From looking around it seems wax is a bad thing for dread maintenance xD apart from crocheting (altho some people say thats bad too? =S someone explain xD ) what else can I do to keep my newly formed dreads in good shape? Sorry for the noob question and please dont shoot me down in flames xD
You'll find time and patience is what you are looking for. Your dreads are going to look shit. No matter, in a year they will be okay looking. Give the wax back to the bees.
Wax, crocheting, palm rolling, root rubbing, and even backcombing and twist and rip (to a degree) are all facades... they give the apearance of nice and tidy drealocks, but in reality the only way your hair is gonna lock up is if you keep it clean and leave it alone. The problem with crocheting specifically, is that it only pulls little loops into the lock of hair, but there is no actual knotting going on. Also, it often breaks hair as it pulls it.
At a year you'll find all those loose hairs finding places for them selves I never believed it, but at a year ish mine suddenly looked tidy xD Have a look at my timeline, should be on the front page, you can see now, at 1 year and 5 months they are pretty solid. I gave up trying to maintain them at 5 or 6 months, waste of time. Everything will find it's place ^^
you dont need any maintenance, there will always be loose hairs/frizz but theres nothing wrong with palmrolling now and then especially in the first year
there are varying schools of thought. wax is universally bad. fool on a hill is right, every technique you read about is meant to give you the appearance of neat dreads. however, things like crocheting and palmrolling are really deceiving, and however weird you think stray hairs look, that's nothing compared to a dread that's broken off near the root from all the abuse it's taken from your hands. some people say wearing a wool tam to bed helps, because wool helps your hair dread. this is usually recommended for people who are doing it the natural way to encourage dreads to start.
I like the wool tam idea, I might use that one xD I dont see why you guys dont make a sticky thread on all of these things? I've seen alot of words of wisdom coming from you guys but to see it I have to dig into 20 page long threads xD its either that or ask the question and no one likes repeating themself =P
Messing with the hair is an initial psychological response when one has locks 'made'. Over time, one will fiddle less and less until it's no longer a focus of one's attention ... that's when the hair reckons 'Praise Jah, now I 'n I can do our own thing' Never experienced the 'making' locks approach before, but surely wool should have the same effect as it does with the ... and that word, again ... 'neglect' approach
I occasionally palm roll, but thats only when my dreads at the back of my head start to get really flat, but yer, other then that i ust leave them aloane, and now mine are starting too look really good i think
I've only had dreads for like 2 and a bit months and did use a comb to put them in ... Anyways, I don't really "maintain them" But what can I do to stop them matting all together?
