Starting Dreads
Yes, actually your hair will dread easier because the hair has been damaged, so it will hold knots a lot easier. You can use any method and the dreads will lock up.
It really depends on what soap you are using. There are 3 types of soap
1. Regular Soap – you can get this at the grocery store or drug store, Wal-Mart, you name it. The problem with these soaps is that they leave residue behind on the hair. (Refer to what is residue for a complete description) residues are left behind from the scents, holders, and moisturizers of the soaps and they build on the hair up over time. Well it’s not a problem if you have normal hair, actually it helps the hair because it keeps it from getting into tangles, but it is very bad for dreads because it keeps them from tightening. The residue will also build up and suffocate the scalp, keeping it from breathing and will cause dandruff
2. Residue Free Soap– This shampoo is harder to come by. Soaps for sensitive skin are usually residue free. You can sometimes find them at drug stores, and they always advertise that they are residue free, so don’t worry you will know! I get mine from DreadHead, because you can get it for half price if you order 6, and its really hard for me to find residue free shampoo where I’m living.
3. Medicated Shampoo– Some people make the mistake of using this type of shampoo all the time. The reason it is bad to use this shampoo all the time is because, like regular shampoos, it leaves a residue behind. Not a scent residue but a medicated residue. This residue builds up just like the scented residue and keeps the dreads from tightening and the scalp from breathing so it causes the dandruff to form. So it’s actually working against you when it is supposed to be helping you. It is best to wash your dreadlocks in this shampoo when you have an itchy scalp, wash it once or twice to make the itches go away and the continue using your residue free shampoo.
There are many different products out on the market that say they are intended for dreadlocking hair, but that does not mean that they actually work. Any wax that has the ingredient of petroleum is bad for your dreads, it will make your dreads feel nasty and it will make your dreads fall apart. There are 3 waxes that are appropriate for dreadlocking hair:
1. DreadHead wax
2. Knatty Dread cream
3. Knotty Boy
1. DreadHead wax – This is the best of the waxes we have tested. Its strong points were its long lasting hold and its lack of grease.
2. Knatty Dread cream – This is the best loc cream we tested. It has necessary vitamins and nutrients for healthy locs and scalp and it’s not greasy.
3. Knotty Boy – this wax is pretty good over all. Decent hold. Its main problem is that it’s greasier than it needs to be and the hold, while long lasting, isn’t that strong. I also think the smell of their wax is a bit much. At first I was like mmm yummy, but after a few hours or so I was like sick to my tummy.
These are the two things you should make your decision by
If the dreads get really long they can pull on the scalp if they get really long which can make you loose more hair.
Another way to look at it is that you will get to keep the hair longer, because the dreads will hold the hairs together.
It’s really a give take situation, but I have never heard of anyone’s hair follicles being damaged because of have dreads, it’s just a warning that needs to thrown out there just in case anything did happen.
Yep, your hair will dread, you will probably want to use the backcombing method because you will have the best results. The hair might slip out a little, if you don’t backcomb the dreads tight enough, so make sure you do, and make sure you put rubber bands at the tips.
There are two types of thick hair
1. Thick strands- usually Asian people have this kind of hair, it is harder for this kind of hair to actually lock up, but if you use the backcombing method with a good wax, you won’t have many problems. Neglect, and twist and rip will not work well with this hair type.
2. Lots of hair- people who have curly have usually have lots of it. The stands are usually thin or normal size, and the dread great. A person with this hair will have no problems getting dreads, with any method.
It depends on which method you use. Check out the methods section In FAQ Part 2 to find more information about the method you want to use.
When the dreads are new they could form an “S” shape for a little while, but don’t worry this will go away when the dreads lock up. If you palm roll the dreads it will make the “S” go away faster.
It depends on which method you use. Check out the methods section In FAQ Part 2 to find more information about the method you want to use.
It depends on which method you use. Check out the methods section In FAQ Part 2 to find more information about the method you want to use.
There are a couple herbs you can take to make your hair grow fast
1. Horsetail- the is the most effective one
2. Salmon oil
3. Vitamin E
Scalp massages also help hair grow fast
It depends on which method you use. Check out the methods section In FAQ Part 2 to find more information about the method you want to use.
You don’t have to shave your head. There are a couple ways to get dredlocks out, if you haven’t used a dread perm
1. The Easiest way: cut your dreads off a little below root and have about 2 inches of hair. You won’t have to spend hardly anytime with this, and if you are not partial to your hair then this is a good way for you to do it.
2. Cut the first half of your dread off, from the tip of the dread to the middle. Then soak the rest of the dread in conditioner and comb the dread out. This will take some time, but you will have cut the strongest part of the dread off, so it will be a lot easier to comb the rest out.
3. You just love your long hair and don’t want short hair: I can completely understand this, this is probably the way I would choose if I were ever thinking about cutting my dreads off, but I’m not so I don’t have to think about it 🙂 Soak the whole dread in conditioner, and comb the dread out. Let me warn you that this will take a lot of time, probably 4 or 5 times longer than it took you to put them in, but if you love your hair, it’s completely worth it. Some people will say that you can’t do this, but you can, I know a person who did this, and I helped them take some of them out. I didn’t stay the whole time, but I know when I came back the next day, they were still working on taking them out.
4. And if you have chosen the silky dread method all you have to do is take out the extensions.
Yep, dreads do grow; they grow at the same speed your normal hair grows. The hair does not grow into the dread unless the roots of the dread are locked up. So it is very important to lock the hair at the root, you can use the clockwise rubbing method to do this.
Of course you can sleep with your dreads, were you really planning on taking them out every night and putting them back in every morning? NOPE, didn’t think so. You sleep on dreads just like you sleep on normal hair. Sometimes when the dreads are new, they will be flat when you wake up in the morning, but they will poof back up as soon as you palm roll them.
Dreads can get on your nerves when you are rolling around when you sleep, they can get under your face, or poke you in the ear, but my dreads have grown long now, so I just tie them back, now, when I sleep.
While your dreads are new you will probably want to wear a swim cap, but after they mature you will not need one.
It’s not really a good idea, because the dread will start to unravel because the hair that was holding the knots together before is gone. You will have to wait for the tip to lock up again and it’s just a pain in the arse. But if you are going to do it the best way to cut it is like a flower, cut it at an angle and then put a rubber band around the tip and rub the tip against the palm of your hand everyday for about 2 days and then take the rubber band out.
The rubber band at the tip is used to help keep the dreads together when they are new and it helps the tip lock up once the dreads are tight.
Dreads do get fatter with time, because the hair that would have fallen out, builds up inside the dread. This is what makes the dreads become hard after a while. But if you want really big dreads and you haven’t started them yet it’s easy to make them fat, just make bigger sections. And it’s pretty easy to make the bigger if the dreads are only about two months old or younger, just rubber band them together and palm roll them as much as you can. But once they are hard it’s really hard to connect them, you can still rubber band them together, but you take a chance of having folds or creases in your dreads.
The best way to have thin dreads is to make the sections thin when you start them. If the dreads are new (meaning younger than a month old) you can usually rip them apart from the root to the tip and then put a one rubber band after every inch on the dread, wax them, and palm roll as much as you can. Leave the rubber band on the dread for about a week. There really isn’t a good way to thin them once you’ve had them over a month. You can tie string around the roots and make them grow in thinner sections, but if cut them or pull them apart it really tears up the dread.
Yes, you can let your braids turn into dreadlocks. And yes, it will work, but these are some things you should expect and know about before you choose this method.
1. The dreads will not be as thick as they would if you were to use another method such as backcombing. When you backcomb the dreads the hair is teased up and down and across and every direction, so it makes a thick dread because the hair is scattered everywhere. But when you let the braid turn into a dread the hairs will be side by side, so the dread will be a lot thinner. This doesn’t mean that you can’t have thin dreads if you use the backcombing method, because you can, it’s just another way to have thin dreads.
2. The dreads will probably have a lot of loops, lumps, and bumps. The hair is side by side, so nothing is holding them in one place, so one side of the braid my pop out of the dread and cause a big loop or bump.
3. The dreads will probably never look smooth. I’m not saying all dreads formed this way will by wavy and lumpy and loopy, you may have dreads that have formed this way and they look great, good for you, but most people who make dreads this way will have a big problem. You will be able to see where the hair is braided, because the only way to cover up the braided part is to have the loose hairs knot and dread over the braid, and you probably don’t have enough loose hairs to cover the entire braid.
Backcombing is probably the fastest way to get permanent dreads. Because the hair looks like dreads right after they are finished, there is also an estimated time of 3 months to lock up. This is the least amount of time out of all the methods.
The fastest way to get temporary dreads is probably the loomed dreads method. But you can only leave them in for a few days. So if your going with temporary dreads use the silky dread method.
The easiest way to get dreadlocks is probably the neglect method because you don’t do anything to your hair and hopefully it will turn into dreads. This method requires to planning or preparation so it is very easy to do.
You can use the backcombing, twist and rip, dread perm, neglect, and dread braiding methods for permanent dreads. You can use the silky dreads and loomed dreads for temporary dreads.
You can use the backcombing, twisting, dread perm, neglect, brush rubbing, and dread braiding methods for permanent dreads. You can use the silky dreads and loomed dreads for temporary dreads.
You can use the backcombing and dread perm methods for permanent dreads. You can use the silky dreads and loomed dreads for temporary dreads.
You should call all the salons in your area and see if they make dreads, you can also try posting on message boards to see if anyone knows of a place to get them done.
You can try posting on message boards to see if there is a dread head in your area that would be interested. And if you are interested in helping someone out with their dreads email us and we will recommend you when people email us. You can also check the salons section in the links section for salons in your area.
Salons usually charge between $100 & $400 to make dreads. IMPORTANT! Many salons say that they do know how to make dreadlocks, but few really do. They will just put your hair in twist and cover it with gel and call them dreads and charge you $200. The best thing to do is decide which method you would like to start your dreads with, print it, and call around. Just take the directions to the salon and tell them THIS IS HOW I WANT THEM DONE! and see if they can do it. If not, try another salon, you will be able to find one that can make the dreads the way you want them.
It depends on which method you use. Check out the methods section In FAQ Part 2 to find more information about the method you want to use.
Well that all depends on how much work you want to put into your dread locks, if you start your dreads with 2 inches of hair, then you will be putting a lot of work into them but they won’t really look like dreads. If you start your dreads with 5 or 6 inches of hair then you will have a much easier and rewarding experience with making dread locks.
You could use gel and put twist in your hair. Or you could add loomed dreads to your hair. Or make silky dreads.
Regular beeswax is very brittle, it will be really hard to put on the dreads unless you melt it and then put it in. But as soon as it dries it’s just going to chunk off, and leave little pieces behind, that will hold dirt and make black spots in your dreads.
Honey is very sticky and it is not very thick so it will just coat the hair like gelatin would and not help hold the knots together in the dreads. It also attracts bugs and dirt.
The only thing Aloe Vera can be used for in dreads is to condition them, but it will not help the dreading process when the dreads are new.
Aloe Vera can be used in dreads to condition them, but it will not help the dreading process because it will coat the hair causing the dreads to have a hard time locking up.
It depends on the size jar. Probably two. You will probably use a jar when you first start your dreads, and then get another one after the third month, and that jar will probably last a year, if not more. Once your dreads are locked up you won’t need to use wax anymore and you can start using a dread moisturizing product like Dread Butta to keep your dreads soft and prevent them from getting brittle
Well that depends on what wax you are using, if you are using a pomade wax (like Murray’s beeswax, which I do not recommend, it is greasy and they will make your dreads fall apart) you will have to use a lot because it does not hold the dreads together.
If you use the Dread Head, Knatty Dread Cream, or Knotty Boy you will be using a finger full of wax on each dred (depending on how thick the dreads are and how long they are).
I’ve had my dreadlocks for over 4 years now, and I still use wax for little loose hairs, frizzes, and to condition them so they don’t get brittle. But you will not have to wax them all the time, once they are about a year old.
Expect the wax to be firm and a little sticky. It might be a little hard to get off of your hands, since it’s waterproof, but you can use liquid Dawn to get it off or a product called Waxx Off that is specifically made for breaking down dread wax. You may find it a little different to work the wax into the dreads for the first time, if you do, get a hair dryer and heat the wax a little before you smooth it on the dread, then melt the wax into the dread using the hair dryer when you’re done.
As often as you please. Some people will say that you can’t wash dreads at all, because they will fall out, but that is just another dreadlock myth. Dreadlocks should be washed at least once a week, just like normal untangled hair. Your dreads may feel a little loose after you wash them, but they will tighten back as soon as they dry. With new dreads you should be careful with them, the first few times you wash them, make sure to be gentle with them, after all, they are newbie baby dreads, and they are fragile.
You can, and you can keep the sides short if you want, or let the sides grow out and dread them later.