i am getting very excited, last night i had a girlfriend braid my hair into sections for me so i can get a feel for the idea of dreads, not brushing and how big the sections are da da da, i have pretty thick hair and there are 30 braids, some i can tell are too fat and i will make 2 dreads from one braid, my questions are: how many dreads do u have? how many is a good amount? are yours thick or thin? what is your preference thick or thin? anything you would do differently a second time around? also i am planning one using twist and rip to get mine started and then mostly just keeping them separated and letting them do their thing. i am going to do a few at a time and leave the rest braided so i can take my time and keep an eye on the first few and see how they behave now i am going to try attach a pick of my braids.......
woohoo the pics worked what do u think? will these be thick or thin? should i make each braid 2 dreads? or just 1?
I think they're closer to too small than too fat. If you have an opinion of this sort already, why are you asking? It depends how many you want and how big you want them, all personal choice. Some people complain of pain with large locks. I personally think that until they're massive they won't hurt, what hurts is strange shapes at the root-round is the least likely to hurt, because you can pull it any direction without pulling any part too much compared to the rest.
just because i have an opinion does not mean that i will not seek out greater knowledge from people who actually know. yes i like the look of thinner dreads but i have no idea of the difference in maintaining or creating them. i thought it was a good move to ask this kind of questions before i began thanks for your reply though, i could imagine fat ones would get painful, i know it hurt a heck of a lot my the end of the day some times when i have had my hair tied up in a bunch.
Thinner is going to take longer to "make", as I assume from this thread you're not going natural. Thicker mature faster, often, I think. So I've heard anyways. Thicker will pull at your scalp, to a degree. Some of your sections may be a TAD large (they will be a bit bigger around dreaded than braided, probably) but I personally have a penchant for fat locks, and would keep them that way. Again, it's more awkward shapes than large size. Any locks will pull, and you learn how to not aggrivate them. My largest and oldest had an annoying-ass dogleg shape, after about 8 months I cut off the leg part to just make it flat/oval in cross section at the base, it pissed me off so much. It would have been fine if it was round, but that thin part comming off the side jurt like a bitch. So, whatever you like the look of, and can handle. Thinner will be easier to clean with less soaking and such, will hold less stuff (ie pine needles, twigs, grass bits....) but unless they're super thin or you never go outdoors, it will probably happen anyways to a degree. Thinner may do the fall-out stage more than thicker. If you just go natural you can just rip if things get thicker than you want, and go by feel. (with the understanding that you'll have some shrinkage).
i am using twist and rip just to sort of get them started, i have really soft straight hair so I'm not sure how long natural would take and i play with my hair all the time so would probably just disrupt the process. after twist n rip to get them going i plan to just leave them as much as i can. i will definitely play with them to some degree i can't help it! I'm a fiddler. i am thinking i will keep them thinner at the front and let them be a bit thicker at the back. can i join them together at some point if the are "too thin"??? do u have dreads at the moment?
I've heard from a lot of people that sections of 1 inch by 1 inch work well, though everything depends on your hair thickness and type. Twist and rip is definitely the best option if you want to make them If they're too thin there are ways to combine them, though it's probably easier to just let it be or make bigger sections. Here is a thread on some ways to combine them.
the few that i tried tonight are very light and fluffy so its herd to say how thin or thick they will end up! is it normal for them to be very fluffy when you first do them? they dont have much of a solid body. i know they take a long long time to mature im just not sure what they are meant to be like when you use this technique..
I have a couple of twist and rip dreads myself and yes, its normal to be fluffy at the start! I noticed mine growing up around the 4 month mark. When I say growing up I mean tightening and hardening haha, but after one or so months they won't be fluffy anymore. If you post a picture of them we could guess how they might mature (though you never really know! that is what i love about them)
They will end up much smaller and tighter and harder. Probably shrink for like a year. If tnr will hold your hair it would neglect. There's plenty of info on how other than a few people with very wiry asian hair, neglect is just about universally faster to mature locks. There's just also a lot of people with an irrational fear/hate of/for neglect. If it didn't work the worst that could happen is you'd still get to "make" fake dreads.
im pretty happy with twist n rip if it works, i understand the natural history and life of dreads, but i am a bit of a control freak and i like sectioning from the very start and deciding on the size there is not way i am using chemicals though! a bit of manipulation is as far as i will go. i posted some pics in anoter thread "it has begun and Ausie girls journey to dreads" i am going to post lots of pics in that one and hopefully get support from people through the hard stages of waiting
I have around 25, some of them are thicker and some of them quite thin. If you have fatter locks it generally means longer drying times, and potentially more chance of having mould issues, but it doesn't mean you will definitely have problems if you do go for fatter dreads. You will also potentially have more problems with the rest of society if you go for fat unruly dreads, depending on where you live and what you do for a living. I'm not saying you shouldn't go for fat and unruly (personally I love them), just that you should be aware of what might happen if you do that. Generally thinner dreads look more "normal" and less "scary" to the general public than fat locks.
thanks for all the advice every one i have kept them about the same size as my braids though i lost some of them when i washed my hair, they were at the back so i kind of twist n ripped them back in but i couldn't see what i was doing i don't plan on interfering much at all, just making sure they don't turn into really big ones is about it
