**READ ME** - dreading methods thread

Welcome Dreadies!

This thread provides a thorough examination of the pros and cons of every dreading method, as well as an explanation of each, along with discussions of experiences.

First, let's start with the oldest method there is...

Natural or Neglect

What you need:
hair and patience

How it's achieved:
you wash your hair and let it knot on its own, ripping if you wish to keep it from over-combining into too-fat dreads. There's more that can be said about the method, that can help things along, but those are the basics you need to know for now...just let it do its thing -
you will need lil longer hair than other methods, 4-6 inches or more, typically, although some hair types such as African can dread naturally at very short lengths (1/4 inch even).

Pros
The hair is never damaged, it’s totally pain-free (except the occasional ripping) costs nothing, teaches patience and is considered the purest form of dreading. They also have a more unique natural organic look.
Cons
Can look like a rat's nest at first...this period of pre-dread knottiness can last weeks or months...and in a rare few cases can take over a year to seem like real dreads. This method is less controlled than other methods so a uniform "perfect" appearance isn't the typical result.

Backcombing

Backcombing is a newer method which gives the immediate look of dreads (sort of) and makes you feel like you accomplished something. It can be useful in controlling the size and order of your dreads in the early stages. It’s accomplished with a metal flea comb (it’s aggressive so any other comb will break and u could go through a dozen combs in the process).
You section the hair, then comb backwards towards the scalp till you have a puffy sausage-looking thing that sticks straight out. Backcombing tends to loosen up, or fall out completely before it starts to dread. This is fine; there has to be a transition between backcombed hair and dreaded hair.

Pros
Instant results making you feel like you really started dreading. You control the size and general look just a bit more. It can jump-start hair that just does not want to dread easily (it's rare but some hair is dread-resistant!)
Cons
It’s very aggressive and damages hair (even yanking a lot out at the root, if done extra tight!) It’s usually unnecessary and can in some cases lead to a "fake" look when combined with other methods used to achieve an overworked "perfect" look (some hair types will occasionally look too perfect even when natural...it’s just how it happens.) Backcombing can take many many hours.

One further con worth mentioning with regard to all non-naturals versus natural methods...
Some who dread naturally, especially for religious or spiritual reasons tend to look down on non natural dreads as cheating, I’m not saying it’s right for them to do so... and I’m not saying it’s wrong either I’m just saying it’s something you may face
in many cultures dreading is considered a pure spiritual act, that should only be done for certain reasons, and only naturally
since the dread culture has expanded beyond that, and now rock stars and music icons have made it "cool' to have dreads it is understandable that the more purists would consider fashion dreads to be an insult
I’m not taking sides on this, just pointing out that there does exist that bias and you may be affected by it.

Back to the methods...

Twist and Rip

It’s a no-comb method, so is slightly more acceptable to purists. It involves twisting the hair, and pulling in opposite directions forcing knots towards the roots, and then repeating. Twist and separate ‘til you reach the ends.

Pros
Similar results to backcombing. Easy to control size and achieve a uniform look. It’s gentler on the hair (but still can hurt, especially if someone else does it as they pull your hair). It tends to hold together lil better than backcombing through early washes and can be quicker to finish than backcombing. No metal teeth ripping through hairs.
Cons
Some hair damage, albeit less than backcombing. Some pain. Some ppl have a hard time figuring out how to do it properly.

Salon Dreads/Dread Perms

I’m lumping a few things together here because in general these should be avoided if at all possible.

Salon dreads
are more often than not a total scam. There are a few rare "locticians" who are worthwhile, but 98% are a total rip-off. What the typical salon will do is twist the hair, braid the hair, backcomb or twist and rip, then smother it in wax, telling you to reapply wax daily, not wash your hair for (I’ve heard as long as 6 months..ick!) then come back every 2 weeks for maintenance, where they palm-roll, add wax and sew the roots.
The initial dreading can cost $700 or more, then $1-200 every 2 weeks for maintenance,
and week after week they get worse and worse ‘til you chop ‘em off or comb ‘em out and decide dreads are disgusting and u never wanna do ‘em again.
Some locticians substitute gels for wax; some use glue (yes glue!) some crochet or felt the dreads;
some have used latex instead of wax (yup rubber dreads) or wrap the hair in wool then felt it in.
Most will tell u to leave elastics in for months.

