Do early wraps help lock your hair? and other wrap concerns...

Happily I was informed that beading early on can greatly help hair lock up. I have seen people say that you can wrap some pieces early on, but I'm wondering how much a wrap will effect the locking of the strands it holds. Anyone here wrap their hair in the first week, and how can it effect the locking process? What's your experience with wrapping techniques, and what do you find is the best way to make pretty and lasting wraps? Is there any particular material that works best, doesn't smell, last the longest, etc.? After wrapping, what dangers do I need to watch for?

updated by @rheana-hayes: 01/13/15 10:02:57PM

if u wrap early on the wrapped part will stay thin and the roots will thicken hemp lasts longest embroidery threads prettiest the knotted macreme or "chinese staircase" tupes look best and last the longest..i had a hemp 1 last 5 years

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

For myself, I think the dreads that were wrapped before they were mangled didn't really dread faster, and had some parts that didn't dread at all....the roots of the wrapped hairs went nuts though, and once I unwrapped the hair they had established sections, if you will..

I personally wouldn't recommend wrapping dreads at all, I've had many wraps, of many different materials, some for years, some for short amounts of time. I notice they stay wet much longer than any other dreads...and eventually the string kind of melds with the hair and becomes slimy....I think it puts you at risk for mold. When I finally got all my wraps out I had to do some pretty serious washings to feel like my hair was normal again and not housing any fungi.

Oh...but if you really want to wrap to help with the dread process, I think it's much more effective to tighten already matured dreads...not babies.

I have 2 hair wraps from before I began dreading (so the wraps themselves are around 2 years old). I took one out because it was simply falling apart, the hair inside was 'normal', not dreaded at all, no mold or mildew, perfect straight untangled hair :P from where you begin the wrap, thats where the dreads will start - anything inside will be un dreaded. Go for it and make them, its no harm

I used just normal bracelet floss, or hemp and just wrap it around, its not rocket science

i have a video on wrapping on my page. the closed wraps kept the hair straight & thin & may dry slower but last longer, open wraps seemed to help a bit early on because the hair could still move a bit but would get eaten by tightening dreads. if you use hemp use unpolished (the polished contains wax & will leave the goop in your dreads), or i use embroidery thread. some people use yarn but don't use anything that will shrink & felt into your hair, unless you are going for that i've heard of ribbon or just fabric strips too.