So three years ago I had dreads backcombed in but since my hair is so straight and fine they took FOREVER to lock up. They started to lock up but the summer was so hot and I just couldn't deal with them anymore. So after about a year or so of having them I cut them. Experimented with a coupld different mohawks. Shaved my head really short again, grew my hair out, had a ridiculous mohawk that I got rid of because I could no longer get into my car with it up (it was sweet!). Now I'm going to rock the long hair again. I was considering at some point giving dreads another shot, but I'm not sure I want to back comb them again. What's the best method for natural dreads? Dr. Bonners and chillin? I don't comb my hair as it is and only use shampoo every few days... but my hair isn't really locking up. I have long silky straight hair so I know this is going to take some serious time.... any tips? I think it's also worth pointing out that my hair, if left unwashed and untouched gets VERY oily after a couple days on its own... so I've got that working against me too hehehe.
i would try the shampoo and no conditioner and let your hair do its thing. hair has energy and lots of it so just let it do what it wants, but maybe after its pretty knotty, you can palm roll them and "coax" them into dredies!
Well I've been doing that for months, but not getting any results... my hair is just too straight and stuff, I think I need some kind of catalyst. Even if it's just a different shampoo or something to kind of dry out my hair.
use a shampoo with no residue in it. i used neutragina residue free and it help dry out my hair. if you wash your hair twice a day at first that will help too but its wasteful. go online and look for some but dont spend ridiculous amounts of money of shampoos.
Hey man, have you considered wool rubbing? Take a wool hat or hoodie and rub it clockwise on your head for a while. It'll be one big knot, so then take and rip it into sections. If you want to go mostly natural, just do that a little to get started, and let it go itself. Or, if you do it a lot, I've seen people with almost backcombed looking locks from that. That doesnt sound right to me, but I'm pretty high.
wool rubbing helped a LOT on my hair, actually. i backcombed initially once, and had my friend touch up some spots the next day. the back of my head had nary a knot in sight. for shits and giggles, i rubbed my head with this giant blanket i crocheted. the hair in the back knotted up really quickly after that!
hey man, everybodys has different hair, and not all methods will work on yours. It's just trial and error. Your hair sounds like mine. I tried the neglet method for a few months, which was a waste of time for my hair. Didn't even start to knot up after months. I've got really straight, thin hair. I ended up backcombing and putting little loops in them to try and keep them there. I worked for me. How are you going with it at the mo?
I wouldn't use bronners just yet... wait until you have more dreads than loose hair because it'll leave your fine/straight hair slick and oily. Just try an all-natural shampoo like J.A.S.O.N., Avalon Organics or something along those lines. It'll take a couple of years before they start looking decent... but well worth the natural path. Even though it takes a loooong time you'll start gettin little dreadlings in a matter of weeks. Wearing a wool hat definitely helps and separate after every wash if you want them to form relatively neat.
Nicely said. I've got 33 years of up close and personal experience with both my hair and my scalp and it always slightly irks me when someone who doesn't know me at all insists that my hair will do X or Y because theirs did.
