Locking up soon, need some tippage.

My hair is moderately curly and pretty damn thick and locks itself if I don't brush it every day, but I don't want natural dreads, per se. The back of my head is shaved up until about my ears and I want to keep a bit of bang in the front. I've wanted dreads for a long time and my best friend is going to help me throw them in in a week or two, huzzah. I've done my homework and I think I'm going to go with the backcoming/palmrolling method and use me some beeswax. I tried just backcombing a couple a few months ago on one long-arse bus ride and it didn't really work too well, so I think throwing in some wax will help. I'm not too clear on a few things though:

--do I not get my hair wet or just not wash it after locking it up? I'm aware that people wash their dreads, but not for the first month or so.

--does more maintenance equal quicker lockage?

--someone told me I should wash my hair in vinegar first so it gets mega dry. Does that actually help or not? I was going to wash it with some of them thar tea tree oil because that dries out my hair real bad (or good?).

I guess that's it. I'm sure I'll think of more questions later.

Thanks.

 

Don't use wax. Doesn't help at all. Makes things worse. Plus it's all sticky and horrible andyou don't want that shit all over your clothes/pillows. It prevents knotting/locking.

I wouldn't worry about a month, try and not wash your dreads for a couple of weeks at most, or however long you can stand. Most people wash between once a fortnight and 2 or even 3 times a week, so it just depends on your hairtype. But try and wait as long as you can.

More maintenance equals more uniform and neat dreads. By doing this you're forcing all the loose hairs into the dread... so yes, they will be thicker by a small fraction, but nothing to get excited about. Plus maintenance is called that because you have to keep doing it, new hairs will appear and old ones won't stay where you put 'em. They are stubborn little buggers. That's why I, personally, don't bother. An hour of maintenance will fall out within a few days and you've got sore arms. Plus I think the dreads look 'fuller' with a bit of frizz and mess. But I do try and tidy up the hairs around my ears, they just piss me off. But I plait them and try to make a mini dread, cus crochet and sewing them in just don't work!

You don't want to dry your hair out. Dry hair = dry scalp = dandruff. Blegh. Just wash it with some shampoo, give it a blow-dry and you're done. I used to find that my hair got dry after a shampoo wash from blow drying, and that's all the dryness you need. You just need your hair to be cleeeaaaannnn.

^^

 

Hey guys, I've done my homework, now can you tell me the answers to my homework?

Just testing you, of course I know, just making sure you know too....

:daisy:

 

Why doesn't wax work?

FUUUUUUUUU @ Roo.

 

vinegar doesn't dry your hair out, its a conditioner. If you use too much it can make your hair really greasy.

 

I thought that was because it lifted grease off your scalp?

 

Please read the FAQs (sticky with "please read") and also use the search function to find all wax threads. Plenty of discussion on thar ^^

 

Look into neglect. With your hair type I think you'll be just fine. Its quite simple, don't give a shat about how you look or what your hair is doing for about 6 months to a year. Then one day you actually look in the mirror and your a dreaded freak.

Its nice though because the principal applies to other aspects of life. You cant always have absolute control of whats happening, sometime its better to just let it happen.

 

I dunno, I just washed it with tea tree oil type stuff and I think I'm gonna throw em in with the help of a friend tonight. I tried the neglect method once and ended up with four huge knots. I probably did it wrong.. I get what you're saying, though, Tom.

 

lol you can't do the neglect method wrong, just separate that shit

 

don't.
use.
wax.

 

why does everybody say no wax? i used wax and my dreadlocks turned out just fine! the TRICK is to make sure you use a blowdryer on the highest setting to melt the wax into the center of the dread. then the wax can start to work on the knots.

also, check out Loc Peppa from DreadheadHQ. that stuff works WONDERS! instant dreads

good luck!

 

I just pull um apart after every wash. Two of them were stuck together pretty bad at one point, I must have missed them for a few washes. By the time I found them I had to use all my strength to get them apart, so you really have to keep up on that.

I cant say from experience but from what I know about ever other method you have fall out. So initially you have dreads faster but as far as them maturing I would say its all going to be about the same.

with neglect you start with nothing and slowly develop to maturity. with other methods like backcomb you have dreads quick but then you backtrack (fall out) and then you mature. I say skip the backtrack and only have progression.

 

Sounds like an unnatural philosophy.

 

lolz

 

Wax was a nightmare for me. Found out I'm allergic to it the first time I tried for dreads. Plus it was super sticky and it doesn't come out easy. You can use 100% aloe instead.