Okay, so my dreadies are circa 3 1/2 months old, and at the moment i have them seperated with rubber bands.. I wash them every few days with Dr Bronners organic shampoo, and I'm constantly palm-rolling. My question concerns backcombing, because the few times I've tried it it seems like it helps at first, but the next day or 2 I notice that it actually makes them less "dread-like". Is backcombing only good when using wax? (Because I'm pretty set against putting any wax in my hair.) Should I just stick to palm-rolling and they will eventually get better? Any advice, tips or info is greatly appreciated!
I'm in a similar situation but mine are 3 and a half weeks old lol. From what I've gathered we just have to let em get on with it, not much can be done now..
Backombing isn't something you do constantly. You do it once, and let em be. That's it. And I'd advise against keeping the bands in. 3 1/2 months is nothing, your hair is gonna look fuuny for a good long time before they start looking like decent dreads. They won't mature for a long time to come and definitely won't be as locked as you'd expect. Patience & time.
well that's why i have rubber bands in them, to keep em separated. why take the bands out- are they actually harmful or something? i took them out once but got paranoid that they might all merge into one big waffle or something.
yeah i had bands in for a while... aside from the gunk that might be left, the dreadlocks also start to like eat up the rubber bands lol so taking them out gets more difficult the longer you wait. 3 and 1/2 months and still worrying about your dreads? man.. i've only had mine for a month and a week.... looks like i'm gonna have to be very, very patient ~_~
http://www.hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=222400 that is why you should not use rubber bands. backcombing is going to fall out. it will create some base knots that sort of "kick-start" your dreads into forming, but backcombed or not, your dreads will reach maturity around a year or so. sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, it depends on your hair type. my advice is to stop with the palm rolling and backcombing and just let them be. just separate them when you need to. and get those bands out!
bands most definately do melt and get eatten ..found 1 in a dread, dont remember ever putten em in any but i guess 1 mightve annoyed me so i put 1 in..who knows how mucvh later i was pickin out sticky chunks and theres still some deep inside rottin away a bead or hemp wraps a better idea if u really feel u need somethin
Well then, I'll take the rubber bands out today then! What would I do without you guys? Oh, and I'll try to take some new pictures so you can get a feel for what I've been describing..
does backcombing at least set the stage so you can control how the dreads will turn out a little bit, like so that they're all the same size? or so you can get the part in the front right?
some of mine were started with neglect but a majority of them were started with backcombing with NO WAX. once you backcomb you dont do it again becasue it weakens the dreads. its like starting all over again. for the first few weeks it will look like they are falling apart but if you have patience they start to lock up nicely. good luk with your dreads XXX
