I keep seeing posters here advocating root rubbing. You can do what you want but here is my advice, when you do that to your hair you are causing breakage that is going to catch up with you in the long run, i've watched people do this over the years, and many times i've seen it do some damage. The same people that i've seen doing the root rubbing thing in the past were wondering why their dreads were barely hanging on or completely falling out later on down the road. I especially think it's kind of dangerous to recommend this to other people just starting out, while it may not damage your hair by some chance, it's likely to do more harm than good. If you just have patience, your hair will lock up, nothing you do is going to make it go any faster than it wants to, and often times all the shit people do to their hair ends up making things worse.
whoa thanks. i've had my dreads for about three days and i've been rubbing them alot. guess i'll stop. lol. peace
it seems to me it's the exact same as palm rolling, but using your head instead of your second hand. How else do you help the roots lock up? Especially since they're the first to get greasy and slippery.... A friend of mine had perfect dreads for 5 years and rubbed his roots all the time so i personally haven't seen the damage done by it.
i dont root rub at all and all my dreads still knot up quite nicely, round and everything. though i have a friend shos had them for many years and rubs and hasnt had breakage, but i don't think he does it often.
I don't do it...I'm lazy. When I have to tear my dreads apart (I only do it once a week or so...I should do it every day.) I can feel a few hairs here and there ripping out of my head...I worry that that's going to make the bases of my dreads super weak. I think I'm going to start palm rolling/separating more so I have to rip less. And yeah, my roots can do whatever the hell they want to do. It's none of my business what goes on up there.
this is how i was too and i had the same concern.... finally i got my friend to rip them all a part once and for all and i've been rolling just the roots and the top 4-5 inches almost every day. Now they don't all grow together & they feel great!....and BONUS! there is no agonizing ripping once a week.
ha, I'll try that. The ripping is horrible! I play with my front/top dreads sometimes and they don't grow together nearly as badly as the back/sides. Sooo, that should tell me something.
I couldn't tell you the differences between root rubbing and palm rolling specifically........palm rolling doesn't seem to hurt anything, but for some reason root rubbing seems to be alot more stressful to your hair, maybe it's an increase in friction or something......as far as helping the roots lock up, you don't need to.......they'll do it on their own with time.....same as the rest of yo head
I experimented, I root rubbed some and left others alone. After about 3 months the only ones that locked up at the root were the ones I rubbed earlier. The others had werent locking at all; my undreaded roots were just getting longer and longer.... still with no sign of knotting. So I dont agree that they always lock up on their own. By the way: I dont have oily hair, I wash with res-free shampoo, never condition with anything, wash twice a week, etc etc. Even used salt/lemon a couple of times to dry it. If left to its own devices.... my hair never knots on its own. I had flu once, so ill I didnt wash or comb my hair for 3 weeks. It didnt even tangle at all. I hate it when everyone says 'all hair knots'. It doesnt.
3 months is no time at all..........6 months isn't either.........if you had waited a year and still seen no improvement then I might be inclined to agree.
really??? Im stunned! but when you've got inches of straight silky hair from the scalp down, it's a problem dreading it up! I see what you mean though..... maybe I should keep waiting
just have patience............locks always come with time...........though I know it can be frustrating
