**READ ME** - Dread Newbies FAQ/ PLUS Basic Care and maintenance Guide

lol when me dreads were done they stuck right out n they were chubby bugger and like my whole school, everybody in town, everybody i walked pasy shouted sideshow bob at me so doesnt bother me lol. but nah i dnt want to taqke them out im going to back comb them, wash with hot water a few times then make some mixes etc with sea salt, tea tree oil etc....my hair will turn out fine. but hey cheers anyway

 

when I first started dreading everyone called me Sideshow Bob, but I didn't know who they were talking about Wax is very difficult to get out, so you should do a lot of scrubbing, and I found a good way to get things started was soaking my hair in salt water, with a tiny bit of tea tree oil, and leave that in for a half hour or so, then rinse. Good luck, your dreads are looking fine already

 

cheers.and yes i was directed by a kind member to a thread which had a mix of different ingredients like sea salt and tea tree oil etc which i will buy in a few weeks and get started on salvaging my hair and getting the wax out.

 

HHEEELLLLOOO
i started growing my dreads about 3 months ago now and some are coming on really nice ....
but! the dreads at the back have a lot of loose hairs and are starting to tangle up because i cant seethem and its hard to roll/twist them... will they sort themselves out or do i need to get my mum to keep sorting them every now and then!


heccles x

 

... allso... most of the dreads that are dreading up are dreading at the tip and the root, leaving a bit of undreaded hair in the middle and cos my hair was curly before i got dreads the undreaded bit is like a little wave ...annoyin!!!.....if u get me.....
is there anything i can do about this???


hxx

 

My hair is kinda wavy and becouse of that I've got loops everywhere and as you said, heccles, the root and tip seem to dread more easily than the middle part.
But the loose hair will form into loops and the loops will get fuzzy and soon start to dread.
Don't worry, everything is gonna be alright
Palmrolling helps a lot.

Peace

 

They'll turn out fine in the end... if the hair isn't being brushed and oiled, it has no choice but to dread. Enjoy!

 

iv had dreads for over 3 months and my hair isnt dreading atall. on a few out of my 40 or so dreads some of the tip are slightly dreading but theyre a bit buggered. soon ill be washing my hair alot in sea salt water etc to try and fix this though.

 

i know you'll all think im crazy or summink but i fink wax is one of the only reasons my dreads are actually dreadin up now i dnt rele use it n e more but bfor i used it only a little bit at a time n it jus helped them to keep together n get all the fuzzies together with the dread....
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yeah wax glues ure hair together it doesnt dread it i learn this the hard way

how can your hair grow into dreads if its glued together? it doesnt have room to grow so wax doesnt work. iv stopped using it for so long now and my hair isnt knotting up alot but its better than having it packed with wax.

 

alot of my dreads have gone like totally flat and are kind of knottish flat and its rly annoying i cant "puff" them back out again. i dont want my dreads to be totally flat what am i gna do? any suggestions?

 

they'll work themselves out

 

i hope so but cheers

 

I've been looking around lately and found people who have been having the same questions over and over. Here is a DreadLock FAQ and practically FYI.

Backcombed dreads:
When you first get them they aren't going to be the tightest thing in the world. And when you first wash them they will be extremely loose. Now that is normal because thats there first wash. In a matter of months and after all the washes you have done your backcombed locks will be tight. It is normal for them to unravel, infact unraveling is good because your hair will know to start knotting on its own.

Sometimes Looping may happen that is good also it tells your hair is really into its knotty-ness stage.

Also when washing get your scalp thats an important part of your hair. Don't necessarly wash your dreads yet you could but ofcourse they'll loosen but they'll knot up again.

Backcombed Dread Pictures
Theres plenty in this forum look around.

Neglected dreads:
Now not a lot of people in this forum do it but natural/neglected dreadlocks tend to have awesome results. But it may take up to a year to have a few locks. The natural/neglected way are worth the time I've seen so many neglected dreads and they are great. The downfall is the patienced and I have none. LOL But I am trying I've been neglecting for almost a month and I have a few. No matter what hair type your hair will dread regardless.

