A little backstory: I'm a 19 year old university student! I've been obsessively researching dreadlocks for the past couple of weeks, and I really think that they would be a good fit for me. I've always adored the look and the idea of such a low-maintenance style. I have a pretty laid-back personality and I've been told by quite a few people that I could pull them off. My mom/sister are also interested in getting them, but my mom doesn't want her whole head and my sister wants to wait to grow her hair (even though hers is already longer than mine..). I'm also a snare drummer on the drumline here, so it would be an awesome addition to the look and it would teach me a lot more confidence in performing since you tend to draw a lot of attention. I'm also going to school to be a high school social studies teacher, and when I checked with a staff member in my program about it, she was very open about it as long as the dreads are tied back and relatively tidy with the proper dress and attitude.
Alright, so on to the dreads: Since I have almost definitely decided on jumping into the dread journey, I figure that I should do it sooner rather than wait a couple months just for a tiny bit more length. The sooner I get them the sooner they will begin to mature. I have rather short, straight, layered hair that is on the thinner side and is about armpit length. I was worried about losing too much length, and I think that the twist and rip method would be best because it seems to take the least amount of length off, at least at first. I've read to stay away from rubber bands and especially wax, but I would still be interested in crocheting to keep things tidier while they are locking up.
Questions:
-How should I prep my hair? I have read that you should start by using residue-free shampoo to begin with a clean slate. I wasn't sure how important this was. I was also thinking that I would leave my hair in braids the evening/night before to get a little texture. I also know to section off in a bricklaying pattern, which is especially important for me since my hair is a little thin.
-I have seen a lot of great sets of dreads that look pretty mature but are only a couple days old. Is there anything specific that can be done to do this? I absolutely know that one of the first rules of having dreadlocks is patience, but I was just curious about this because I've seen quite a few people on this subreddit with gorgeous baby dreads.
-Similarly, is there a 'better' way to go about twist and rip? I have an experimental dread in the bottom layer of my hair that I did using twist and rip, and it seemed like there were a lot of loose hairs. Is this something that can be avoided with taking more time on each dread, or is it so be expected? I know that I could buy a crochet hook and go over them to make them look a bit more mature. I have also seen some people do a sort of hybrid of backcombing and TnR, but I wasn't sure if this would take off more length, since I'd like to salvage as much as I can.
-Do you have any more advice/encouragements? 
I would love to be a part of the dreaded community. Sending loads of good vibes your way!
updated by @kenzy-h: 01/13/15 09:59:33PM
