*UPDATE* almost 3 months and no knots

i know its a waiting game with dreadlocks and i'm totally fine with that but the fact that i stopped brushing my hair in september and don't have a single knot is concerning me.

my hair looks pretty much the same. i rarely touch it except to wash it which i do very gently. i wear a scarf if i'm going out just to keep the mess out of my eyes. i don't know what more i can do. i'm doing the baking soda washes but i'm finding it's leaving a residue on my scalp. kind of like it's binding to the oils but not washing away as easily. i don't do the acv because it softens my hair more than it already is. i have a hard time getting anything out of my hair because of our ridiculously hard water so i can't use bronners, maylees or any natural soaps because i can't rinse them completely out. i really don't want to backcomb or t&r because i don't have anyone to help me and it's really hard to do when your hair is long. i did do one t&r and one backcombed section underneath in the back a couple of weeks ago and they're gone. completely undone and smooth. ugh i know people on here say that anyone can go natural but i'm kind of doubting it now.

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

*update* - 12/20/10

amazing how things change in such a short amount of time. my hair has taken on a completely different texture and i have my first knot underneath in the back and all of my ends are sticking together. i've been messing around with different washing techniques to see what would work for my hair and our hard water and i think i've found the perfect method for me.

i have an organic tea tree shampoo that makes my scalp feel wonderful but i was thinking it might be softening my hair too much so what i do now is squirt a little in a big plastic cup and add hot water and mix. i pour it over my scalp and hair and massage my scalp a little and then rinse. next i do a weak bs wash with a couple pinches of sea salt and pour that on my hair. i let it sit a couple of minutes while i do other things and then rinse, rinse, rinse. that's it. i get out of the shower and have tons of knots in my hair now. my hair is sectioning like crazy. i've even been able to add some small beads and they don't fall out like they had been. i'm so glad i stuck to this. a couple of weeks ago i was really considering giving up. i'm so happy i didn't. my husband and kids are even noticing changes in my hair! yay!

thanks for all the support everyone! I'll post pictures soon when it's not pouring outside:)

updated by @heather: 02/14/15 08:07:06AM

switch to a wool tam not silk scarf and do sea salyt spraysif the hairs oily spray thescalp with thyme teahow often fdo u wash and if yu use the baking soda u shouldnt be touching it at all just opour in rinse offhow are u drying too drying can undo progress


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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

i wear a wool tam almost daily in the house a couple of hours a day. i only use a bandanna/scarf when i go out because i don't like the way i look in a hat. i do sea salt sprays about twice a week. my hair isn't oily i just get oily scalp after a couple of days until i wash.i pour the bs on and do a little rubbing on my scalp with my finger tips just to make sure my scalp get clean then rinse. no touching of the rest of the hair. i squeeze out my hair gently with a towel then shake it and i'm done.i just never thought it would be so much work for natural dreadlocks:(

my hair looks knotted when its wet but when it dries it all falls out and is back to smooth wavy normal hair again.just so you know, i never had an issue with knots before i started dreading. barely ever brushed my hair but i did use conditioner.

I know your frustration given that I too have some stubborn hair! I was exactly like you if you remember and something happened between month 4 and 5. I would also suggest the wool tam and sea salt spray. I wore a tam non-stop for the first three monthes and I do sleep on a wool sweater too because wearing the tam to bed made me really hot. I pretty much spray my hair with ocean water everytime I shampoo (which is about every other day or every third day). I also found that in the beginning if I made a paste of the BS and globbed it on and just chilled in the tub for awhile it made my hair less "slick" feeling. Keep in mind that everything you do to your hair is cumulative. I was afraid to use the ACV because it made my hair softer too but I found that using it over time caused my hair to just feel different. Keep in mind too that by just using the BS you are not balancing your ph and that could prevent some knotting. I leave the BS twice as long as the ACV. I usually wash my body while the BS sits but rinse the ACV off as soon as I finish pouring it through. Hang in there sweetie, please don't give up. Even though I have progressed alot since my little temper tantrum where I wanted to quit, I still feel like my hair is obstinate and I am lagging behind other people here...but, atleast I am getting there (even if slowly!). I also found that if you can get one single knot that it seems to encourage more. I know you can hang in there for one knot!!! Sending much love and hugs.