Neglected Dread Pictures
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b382/Tatlers/46twoyears.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b382/Tatlers/47.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b382/Tatlers/48.jpg
credits: ThomasGangsta of Knottylocks forum.
of all honesty these are the best and awesome naturals I have seen.

Defintions

Looping/Loopy Dreads:
The dreads are kinda wavy instead of perfectly rounded this is good it is telling you, your hair is knotty and they will be as tight as possible there have been people (me) who havent had loops. For me my first backcombed set were tight after 4 months and didnt loop.

Wax/Hair Spray/And other crap:
Simple defintion, This SHIT is crap do not ever use these don't think or see them ever.

Aloe Gel:
Aloe Gel is particularly use to keep them dreads nice and neat looking w/o them screwing up. I dont use this or ever have so I have nothing much of it but I believe it isnt really a needed product, let your hair do its thing.

Shampoos:
The shampoos you can use that I reccomend is Dr. Bronners, which you can buy at any food market I believe or Knotty Boys shampoo I heard was good, don't use DHHQ shampoo it makes your scalp itch *sratch sratch*

Sprays:
You can use a sea salt water spray. Most use it w/ lemon juice. Just a warning: Sea Salt makes your scalp itch if you get it on your scalp also lemon juice lightens your hair if it's exposed to Sun Light.

Forums:
http://com3.runboard.com/bknottydreadlockforum - great info. site for your locks.

Any questions please post. Also can a mod/admin sticky this thread as it refers Dread Head Newbies for help so no new threads are created.

 

Like the thread
I'll add some tips too. For backcombed locs, only wash the scalp not the dreads, gently, for the first few washes or until they're holding together ok. Maybe put some bands on the roots before you wash em, just to keep them apart at first.
If you use a salt/lem spray, avoid the scalp as it can make it really itchy.
Itches can be eased by spritzing the scalp with cold water.
If you cant afford dr bronners tea tree shampoo, use a residue free one with a couple of drops of tea tree oil in it. It works for me.

 

Hi Everyone, I posted for the 1st time a couple of months ago with worries about my roots not knotting up and Silver Shadow suggested that I do some clock wise rubbing while they're wet. Thanks Silver, that has helped a lot, you're a dear. Over the past 2 months I've discovered a couple of things that put me at ease about my now 4 month old dreads & I thought I'd pass on what I've experienced.

I used wax a lot before I read what everyone said about the joys of not using it so I stopped and my dreads kept knotting so I agree -to a point. Without any wax my dreads developed loops pretty quickly so I started using it again but not nearly as much or as often. I don't have any wax build up and they feel and lie down better with just a little wax in them. I use a hairdryer on them when I use the wax, it helps tons to get it worked into my dreads and it evens out spots where I might have gotten heavy handed.

Another thing I tried is KnottyBoy Locksteady and I like to use that on the day I wash my dreads to get the frizzies back under control. It leaves them a tad stiff for a while but that goes away in a day.

And a huge thing I learned is to never ever get lazy -like I did- about palm rolling every single day! I slacked off and I think that added to the loops I got after quitting wax cold turkey. Palm rolling is my friend and since I got a nicely worded crack-that-whip talking-to from a professional dread-do-er, I'm happily back on the wagon. I found a salon in Denver, where I live, that offers dread maintenance. I wanted help because of these loops that were freaking me out and I knew there had to be more I could do to overcome those and my general worries. I know this is a long post, but please bear with me 'cuz what she told me really put me at ease and maybe what she said to me will help out someone else.

Okies, the best piece of advice she gave me was to try different things because all our hair is different and will respond to different things. She said to try different products and methods until I found the ones that fit for me. She said that there is no "right" way to do dreads other than to -all together now- palm roll every day and keep my head out of the ocean. Seems sea water will give you a head of loopy dreads in no time. I went on vacation to the ocean last month and only because the water was freaking cold, did I not put my head under. Yay for early spring and luck That might not true for everyone but since loops are my p.i.t.a at the moment, I'll take her word for it.

I have a couple of dreads that are knotting at the base and the end but the middle is still loose. She suggested getting a backcombing comb and just backcombing the parts that need extra attention. Done. Not sure if that will take care of those non-conforming spots since I've only just tried it but that advice seems to make sense to me.

