How to backcomb dreads

i'll say right off the bat that there is no advantage to backcombing over natural, i've done both although my natural set is still pretty young.

remember that more effort in the initial backcombing process does not create better locks. how much effort you put in means how much weaker your hair will be from the process and if your hair will be messy right after backcombing, or a week after backcombing.

all you need to do is start with cleansed, air dry hair.

grab a section of hair, not too big and start backcombing.

you may want to section beforehand, sometimes things will stay even, other times it wont. i started with checkerboard even locks but they still eventually lost their uniformity.

thats about it, you dont need to keep the roots separated with rubber bands, it does nothing but slow the process. if you do, use something loose like a bead, not something tight like an elastic. hair needs to be able to move to lock. dont backcomb again, most of it will fall out anyway and be gentle with whatever maintenance you do. use a flea comb, don't waste your money on an expensive salon comb that you will only use once.

i mixed twist and ripping in with my backcombed hair, but im only giving information about pure backcombing here. when you start making things and get too complicated you just start hurting yourself.

ABOUT WAX

biggest freaking WASTE OF TIME. it fucks up your hair, it smells, keeps water trapped in and takes FOREVER to come out with regular showering. if it builds up or you dont wash your hair frequently you're going to need to use some serious stuff to get it out. it does not help your locks, it simply glues the hair together which can never lock properly. don't use it weekly, don't use it to make things look pretty, dont use it once in the initial back combing process dont use it EVER.

and calm down about the natural elitist crap. you poor things, for ever 1 person that actually posts here frequently that wants nothing to do with anything but natural there are 20 that are open to other things. that's at lot better with some of the crap you will have to deal with on other sites.

 

blablabkadaBLALLLLALAAA! whatever works for each individual works for them! there is no one way....work with what you've got and how it's going. this is dumb conversation. Do what you want.

 

Can you use a teasing comb for this to?At the moment I dont have a metal toothed comb,but I got alot of teasing combs in my drawers I want to attempt to do this tomorrow

 

can you bend the teeth with your fingers? if you can they will probably break after a while.

 

broken teeth are better then broken hairs
the biggest con to backcombing besides the pain is the dammage it does
some have reported nearly 1/2 theyre hairs being pulled out at the roots
it can do alottta dammage especialy if u insist on getting it tight as possible
if you choose to bacvkcomb..be gentle, dont try to get it supertight and dont expect instint dreads

it really is a waste of time though...wether u go natural or backcomb 6 months down the line your still at the same place with progress , only with natural its a more rewareding experience and alot lerss painful and alot more healthy for your hair

 

maybe i have a scalp made of steel but when my hair was backcombed it didnt hurt at all.

 

rofl.
i sure love how you went from this:

to this:

why would you claim something like that when you dont have first hand experience?
in my experience (i backcombed) there was hardly any damage that i could tell, next to no breakage and b/c i spread the process out over a week or two, it didnt hurt, just made my arms sore.

lets see...
you went natural, but you still feel you have a right to bash other methods and discourage people from using them...
youve never crocheted but you tell people it will make their dreads fall off.

why dont you just stick to giving advice on what you have experience with instead of making up random shit.

 

pmmeister or however you say his name just posted how he ripped a chunk of his lock out using crochet, we also have a guy with a funky sig posting about how he crocheted but wished he didn't. we have even more posting about their own experience with backcombing, me included. some say damage, others say it didn't have any significant advantage over natural.

and damn, over weeks. most people have their hair done in one - two sittings. i guess that would explain your lack of extensive breakage and your scalp feeling fine.

although the stuff he says isn't from his own head of hair, we have plenty of experiences on this board and others that show what has been warned. there is a difference between "random shit" and stuff we've heard/read/watched happen to other people.

but hey, this thread was for giving advice on backcombing, which mostly has been happening. it sounds like you've got the answer by backcombing but over a long period of time. long period of time... funny how that sounds like it helps backcombing the most.

 

I agree with this. I backcombed my own hair bit by bit, I did it gently and slowly. They looked like dreads right away and have pretty much looked like dreads ever since. None of them really fell out... and even though it took a month or so to complete it was much much faster than the natural method as my hair is too short to go natural (i didnt brush it for 3 months over the summer and it didnt form a single knot).

 

my scalp was fine until about an hour after, then it was quite sore =[

i think backcombing is a good alternative to the natural or crochet methods - i personally wouldnt ever do the natural route for a number of reasons, so backcombing is good for me. i wouldnt do crochet either, simply because i dont know much about it..

 

I just rubbed and ripped,never used any combs or backcombing just kind of mushed the haris togeher. I wouldn't backcomb, especially if it hurts-it's like your body telling you NOOO! And honestly I think we should respect SE advise as he has had his dreads for 18 years and met a lot of people on his journey who he's learned from or taught.

 

I have around 9 dreads(I still got like 16 more to go)I backcombed and they're pointing up lol, around how long will it take for them to settle down and look better? My hair is around 5 inches long on top and around 3" on the sides, I hope they don't fall apart, I have wavy hair, and put some aloe vera gel on them, hoping they get better and better over time.

 

I think that if some people have much knowledge in one or two areas, they should stick to advice for that particular subject. It doesn't make sense for someone to knock other methods because they don't approve of them. There are pros and cons to EVERY method, no matter which one you pick. State your opinion, make it good, move on and understand that people will read your thoughts and consider them. No need to come back and keep ripping it apart. Backcombing isn't the end of the world, natural isn't going to make you a god.

For me, I backcombed. I did it in one 6 hour setting, by myself (watching movies with some friends and eating chips). They stuck up like crazies, but I personally experienced minimal hair loss, and I had no pain on my scalp. My hand cramped a little, but it was no biggie. I used two flea combs and went at 'er! I kind of fluffed the hairs, twisted them, backcombed around the chunk starting at the roots. They were tight and I didn't experience the typical "everything fell out and it went all natural anyways" that some people have.

It worked well for me (and you should pick your method for yourself and what will work best as they are pretty individual things, these dreads!) as I have labs in school with chemicals and fires and biological hazards that going natural would have cause too many problems. Plus I considered other things in my life that I could see the messy stages of natural interfering with.

 

^
Amen

 

if i went natural my hair would look like utter shit until dreads started forming since my hair gets extremely kinked up when i sleep if i dont shower the next day or something

so i backcombed and found that a start to dreads kept my hair more tame than just going all natural.

Meh. I hope people dont give me shit who didnt backcomb.. thats just retarded. >.>

 

shower the next day? i've showered every day since i let my hair lock. natural doesn't equal dirty if thats what yore thinking.

 

Nah I just mean until they start to lock up.
Cuz if you shower within the first like week your dreads will unwavel even more
At least that's what everyone says.

I know oily hair makes dreads worse too.
I'm probably going to shower on Friday.