hmm i wouldnt even squeeze with the towel just shake out and drip dry butoily scalp well feeds oily hair even if the hairs not looking greasyso washing likl less and hot washes but cold rinses and thyme tea sprays will help slowlyother then that. id try beadsa bead forced on to a section barely able to fit so it jams near the tips will help alot


--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Thanks Panterra! i was hoping you'd be on here with your wonderful inspiration.i'll try wearing the tam more often. i can't do the wool pillow thing because my face is so sensitive that it makes me wake up with a rash the next morning. i'll try leaving the bs on there longer. i usually rinse it off after a minute or two. i'll try the acv again but i swear it makes my hair super soft and i only use a cap full to a big container of water. i'm going to hold on as long as i can and hope this starts to do something. i know i would feel so much better if i even had just one knot. it would give me some hope.

Panterra Caraway said:

I know your frustration given that I too have some stubborn hair! I was exactly like you if you remember and something happened between month 4 and 5. I would also suggest the wool tam and sea salt spray. I wore a tam non-stop for the first three monthes and I do sleep on a wool sweater too because wearing the tam to bed made me really hot. I pretty much spray my hair with ocean water everytime I shampoo (which is about every other day or every third day). I also found that in the beginning if I made a paste of the BS and globbed it on and just chilled in the tub for awhile it made my hair less "slick" feeling. Keep in mind that everything you do to your hair is cumulative. I was afraid to use the ACV because it made my hair softer too but I found that using it over time caused my hair to just feel different. Keep in mind too that by just using the BS you are not balancing your ph and that could prevent some knotting. I leave the BS twice as long as the ACV. I usually wash my body while the BS sits but rinse the ACV off as soon as I finish pouring it through. Hang in there sweetie, please don't give up. Even though I have progressed alot since my little temper tantrum where I wanted to quit, I still feel like my hair is obstinate and I am lagging behind other people here...but, atleast I am getting there (even if slowly!). I also found that if you can get one single knot that it seems to encourage more. I know you can hang in there for one knot!!! Sending much love and hugs.

i'm going to a bead show this weekend and i'm hoping to find some beads to put in my hair. how would i get them in my hair when its not an actual dread yet? if i get one with a big enough hole to slide on wouldn't it just slide right off? can i leave them in when i wash my hair or should i take them out each time? i'm so affaid of mold and also that they'll get permanently stuck.

soaringeagle said:

hmm i wouldnt even squeeze with the towel just shake out and drip dry but
oily scalp well feeds oily hair even if the hairs not looking greasy
so washing likl less and hot washes but cold rinses and thyme tea sprays will help slowly

other then that. id try beads
a bead forced on to a section barely able to fit so it jams near the tips will help alot

when the hairs wet twist a section up so it comes to a pointtake a thread make a loop put the loop through the hole catch the pointy tip in the loop use the loop to pull it through the bead force it up till it stticksif the beads not real long u wont ned to worry and can wash with it in just fineif it sticks in the bottom inch it will come out when its dreaded if u wanttry to use enough hair that it sticks close to the tip as possibleso choose a small bead since the section size for a small bead will be much larger when its dreadedu can remove em as soon as u got even 1 inch of actual dreading going ona few weeks should help aloy


--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

oh, okay. i'll try that then. thanks!

soaringeagle said:

when the hairs wet twist a section up so it comes to a point
take a thread make a loop put the loop through the hole catch the pointy tip in the loop use the loop to pull it through the bead force it up till it stticks
if the beads not real long u wont ned to worry and can wash with it in just fine
if it sticks in the bottom inch it will come out when its dreaded if u want
try to use enough hair that it sticks close to the tip as possible
so choose a small bead since the section size for a small bead will be much larger when its dreaded
u can remove em as soon as u got even 1 inch of actual dreading going on
a few weeks should help aloy