger flea comb, to work on my ends... I have a feeling the reason they aren't knotting well is because the bristles on the comb I use, are too far apart to get the skinny little ends...if that makes any sense. Suggestions? Comments, concerns? Lots of love, me
the ends need tons of constant work if you want them to knot up. i just leave mine....they're pretty much all loose but i think they look better that way plus when they're not loose i loose like 3 inches of hair...so i'm definitely in favour of just leaving them be.
Okay, that's part of what I was wondering about...because everytime I try to knot up the ends, yeah, my hair goes from shoulder length to like... EAR length. Not that I care THAT much, I know that eventually they will grow. So long as they stay together, and dread nicely with the ends kind of loose, I can sleep at night. I just want to make sure they won't come apart, is all. Thank you
Maybe you could email the pics from your phone to yourself? I have no idea, lol. I don't have a camera phone, but my sis emails me pics from her phone.
I can't send pictures through text or email, because I don't have the internet on my phone. And if I receive picture texts, all it does is send me this little url to go to when I'm on a computer to view it. I can get a USB cable for my phone to hook up to the computer to transfer pictures...only I'm not sure how teeny tiny the pix would turn out. Either way, my friend is taking pictures of my dreadies for me soon. and then I'll for sure put them up I got so many beautiful beads for them. I had one in and slid it up a bit the other day to notice it really helped tighten up the spot where it was placed...so, I decided to put beads in my problem areas (or areas where two dreads try to mingle with each other) to see if that helps at all with tightening and separating.
