I took mine out after about a month last time (T&R) because they weren't staying in. I started them up again a week ago, spending way more time T&Ring each one, they are staying in wonderfully. I can't wait until they are longer and I can tie them up in knots (my top layer is a little longer than my ears, and the bottom is a little past my shoulders). My dread babies are a month younger than my son, :0) I plan to stay home with my boys and homeschool at least until they are in high school, so no worries on employer stress. I'm so grateful to have the freedom to stay home and raise my boys.

My bigger dreads unravel every time I get them wet, the small ones don't the roots are becoming rectangular and unhappy...I am taking them out, and am just going to keep my hair clean and let it do it's thing. I hope it doesn't take forever.

My dreads are almost a month old, and the search for the perfect way to wash them has been a little interesting. Baking soda, and bronners both leave my ends slippery and they unraveled half way up my hair. So I have been using trader joes tea tree bar soap, which I like. But I wonder if I could just rinse with hot water and scrub. I tried it this morning and my hair seems to be a lovely yet natural texture, and it dried super fast, when I was using shampoo and conditioner it could take all night to dry, and now, even with some small dready bits it only took an hour. I might try the same with my skin. I am definitely not down with stinking though, so that I'll update on that too.

3 weeks along and I have dready bits! I am really amazed that it is working actually...I really didn't expect it to. keeping the tips bound in hemp for right now is helping alot.

So I'm only 2.5 weeks in, and the sections above where I had some of the really loose ones wrapped in hemp feel like real dreads, firm and soft and felty. That seems really fast, But super awesome. I wrapped my ends, it feels alot better than having them banded, they aren't crimped, and the hair is not being pulled or broken. Hopefully the same thing will happen.

Ok last night I got frustrated with my tips, which keep unraveling little by little every time I wash. I banded them....This morning I took them out and re twist/ripped them. The bands were strangling my poor babies, and little pieces of loose hair were caught in them, making it pull every time I moved my head...this is not natural or part of accepting the nature of things, this is not patience, this is not the journey that I want to take with my dreads, I want to learn from them (as well as looking awesome in the process, lol) not bend them to my will.

dread babies are 2 weeks old, I had bands on the roots and tips, but took them all out a couple days ago. I was nervous about washing today (I do about every 3 days) because the baking soda makes my tips super soft and they have been unraveling, I felt like if I took the tip bands off then the process would continue up my whole dread and they would fall out. So today I washed with baking soda, then some Dr. Bronners peppermint (helps with the itchies a whole lot) then after rinsing my tips felt slippery and smooth still, which is lovely if you aren't trying to dread. So I dipped my hair in a 2 liter jug filled with lemony sea salt water. They aren't dry yet, but I am super stoked, they feel like they will hold just fine. Yay for sea salt!

I am so happy :0) I have been wanting dreads for 4 years, and have been hesitating because I didn't really understand the process and thought that my hair was to thin and silky and wouldn't look good at all (I used dreadhead hq last time, so I had big spaces in between each one from banding and they were skinny and sticky from the wax) but 2 weeks ago after my husband and I had decided that I would be staying at home with our boys and homeschooling them for the foreseeable future (I'll worry about employers and their prejudice later) I put them in via twist and rip and I have been washing about every 3 days with a nice tea tree bar soap I found at trader joes, and using sea salt. I think it is actually starting to work, I have some loose hair, but the roots are starting to feel like the knots are sticking together (after some root rubbing). The only thing is that I feel like some of them want to grow together, I'de rather they didn't, as I only have about 20 or so, so I keep separating the lovey ones and I'm sure they will figure it out. :0)