Hello once again... So, in the inspiration too decorate a bit as well as help keep things at least a little orderly, I wanted to try making some dread beads. I went to the local craft store, and was rather disappointed with their selection of wooden beads, but managed to get some wooden spindle-style pieces to work with. They work just fine so far, but I got some inspiration to pull out the old wood burning kit again and do some designs. Turned out better than I could've imagined, and I love wearing them around. They're keeping some of the more awkward spots in order, but only if they're already well dreaded and definitely dry.

Keeping them on isn't a problem, and by folding the ends I can push them through without too much trouble. My one concern is that the holes are rather small, is this a bad thing? I don't want to constrict them too much, but they seem fine for now... Anybody out there have any experience with smaller beads in the earlier stages of dreading?

Thanks all.

I've actually been preoccupied enough that I'm around 1 month and a week, so even more progress! They're coming together really well, having to separate more and more and leaving them down a lot to help them along... They tend to stay in separate locks a lot, and each one eventually tangles in its own way/time and starts dreading in earnest. I've got a few really good ones around the sides and back, and I'm gonna pop a couple beads on the spots that are already well-dreaded but a little flat or unruly soon. Also just took my dreads to the Pinnacles National Park for some adventures on high peaks and deep caves! Great time always. Lots and lots of hiking these days, no wonder they're shaping up so well! I'd like to continue my thanks to this site for all the help and resources it makes available, I may have made some serious mistakes by now if it wasn't for this place.

Thanks and love you all! Keep on living a life worthy of a beautiful world.

I've made it so far! Progress is awesome, I've loved every step oft he way so far and I'm seeing enough already to get me really stoked about whatever's around the next corner... It's locking up in orderly fashion and I'm having no real trouble keeping it clean. I try to let them stay free as much as I can, and they get to come along on all sorts of adventures these days, be it the wind on a mountain top, the cold water of a fall creek, or even simply sticking your head out the window on a drive through the woods (hopefully not with you behind the wheel!) All in all, it has been locking up really fast. I have very curly, dry hair that always did have a talent for tying impenetrable knots, even after just one day. I'm getting some baby dreads in the back and on the sides, even closer to the front.

Past couple of washes I've just used plain baking soda, and it's worked really well. No residue, dead easy. I've also turned the water as cold as I could stand when washing my hair, which is actually quite a wonderful feeling, especially if you can switch it back to hot for the rest of you once your hair is done! Really enjoying sitting back and watching the natural process. Thank you so much to the website and everyone for all of the advice I've found here. Any other way, I wouldn't have done it, but I'm definitely enjoying myself this way.

I'm right around the 1 week mark on my freeform dreadlocks, and loving every minute of it. Seems like my hair was much more frustrating before, and I never liked the look of it. But even now, it seems like it suits me a lot more, perhaps now that I'm just not fighting it.

It seems to be coming along very quickly. The soap seems to help. I'd actually been using an organic herbal hand soap that we found at the grocery outlets, I checked the ingredients and it works quite well. But now I've also got a jar of my own home-made shampoo that I'm testing out. I made it with some lavender, pennyroyal, and a bit of rosemary, all picked by my own hands, and some of that organic soap mixed in as well as some Castile bar soap I shaved into it and boiled for a while, and finished with a pinch of baking soda. It seems to do well, and I'm keeping my eyes peeled in case of residue. If it turns up I'll do a good deep cleanse without much trouble, but it makes them very easy to wash with good lather but a natural feel.

My hair has dried out a lot. It knots all the easier now, especially if I keep to my old habit of sticking my head out of car windows to give it some exercise. I let it go free a lot more than I used to, and I'm loving that. Otherwise a bandanna keeps it in order, and it comes out with some knots. There were a few awkward knots that I gently untied as they did not look right, but the others I'm leaving alone, apart from separating a bit. It already seems to like staying in different locks, so I'm wondering what things will be doing in the next couple of weeks. I'm a lot happier letting it do its own thing!

Any tips on the more bothersome, awkward, bunchy knots would be very much appreciated.