Dread perms
use a harsh chemical to prepare the hair to dread. It stinks and causes the dread to have a weird texture and feel, which is distinctly different from new growth. It can be a last resort option though, if all else fails.

Pros
Parents trust salons, so may let kids get dreads only in a salon.
Cons
It’s a rip-off, and can cost ya well over $1000 by the time u realize the mistake. Most will never really become dreads. If they do, they are prone to issues (wax trapping dirt, mold stiffness). The few that do eventually become dreads take much longer and look very different from new growth (even natural hair may look like extensions).

Just Twisting

This typically works best in African-type hair. You just twist sections and leave ‘em be. It’s fairly natural but with easily controlled sizes, (works best with thin dreads I think). Fairly gentle but can be overdone to the pint of twisting them right off.

Pros
Can help in some hair-types to control the process without being overly aggressive. Works wonderfully in some hair-types.
Cons
Can be overdone and I have heard of a few cases where they were twisted right off. This can be avoided if u just do it a few times in the very beginning then stop once they’re formed.

Crochet and Felting

Again lumped together for a reason, both involve pushing needles through the dread.
Crochet uses a thin crochet hook that’s pushed through the dread to grab hairs and pull them back through.
Whilst felting’s the opposite, it’s a very sharp needle with barbs that grab hairs and push them through

Pros
Can create neat tight dreads fast that look very tidy for a while, with hardly any loose hairs so they can appear mature from the start.
Cons
Some may argue this isn’t so true, but I’ll leave it up to the experts in these methods to dispute these claims, I’ve never done nothing but natural so I’m just going on what others have complained about...
Many say the needle’s being pushed through the dreads weakens them, breaking many hairs in the process. The dread has a woven look and feel that’s different from the new natural growth, as well as broken hairs tending to find their way out, requiring more crocheting (or felting) to bring them back in and to keep the new growth looking like the crocheted or felted parts, so it often becomes a constant lifelong thing you will have to continue doing.
If you absolutely need a neat professional look it is an option for keeping things tidy as can be, but eventually the damage may catch up on you and lead to breakage.

There are some more obscure methods I’m not able to even think of now, so I’ll let others discuss them later and I’ll move on to what could be considered sub-methods (or possibly maintenance?)

These include all the rubbings, rollings, pressings and so on.

Palm-rolling

This is one that you hear about a lot, and can be used with any method to round off and smooth out bumps. To do this, just roll the dread between your palms. Doing so when damp will give the best results.

Pros
Smooth perfectly rounded dreads.
Cons
Can be severely overdone, to the point of breakage. Removes many of the unique features that often cause you to love your wackiest wildest dread most. Takes time you could be spending doing other things!

Root-rubbing

Also referred to as Clockwise Rotation, it’s done by laying the hand flat around the root and rubbing in a circular motion.

Pros
Can help draw stray root hairs into the dread, helping the new growth to knot. Adds some volume to flat roots.
Cons
May do damage, and can make shorter dreads stand straight out. Can leave too little loose hair at the roots, causing pain from tightness, and hindering finger access for proper scalp washing.

Tip-rubbing

Accomplished by placing the tip against the hand and rubbing in circles to blunt the ends.

Pros
Enables you to achieve rounded dread ends if desired.
Cons
Naturally dreads may or may not blunt on their own, there’s nothing wrong with blunt or wispy ends...blunting by rubbing can take alotta time and effort and can cause an overworked appearance.
The damage would just be split ends, but not noticeable or harmful to the strength of the dread overall.


Wool- rubbing

Rub the head with wool to start natural, or help along other methods. Just rub in circles (or nuzzle a sheep! )

Pros
Can get things awfully knotty without alotta effort or damage.
Cons
Is fairly uncontrolled so can cause a massive rat’s nest that’s hard to separate into dreadlings and may cause premature congoing. (May lead to confused sheep and angry farmers ).


And finally...

