im going to start backcombing. is it worth the effort?

hi there. my names Jennifer and ive been wanting dreads now for years. only problem is i have no one to help me with them. is it possible that i could do them myself? also, i would like to backcomb with a plastic comb wide teeth on one side small teeth on the other. im going to use the small teeth side. i want to shampoo my hair, blowdry it, and section out the hair into square parts. tie them up in rubber bands and take out one rubber band at a time and backcomb. what i want to know is backcombing a waste of time. ive heard that neglect is the best way to get them started, but at the same time i think that maybe if i backcomb i can get a look at what it will be like and also it might help get the process on a roll. can someone tell me if i will be wasting my time. how long should i spend on backcombing each section of hair and how long all together should this take. thanks so much. i hope i get some replies soon because i would like to start asap.

 

never backcombed myself but id think u should not blowdry but do itt as your hair dries (some1 may disagree but i find wet hair knots faster) how longs your hair? id guess on a good 6 hours or so, plan on a day

 

I backcombed 5 weeks ago and so far more than happy with the results. I couldnt be bothered to have to wait for anything up to a year before they looked even vaguely dready....call me impatient if you want lol.

I had a couple of friends do mine but looking back on it i'd say its definitely possible to do them yourself (or at least the ones on the front/sides and get a friend to do the back). The advantage of doing them yourself is that it will hurt way less than someone else doing them who can't feel your pain (mine actually hurt like hell..)

good luck and post loads of pics!

 

Invest in a metal comb.. plastic ones will snap after a couple dreads. The teeth on my metal comb even started snapping after a while. You can just get a flea comb from a pet store.

I backcombed mine to start, and have pretty much neglected them since. I think it gives them a bit of a head start, and keeps the sections to the sizes you want. For me, backcombing everything took about half a day.. with breaks for giving my scalp and my helper a rest. It all depends on how tight you backcomb, and how long/thick your hair is. Anyways, good luck! And post pictures when you're done!

 

Right, plastic combs don't work, metal combs which aren't flee combs don't work either (I tried that ).

 

Yeah, it could take an insane amount of time if you backcomb it very tightly... But its worth it in the end! Spend a couple of days and get them as tight as you can.

 

I had mine backcombed 2 months ago. (My hair was a bit past my shoulders.) It took 10 hours! I have really thin hair though. I still have to backcomb them often to keep them in! Anyway, definately go with a metal comb. I even bent the teeth in mine a couple times getting 'em to nap up more. I also sprayed a salt water solution on mine as I backcombed because clean hair is a little harder to dread. Anyway, good luck and send in some pics when your done. FYI: At first they will be really puffy, I mean really puffy! Oh and they will stand up too. At first you will look like a palm tree. I still do at times.