Back to what to use on dreads advice. One reason I got dreads was to get out of having to put stuff in my hair to make it look good, but for the 1st year of having dreads anyway, it looks like I'll have to use "something" to get them to look like I want them. This woman said that some type of locking product like wax or Locksteady or whatever, is necessary for new dreads to form. They need the help of some kind of sticky substance (just a little bit) to get the hairs to knot together and stay that way. Might not be true for everyone, but again, it makes sense to me and from my own experience, it's true. She said that a lot of the water/tea/salt mixtures are great, but I'm toolazy to whip that stuff up so ready-made products is the road I've taken.

And for flat dreads, loopy dreads, wavy dreads and happy dreads, plam rolling seems to be the answer. They won't knot? Palm roll. They won't lie down? Palm roll. PMS? Palm roll. Boss is a dick? Palm roll. You get the idea.

I hope I didn't take up someone else's space, but this is what I've learned so far about getting the gorgeous dreads I want and if it helps anyone else then I'm not sorry for going on so long. Plus I don't post often (did I hear a "thank gawd"?) so I'm getting it all down at once.

We who dare to dread are remarkable.

 

thats gr8 advice. ill take most of it into consideration 1 thing id like to say is palm rolling usually just messes my dreads even more but that might just be my hair or im not doing it enough.

maybe ill try doing it over the next few weeks and see how they turn out

cheers

 

I’ve got a big problem.

Okay, over Sunday and Monday a good friend sat down with me and dreaded my hair. He did this just by grabbing index finger sized clumps of hair and backcombing them into little puffs. After that he waxed it up. We did this in two sessions and in total it took 19 hours. Because we did no sectioning they vary in size quite a bit, and I’ve got some long bits of loose hair in a few areas.

But that’s not my main problem. They were tight at first, with the exception of those annoying stray hairs at the root, and I’ve been setting aside an hour each night since Monday to palm roll them. Today, they are very loose. I can feel them begging to come undone and I don’t know what to do.

I’ve taken the day off of college today to try and sort them out, here’s a plan I’ve made but I could be totally off target.

Hop in the shower
Clean dreads using dread specific shampoo
Sud them up again, with the soap still in hair finger rub roots clockwise
Wash suds out
Blow dry, then palm roll

 

Sorry I forgot my manners. If anyone can help it'd be hugely appreciated. Please help, they are actually coming undone! I don’t want to loose my dreads at all!

Discovered the edit button.

My hair also really feels like it needs a wash, my scalp is all itchy and stuff. But I only got it finished on Monday, and you're supposed to wait a week.

Sorry if I seem a little over-excited, but I'm sure you dread heads out there can appreciate I don't want to lose my dreads. And I feel real cheated by Knotty Boy for convincing me wax is good.

 

ok first off wax is good to start with but its bad for dreads they will feel like theyre coming out man but they need room to breathe and dread themselves. also its bad to wash them straight away it can seriously damage them. myabe give them another backcomb to keep them in line then leave them for a while and they will go rly rly rly rly messy then begin to knot up.

if you rly want something to help buy some SEA SALT and mix in a few tea spoons with water. soak your dreads in this for 10 mins then dry this rly helps them knot up i do it everyday.

if your scalp feels horrible then use this concoction another member of these frums made:

get a bowl of warm water, add 2 tea spoons of sea salt, 2 tea spoons of baking soda, a few drops of pure lemon (its in a lemon shaped plastic container thingy), add a little bit of cider vinegar and around 10 drops of tea tree oil. soak your hair in that for about 20-30 mins and it cleans your scalp and knots up your dreads a bit.

i didnt wash my dreads for about 3-4 months and when i done this my head felt amazing. and just using sea salt on it everyday has a great affect on it.

remember dreads take a long time to fully dread..atleast 6 months to a year man to be patient they will get seriously messy but after a while they will sort themselves out. iv had dreads about 5-6 months now and theyre still incredibly messy but theyre only just starting to knot up a little man.

good luck dreadhead!