New dreads, need advice

Hey there everyone, so yesterday I finally got my dreadlocks done. My cousin helped with it, but did them a little sloppy so I had to go back in and tighten them up. I used the backcomb method. I have some questions and concerns.

A little background, I'm white, 19, and have pretty wavy/ almost curly hair, that is always fuzzy. When my cousin did them she straightened my hair first thinking it would be easier to get more in the dreads.

About 3 years ago I used the same method and they failed, so I spent about 3 hours saving my hair and managed to unknot every last one.

This time they seem to be much tighter. My main concern is that towards the top and front of my head, I have really short and curly hair, and they didn't make it into any of the locks. It looks bad, and I'm afraid their going to be stuck like that and my front dreads are going to be crappy. Any advice would be really appreciated.

Also, I forgot to grab some bands for the roots to keep them tight, will it be okay like that, or should I get some.

Last question/concern, Earlier today I had to run through pouring down rain and when I got home I had to go through and backcomb a good handful of them because they had come undone at the tips, am I going to have to do this everytime I get them wet until they start locking together and compressing? or were they just not tight enough. Also they starting taking on my natural curls again, only know as a lock instead of groups of hair. Anyone know of a way to combat this or will it work itself out as they mature?

Thanks in advance for any help.

updated by @brennon-miller: 02/14/15 01:15:31PM

ok all very good questions and concerns, first off im assuming that you didnt use wax, and basically their going to be loose, when you first start them, the best thing to do is forget you have hair..just wash and separate them. and i know it seems like "oh no there going to fall out, or my dreads are gonna suck" but trust me they will get better and when you first start them they do suck and get on your nerves..but best advice for you is to just let them do there thing

No wax or bands have been used in the making of these dreads. I guess last time I just didnt read as much up on them last time. I just read through some things on here and they've all said just let them go after backcombing. So what about getting them wet/washing them?? I've read some say every 2 to 3 days and others once a week at first..

Antonio Llamar said:

ok all very good questions and concerns, first off im assuming that you didnt use wax, and basically their going to be loose, when you first start them, the best thing to do is forget you have hair..just wash and separate them. and i know it seems like "oh no there going to fall out, or my dreads are gonna suck" but trust me they will get better and when you first start them they do suck and get on your nerves..but best advice for you is to just let them do there thing

Thats up to you man, personally i didnt wash mine for a week or so after i first started them possibly a lil longer just to insure they were holding.. but yeah whenever you feel comfortable washing them, getting them wet isnt too bad tho i tried to avoid it as much as possible just to be on the safe side

wash nno need to wait just wash gently the more u wash and wet em the faster they progress tho loosening early on is progression even if it seems regression irs still moving in the right direction

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

12 straightening your hair was a really dub idea it would have dreaded itself if u didnt straighten or backcomb

2 they didnt fail you did (no offence) u didnt let them dread you took them out before they had a chance to

3 no rubber bands..evrer

4 never ever rebackcomb leave em alone let em loosen if u rebackcomb everytime it gets wet how wuill they ever dreads? stop messing wuth them they just need to be left alone

5 umm what was 5 again og h yea yu shouldnt have ;"tighhtened them back up" the loose and sloppy was perfect u should have left them be

6 the tips are better off loose leave em be

7 thank god your curls coming back

8 they will get loopy frizzy and wild..let them

9 no need to do nothing but the loose hair in front u never had to backcomb if u leave em alone they will dread on thiewr own

1o0 and final

leave em alone

leave em alone

leave em alone

just making sure u got that

hehe srry if i wass harsh just makig sure i got the point accross

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

You actually don't want to backcomb them tightly. Sounds counter-productive, but the tighter they are (forced tightness, I mean), the longer they'll take to dread. How does hair dread? Because they move around and create knots and tangle. They can't move around and create knots when they're backcombed really tightly. They most likely will come loose and undone a bit, and it's normal. Dreads NEED to loosen so they can dread properly. So stop backcombing them, if you backcomb them every time they come loose, you'll never have dreads.

Also, the front of your hair will dread, but will probably take longer. Usually, the part of your head you sleep on dreads quicker, the front usually takes longer. But it'll still dread, and if you give it a chance, in time you'll learn not to care about it anyway, or about how it looks. I used to try to be a neat freak when it came to my hair, and now I have loose hairs all over the place and I love it lol.

No rubber bands anywhere, like I said, you want them to be loose. Also, they can get eaten by the dreads and end up rotting as you wash your hair.

Water is your friend; wash your hair a few times a week, and don't re-backcomb them. Look at it like this: the more you touch or mess with your hair, the longer it'll take to dread. So just let them be, try not to look at them all the time, and you'll see progress in no time

Dreads just forming love the rain, the shower, the ocean or lake. They dread faster that way. As long as they dry out before bed or putting on a hat, you will be just fine. It is when they are fully mature that they should not get wet every day as they can take 24 hours to dry, depending how thick they are. But for now, when it rains.......go out and dance in it! peace

A little update. Today my roomate and I went swimming in our pool, which I was weary about but, when its 90+ out, and gorgeous, you can't help it. Well, a lot of them came completely undone.. Not really sure why, but they did. So I just had to spend the last hour or so redoing them (not retightening them, completely redoing them as in they had 0 knots in them at all). And honestly they look a lot better than when my cousin did them. Needless to say, won't be going back to the pool for a week or two.. surprisingly I had several that held up really well, when the rest failed, and they're already starting to thicken and compact. Washed them once so far, but had them wet a few times. Finally got a picture too.

I have one question. I've seen a lot of people with dreadlocks use their dreads to tie them back, is this bad for baby dreads or not? It tends to be very convientent and I don't want to use any kind of ties for holding them back.

Don't retighten, you will damage the hair and halt the journey each and every time you do that. Use a colorful shoe string to tie them loosely. If you think you can tie them up with your own hair then go for it. But, the less you tie them up in the beginning, the faster they mature....peace

Spend that hour doing something else.....