Washing, tips, rubber bands, and roots?

Hey, I'm Jenna and I have had my dreads for a week now. I didnt section, and I just started at it. I probably should have, but what's done is done. I did them all by myself and the first try took me about 4 or 5 hours. Honestly, they didnt look very good and were quite loose. I went back and re-backcombed my hair again. It worked (yay) and I just had to go back for a few days to re-knot them. Now I only palm roll the ones that look limp.
updated by @junebug-johnson: 02/14/15 08:39:24AM

rubber bands are no good and should never be left in longer ten 2 days maxwas when you feel dirty or otcy wasing elps dreads so no need to ever wauittips..leave em be, loose tips alow water to drain out te ends so they dry faster and woint rotwashing scrub te scalp wit fingertips rince tru te dreads.. dr bronners needs to be diluterd alot 12-1 and its great except in ard wateru can also use te baking sodsa deep cleansepalhm rolling rubbing in any dfirection or anyting else is useless and only causes dammage..best ting to do is forget your even trying to drewad and forget u ave air..just leave em aloneroots take care of temselves but u tink you mean teyre sticking out loopking goofy..tats one reason backcombuingfs a very poor metodat least u avoided wax that was smartbangs u can let dread naturaly wen tey grow outdid i miss any questions?


--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

the rubber bands you have at the roots look way too tight. they'll restrict movement of the hair, thus restricting dreading. If you decide to keep the bands in, because you really don't need them and its debatable if they even help, you should loosen them up. Also rubber bands have a nasty habit of melting and fusing into the hair, happened to me, so dont leave them in their for longer than a few weeks.backcombed baby dreads tend to "not lay down" for a week or two. just wear a hat or a bandanna to keep your self from looking funny. the roots will lay flatter as your hair grows and your dreads mature.Blunted tips make dreads retain water longer, which means they take longer to dry. but if the extra hassle is worth it to you, go for it. Just keep in mind that dreads with blunted tips are more likely to get moldy so they require extra maintenance. most dreads, even 20 yr old dreads, still have loose tips. They either blunt on their own or they don't. there are ways to help them blunt up but i dont know what they are but im sure someone else here does.You can wash your hair when ever you feel like you need to, but a lot of people wait at least a week or two before washing brand new dreads. I always washed mine by lathering em up, squeezing the soap in, then rinsing and squeezing the soap out. almost like if you were gonna wash a sponge. With the baking soda wash you don't even have to lather, so its extra gentle on baby dreads. Rinse as long as you feel you need to. You can shake and air dry them, you can roll em up in a sham-wow and squeeze em, I even used to just wring them out like a wet towel (that might have been a bit damaging though)keep in mind that your hair is gonna change like crazy over the course of the next 7-10 months. Loosening up, tightening up, zigzagging, looping, everything. They are not gonna do what you want them to, they are gonna do what they have to. Eventually you will have the locks you want, I promise, but it takes patience. You could not palm roll, not root rub, not dread ball, and literaly not do ANYTHING else and I promise you'll have kick ass locks in less than a year from now. Backcombing your hair is the "set em and forget em"method of locking, all you have to do now is forget them.

Hey, thanks for the help. I'll loosen those bands up. And at least I'm not the only one with the dreads that wont lay down. Vinny said:

the rubber bands you have at the roots look way too tight. they'll restrict movement of the hair, thus restricting dreading. If you decide to keep the bands in, because you really don't need them and its debatable if they even help, you should loosen them up. Also rubber bands have a nasty habit of melting and fusing into the hair, happened to me, so dont leave them in their for longer than a few weeks.


backcombed baby dreads tend to "not lay down" for a week or two. just wear a hat or a bandanna to keep your self from looking funny. the roots will lay flatter as your hair grows and your dreads mature.

Blunted tips make dreads retain water longer, which means they take longer to dry. but if the extra hassle is worth it to you, go for it. Just keep in mind that dreads with blunted tips are more likely to get moldy so they require extra maintenance. most dreads, even 20 yr old dreads, still have loose tips. They either blunt on their own or they don't. there are ways to help them blunt up but i dont know what they are but im sure someone else here does.

You can wash your hair when ever you feel like you need to, but a lot of people wait at least a week or two before washing brand new dreads. I always washed mine by lathering em up, squeezing the soap in, then rinsing and squeezing the soap out. almost like if you were gonna wash a sponge. With the baking soda wash you don't even have to lather, so its extra gentle on baby dreads. Rinse as long as you feel you need to. You can shake and air dry them, you can roll em up in a sham-wow and squeeze em, I even used to just wring them out like a wet towel (that might have been a bit damaging though)

Nope, but i just thought of one. Putting my hair up in a ponytail wont harm anything, will it? soaringeagle said:

rubber bands are no good and should never be left in longer ten 2 days max
was when you feel dirty or otcy wasing elps dreads so no need to ever wauit
tips..leave em be, loose tips alow water to drain out te ends so they dry faster and woint rot
washing scrub te scalp wit fingertips rince tru te dreads.. dr bronners needs to be diluterd alot 12-1 and its great except in ard water
u can also use te baking sodsa deep cleanse
palhm rolling rubbing in any dfirection or anyting else is useless and only causes dammage..best ting to do is forget your even trying to drewad and forget u ave air..just leave em alone
roots take care of temselves but u tink you mean teyre sticking out loopking goofy..tats one reason backcombuingfs a very poor metod
at least u avoided wax that was smart

bangs u can let dread naturaly wen tey grow out

did i miss any questions?

nope just dont tie anyting round em too tigt, i wouldnt use a rubber band, if the dreads are long enoug ids use a dread or 2, oterwise t sirt sleeves work to pull em back Jenna Buggle said:

Nope, but i just thought of one. Putting my hair up in a ponytail wont harm anything, will it?

soaringeagle said:

rubber bands are no good and should never be left in longer ten 2 days max
was when you feel dirty or otcy wasing elps dreads so no need to ever wauit
tips..leave em be, loose tips alow water to drain out te ends so they dry faster and woint rot
washing scrub te scalp wit fingertips rince tru te dreads.. dr bronners needs to be diluterd alot 12-1 and its great except in ard water
u can also use te baking sodsa deep cleanse
palhm rolling rubbing in any dfirection or anyting else is useless and only causes dammage..best ting to do is forget your even trying to drewad and forget u ave air..just leave em alone
roots take care of temselves but u tink you mean teyre sticking out loopking goofy..tats one reason backcombuingfs a very poor metod
at least u avoided wax that was smart

bangs u can let dread naturaly wen tey grow out

did i miss any questions?

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Personally I reccomend the Baking Soda wash, but Dr. B's is really good too, I like the tea tree the best. Both are very earth friendly too. 2-3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in a cup or two of water used as a rinse will eliminate any oily feeling you may get from the Dr. B's.Have a nice journey....namaste'

i too am wondering how long it will take my backcombed dreads to come in..i was also wondering if sweating with my dreads will lock them up more..since i play soccer

i too am wondering how long it will take my backcombed dreads to come in..i was also wondering if sweating with my dreads will lock them up more..since i play soccer

what do u mean by come in? they taker as long as they take sweatting dont hurt dont help all that much either


--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1