Dreadlock Product Manufacturers/Websites

It’s worth mentioning that certain sites push a ton of products on you for use with these methods, so I’ll just briefly touch on these.
Lock Peppa, Accelerator, wax and butters, gels and the like: none are at all necessary.

Many can be harmful and for some people it’s debatable whether they can be used safely at all without causing some harm.

Lock Peppa
This is just basically flakes (technically it’s a powder used in industrial glues, sand, tree sap and a natural herbicide produced by certain plants). It can give the hairs something to grab during backcombing, providing a sticky texture, but it washes right out so they fall apart...so it’s basically useless and could for all practical purposes be thought of as store-bought dandruff...lol!

Accelerator
(I haven’t looked at the ingredients so can’t say what’s in em) they are most likely chemicals...and sea salt, and expensive at that.
Sea salt is the only accelerator you need (not that it’s needed, but it can help). If you make your own, 60 cents worth should be plenty to last you years.

dreadwax
The theory is it prevents backcombed hair from unravelling. They also claim it’s conditioning and controls frizz. The reality is, it prevents movement which is needed to form knots, so the hair may look like dreads, but actually spends more time in a state of “glued” together backcombed hair.
Wax also traps dirt and is very hard to remove. It’s extremely easy to over use and can even lead to dreads having to be cut prematurely.
It’s possible there may be a safe way to use it, but it’s generally better to avoid it at all costs.

Alternatives exist that are far better, aloe vera gel being the best. It does everything wax is said to do, while rinsing out easily with plain water.

Butta
This is a new product, comprised mostly of cocoa butter, used specifically to hide the grossness (stickiness, smell and waxy feel, possibly also stiffness) of waxy dreads.

Plain ol’ cocoa butter or other conditioning agents work just fine, but should be used only on very dry dreads.

Gels
Well they’re slippery slimy gunk that sticks hair together, but don’t do much to really help dread. Again, aloe vera gel can be used instead.



Ripping/Separating

Considered a part, if not essential part of every method (except the purest of “neglecters” who let the hair congo at will even if they get a unidread). Accomplished by pulling dreads away from each other to break connecting hairs.
Pros
You can control whether or not congos form, and control the sizes of your dreadlocks.
Cons
Can hurt a bit, especially if u wait too long!



I tried to cover most methods, fairly, but I’m sure others will have their input on those methods I know lil about, and I’m sure there’s a few I missed as well.

So, please add your own input, and don’t consider this post as being the final word on each method just because it’s the 1st post.

You'll find that those who chose a particular method will generally swear it’s the best method (unless it was an obvious mistake like latex salon dreads).

I hope each and every one adds their personal experiences with each method to make this as informative as possible.

Please though, all methods are open to discussion and debate on their merits and pitfalls, but let’s not bash each other for choosing other methods. Even methods considered mistakes should be thought of as learning experiences.

I’m sure some of you who used these methods can give far more detailed explanations, and may disagree on some points

 

Quality post, my friend. This would be a good read for anyone who wants to knot their hair. Since this is a thread for posting our own personal experiences, I will edit mine in later ^_~

Edit-
It seems much has been said already now, but I will say this- Don't fall into the trap of assuming just because you didn't use wax and use a favored cleaner like Dr. Bronner's you are given a 'free pass.' Be sure to rinse very thoroughly and wash at least once a week on average. I found out the hard way that even Bronner's can leave a sticky mess if not rinsed out fully. Perhaps if you are athletic it would be a good idea to wash more often, or at least rinse your hair more often. It is okay to rinse between washes, just make sure your hair is pretty well dry before wearing a head gear or pulling em' back.

I've found fully submerging your hair in water once in a while is helpful. For an entire year I did not do this, only rain and shower water would hit it, but in dunking your head you make sure every strand of hair gets to feel the water.

 

I for one am impressed with this. It makes my heart happy to see that there was no negative smack-talk about other methods.

The only thing worth adding (IMO) is that felting is a lot more damaging then crocheting. It's a needle with teeny tiny barbs that roughs hairs up, weakening the shaft in the process. Over using the felting needle seems to be more damaging then the same amount of use with a crochet hook, thought that can weaken as well. Plus it's easy to go overboard with felting, because it cleans up loose bits quick and you can get hooked (har har) on using it more often then you should for maintenance. I have read here and there it's recommended no more then once a month.

