I've decided that I want dreadlocks but my hair was chemically treated and breaking terribly. So I braided my hair in hopes of starting my dreads this way because I heard that it can be done, I'm just not exactly sure how. I have african american hair. Ive had it braided for about 2 months now and the new growth is beginning to come in and now I just need advice on how to do this xD My hair is about 1 1/5 inches long right now and is starting to look a terrible mess. Should I begin twisting the new growth? And how often should I twist? I also heard that when your dreads are new, you shouldnt wash them for about a month or so, so that they can keep their shape and lock better but I'm not sure how true this is :/ Any help with this would really be appreciated! Thanks!
wash your hair the way you would normally wash it, as far as frequency. as far as maintainance, i am not really familiar with the braid method. with the twistng method, i think most people will retwist every 1-2 weeks until they become more mature, then you can wait several months between twists. of course, that advice is if you want something neat and uniform. if you want unique locks, i'd imagine you could just leave them and not twist them at all.
I love it when I get to break out old charts. Only slightly relevant as your going to be growing them out, but never mind.
It's all up to you. A lot of people do hardcore maintainence, but there's no need whatsoever. If you want natural, untidy, awesome hair, do nothing, and pull locks apart when they start to grow together, if it bothers you. If you want every hair in the right place and enjoy cosmetics, there's a lot of youtube videos on it.... There's also a few with showcases of great non-OCD locks, especially a few by knottylocks.tk.
I started my locks this way. I'm only about a month and a half into the actual "dreading" part but will help where I can. I grew my hair out for a whole year before attempting anything. When I finally started "dreading" my hair was about 4". I had my hair braided for about 3 months before I twisted them (re-braiding about every 2 weeks when they started looking tatty). When my last set of braids/plaits came out, I just simply took two strands of the plaits and twisted them around each other really tight. I did this to my entire head and went to sleep. Woke up the next morning and almost all had come undone again. I then went out and bought a skull cap and then washed my hair again and twisted them once more really tight and once all were done I wore the skull cap for the rest of the day and slept with it that night and every night after that for about 2 weeks. I'd tighten up the twists as soon as I noticed they were becoming tatty looking. I also didnt wash my hair for those two weeks. When I finally washed my hair after the two weeks most of them stayed in the twists... kind of... I then twisted again and continued with my skull cap routine. I'm just over a month now and my hair seem to be behaving themselves most of the time. I dont even need the skull cap anymore when I go sleep. I washed my hair with Bicarbonate of Soda a few days ago and after that wash my hair feels awesome and seems to be locking faster now. So much that I cant pull my finger through my hair from root to tip anymore on some locks. So it can be done it's just gna take lots of time and patience. PS: Stop washing your hair with normal shampoo right now. Before you start your twists wash your hair with the Bicarb mixture and then while they are still damp after the wash, start twisting them real tight. And stop playing with your hair. Good luck man... :rockon:
