Stopping the congos

I started twist and rip dreads on Sunday, it's been 6 days and they are progressing nicely. I put beads in them, and wear a wool tam most of the day and night. The ones in front are long and awesome, but the ones in back are desperately trying to become one giant 3" wide dread. I pop them apart as soon as I get up in the morning, before I go to bed, and 3-4 times during the day, but almost immediately they start tangling up again. I just washed them for the second time and they are almost solidly matted into a single wad. I separated them immediately before washing.

Is there anything I can do to keep the root separated even for a little while? I figure I would have to separate them a few times a week, but 6+ times a day is a bit much.

updated by @rachel-maness: 02/14/15 03:31:59AM

stop wearring the tam constantly thats why they are doing that leave em hang loose the more u wera a tam the more u fgotta seperate

if theyre not being forced to dread inside a tam they will dread as individual dreads and not try to become 1 massive tam sghaped dread

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

I found this to be a problem also. I don't wear a tam when I'm home unless need hair out of face. Works for me.

soaringeagle said:

stop wearring the tam constantly thats why they are doing that leave em hang loose the more u wera a tam the more u fgotta seperate

if theyre not being forced to dread inside a tam they will dread as individual dreads and not try to become 1 massive tam sghaped dread

Ok, skipped the tam yesterday and they're a little bit better. They still try to congo into one or two massive dreads overnight, though. My roommate got tired of pulling them apart twice a day, so she wrapped some wool yarn around the bases of the worst ones to try to encourage them to separate. I can pull them apart myself, but it's really hard to sort out the roots at the back of my head.

hemp would be better


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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Does it dry faster?

yqrn will leave wool fuzzuies in the dreads embroidery thread or hemp wont

but if your thourough with the seperation u will be in better shape and wont have to worry as much

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

I've left them loose all day, and the roots are still matting together horribly. I just pulled them all apart again. They really want to be two giant dreads. I honestly didn't think dreadlocks would require this much maintenance.

Good lord, they stick together like velcro! Loose again today, and they still mat solidly together at the roots within a couple of hours. I'm seriously considering threading a bunch of beads on each one and then tying hemp cord under that to keep the roots apart.

have you tried throwing a bead at the tops and maybe one in the middle and one on the end or something to kinda give it a basis to follow?