I am new here, and new to dreads. I'm very concerned - Just got my head dreaded at a salon. Wax and Backcombing. Can I save them?

You're welcome. Please post some pics of your progress now and again.

Sarah Weathers said:

thank you so much! my heart feels so much lighter. this is a spiritual journey for me, and i got lost in all this crap that people told me about wax and getting it done professionally. this is a lesson. my cherokee spirituality tells me to be natural and patient, and i somehow i let myself be dragged away into this terrible place of thinking i can't do it naturally. when i know that i can. THANK YOU <3

hippiegal said:

Happy natural knotting, Sarah!That's a really good start. There are still bunched strands where the new dreads will form. All your hard work washing has paid off.

updated by @hippiegal: 07/23/15 04:21:43PM

thank you again for your advice. the salon won't give me a refund, but i guess i'll chalk it up to me being too trusting. it's really awful - i saved up $500 to get them done (and i'm poor), so i feel really stupid for falling for it. i feel bad putting the stylist on blast because she is a nice person as far as i could see - just very committed to the wrong way of dreading hair, and i haven't seen any really great looking dreads that are mature in her portfolio. anyway - i slept on my new clean hair last night with now wrap, and it felt so good. my hair is quite a mess but i am just going to leave it for about a week and see where it is then. THANK YOU for convincing me to get this wax out. i can't thank you enough. i also read knotty johnny clean's posts on this site, and it really made me angry... for him have such an awful attitude is just terrible and the opposite of what dreads are supposed to be about. if he wants happy peaceful people pursuing dreads for spiritual and personal-happiness reasons there is no reason for him to be so insulting and awful. really i'm appalled by him. sorry for the rant. THANK you for helping me wake up and get the wax out. you saved my dream of pursuing dreads. thank you.

soaring eagle said:

it will section itself but u will have to seperate as sections will try to combine

and if they refuse a refund give me the salons num,bner ill call em for u

thank you again for the advice i am going to do the natural/neglect method from here on out. now that the wax is out (well most of it), my hair still has dreaded areas near the bottom half of my hair. there are 27 small sections now, amongst a lot of loose hair. i had my girl friend backcomb gently very very gently some of the painful parts where dreads were pulling and really all loose straight hair and then suddenly a dreaded bottom. it helped - we just did that on maybe 4 dreads - and backcombing that basically just messed the hair up slightly to give it some head start. i hope that isn't bad. it didn't hurt or feel aggressive at all. we did it super gently. now i am leaving it alone to naturally just do what it pleases. thank you for your replies and for listening. getting the wax out is the best thing i've done.

Britany said:

Also you don't have to do neglect, It is the best way but if your dreads aresalvageablejust wash and keep them they will tighten over time. Twist and Rip is less damaging method than backcombing.

your off to a great start now

now all u need is patience and time

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

thank you. patience and time are fortunately currencies we all have in abundance, unlike money which i stupidly spent on wax and salon. i feel calm and patient and happy now. thank you. i will keep posted

soaring eagle said:

your off to a great start now

now all u need is patience and time

Glad people were able to advise you on how to get the wax out your hair will dread fine, no worries. Just relax, be patient, and enjoy every moment of the transformation as your hair dreads. I used wax too, the first time (not at a salon though), and I'm almost 9 months into dreading and they're coming along great, so you'll be cool.