 

i can imagine thats true
ive never poked anything through mine so havge no direct experience
but logifcly thats right, after all, normal felting is done with relitivly short fibrwers meshing them together, so it doesnt matter how much they are broken
the strength of dreads however comes from the long fibers, this is why hemp is stronger then cotton or wool

(and have you ever pulled felt apart with your bare hands? it rips really easy)

 

I felted a fake dread (or three, mrr) of human hair into mine as an experiment. They're in there good, I can't rip it out, but that's cause it hurts me more then my hair I suppose. I've never really handled felt. I can imagine though that it's not super duper strong though.

 

Great thread. Vote to sticky. Would save a lotta new quesitons

 

well made it to be a potential sticky, but want more input on each method, and anything i left out

and any additions to pros or cons or more detailed info on methods is welcome

 

Here's a link to the collective experiences thread:
http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=350990&f=209

Perhaps this methods thread is a good place for people to posts links to their timelines, as they would provide an illustration of how the different methods may turn out?

 

sure
why not

ok
http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=313747&f=209
my 18 year natural update thread

i'll get around to updating it one of these days

i didnt have the internet when i started em so cant provide early stages updates
but i think chevy might be able to find early pics of her naturals that literaly happened overnight almost (from no dreads at all to dreads in 1 week)
i'll call her tomorow and see if she cant dig up some early pics
unfortunately she helped me lose my camera twice during the 1st few weeks so any pics she would have from there would be from cheap disposable cameras, and dont think shes got a scanner.. but she should hopefully have some from the 1st few months at least i hope

 

great post SE full of wholesome advise for anyone starting dreads. The only thing I'd say to improve it is if you maybe could put each method in bold lettering and some underlined as to make it easier to go through.
Some new people might come on and be too impatient to read through it all and make a new post w/ questions that could be answered here.

 

That's a good point Luxie

 

I agree with Luxie, it's a good thread and comprehensive, but it needs to be broken down and the points need to be clearer with methods in bold or a different colour, or maybe bullet points in order to make it less heavy going....

Other than that, good job SE, there's nothing I would personally add to that

I'm still not convinced it'll stop people asking questions though, generally it seems people read the posts/stickys and are still overwhelmed, not that that really bothers me personally. If no-one asked any questions this place would be pretty quiet...

 

Exactly, this is just alot more co-ordinated, so when someone post's the thread
"Help! NOOB! How do i start dreadz?" we can just post the link to this and away they go
I concur with Luxie, would help alot
Very informative post S.E, good work

 

Suppose you should reread...the back combing method is condescending from the jump

 

I'd volunteer to edit and spell-check the original post, as long as no-one else has already started doing that too coz I don't wanna spend ages on a thing then find that someone else did it! Is that ok soaringeagle? Are there any small details people think need changing first?

 

^^^^I was going to give him 9/10 for his spelling in that post

 

it just needs organising, and being made clear-er, instead of just being a jumble of words

 

Like this? (Took a surprisingly long time to do that tiny bit!)


Welcome Dreadies!

This thread is for a thorough examination of the pros and cons of every dreading method, as well as an explanation of each, along with discussions of experiences.

First, let's start with the oldest method there is...

Natural or Neglect

What you need: hair and patience

How it's achieved: you wash your hair and let it knot on its own, ripping if you wish to keep it from over-combining into too big of dreads. There's more that can be said about the method, that can help things along, but thats the basics you need to know for now.. just let it do its thing
you will need lil longer hair than other methods, 4-6 inches or more, typically, although some hair types, especially African can dread naturally at very short lengths (1/4 inch even).

Pros
The hair is never damaged, its totally pain-free (except the occasional ripping) costs nothing, teaches patience and is considered the purest form of dreading. They also have a more unique natural organic look.
Cons
Can look like a rat's nest at first...this period of pre-dread knottiness can last weeks or months...and in a rare few can take over a year before they seem like real dreads.This method is less controlled then other methods so a uniform "perfect" appearance isn't the typical result.

 

^^^^ Yes much clearer

 

exactly like that amy... all it needs is a womans touch