To wax or not to wax... Which method to trust?

Hi everyone, I'm CAnner...

I'm new here, I just had my dreads done 2 weeks ago at a renowned 'dread salon' in toronto. They make dreads all day, everyday. They use the crochet method using a small 1mm hook, and some dread pepper from dread head.They DO NOT use the 'interlocking' method. They just 'rearrange' the hair, and tangle it well. They haven't torn my hair, or ripped it apart... they said that I could brush them out if I wanted to. They feel nice, they definitely don't feel like they're going to fall out. The dread salon also told me to wax them every 2 days... It seems legit because you would think/want to trust what they say because they make them, and have their own as well. If you read on the Dreadhead hq, or knotty boy... they have it all laid out about why the wax isn't bad like people say, and why ppl put down the wax, and that they're probably just over waxing... it seems so believable. I know they want to make money off their product, but is that just it? or are they actually telling the truth? - Then you read here that it's the worst thing you can put in your hair... and it also seems legit because you guys are experienced dreadies as well.

I mean, my dreads look great for a beginner, in my opinion. They are not falling out... they seem well dreaded.

Who to believe?! I want nice, long lasting dreads... I must admit, waxing feels so gross and sticky. Obviously I would rather not wax. If i were to stop waxing, and just palm roll, separate, shampoo once a week, would that be ok? Also, If my dreads were crocheted to begin with, does that mean I always have to keep using that method?

Help! I'm so torn between 2 methods, haha. All I want are lovely dreads, and I'm a noob who has been reading to many back and forths!

ONE more thing... Can i cut out the little stringy things that have been put at the baset of my roots to 'help dread' ?

P.S. - I've posted a pic of what they look like.

updated by @chelseabuns: 01/13/15 09:30:07PM

Well, see how your dreads kind of look like smooth twists in some parts? That hair is not actually dreaded. The weaving and the wax give it a maintained "mature dreadlock look." Looking at mature dreads you can see that this twisted look isn't present because all of the loose hairs over the course of the dread process have been given time to weave and knot themselves naturally and completely lock up. So, unless you maintain the crochet and wax all the time you will have the dreads loosen up but they will also start to dreadlock on their own.

Did the stylist take your hair and kind of stab at it with the hook until it was dread-like? This is the common crochet hook method that, in actuality DOES cause hairs to break from the friction and force of the needle pressing against it. Please check out the crochet hook recovery forum here so you can see what crochet hooking can do to dreads in the long haul from people who have had it done by either themselves or "locticians."

Also, when you have wax smeared across your hand and you stick it under running water, does the wax come off? Of course not! It's not water soluble. Sometimes even certain soaps can't get the wax off of a flat surface, imagine what happens when it's hot outside in the summer, causing the wax to melt INTO the dreadlock... how easy will it be to remove then? And, if it sits in your hair, over a long period of time it can trap moisture within your locks and promote molding within. There was one gal I saw on here who used wax sparingly in the first month and then stopped only to, years later, find wax INSIDE of her hair, that had hardened.

These are just facts. Facts that are not generally given to promote so I don't think they will be used when it comes to consumerism however, I encourage you to think about this stuff seriously. Also, there are a TON of actual people who have gone and done these very things, "professionally" even, and have come here to show what has eventually become of their locks.

I went to cosmetology school and they absolutely do not teach you about dreadlocks because you don't need to be licensed to grow a "natural style" and, if you ask an instructor they will either not know anything or they will just say to back comb and twist with wax (and honestly, this is something they heard and more commonly not practiced.)

Food for thought.

which method to trust well

jonny clean from dreadheadhq had his dreads for 6 years in 1 vid he takes a harpoon like took the thickness of a pencil shoves it through a dreads core tip to root grabs another dread the ame thickness and pulls it inside the 1st dread

why is there room for a dread inside a dread? because they never got a single new knot after day 1 wax glues hair together to look like dreads its a scam it then hardcxens as u palm roll hair into wax you create candles they get stiff sticky and grodss they cause the illusion of maturing in 2 months because they get hard

but the knots stay as loose as they were on day 1

now these are my dreads, real dreads i went camping wiyhout a comb and my hair dreaded, all real actual dreading happens by allowing it to happen, not by force..nature does the work for you absolutely free..the natural state of all hair is dreadlocks so all it takes to dread is to stop doing unatural things to it like conditioning and combing

but how can greedy peope make 500 dollaars off your desire to be natural and free?

by lying

by telling you natural dreads take 5 years always

by telling you they look horibvle

by telling you you will never get a job with reakl dreads

by telling you ir[ts easier and faster to buy dreads

evenb though the oposites true that if you do it their way its muc=ch much much more work

so lets get back to crochet and wax

crochet its 1 of the most destructive methods yes it makes perfect looking lock like things instantly (or well 12 hours of hair pulling agony) butgit breaks a ton of hairs weakeing the dreads alot (more and more if u use it as maintenance) but thats the hook (pun intended) the hook hooks you in making low maintenance dreads very high maintenance the woven not dreaded look needs to be redone to preserve the texcture the broken hairs pop out all over needing rel]pair which cause more and more broken haor

they get a distinctly fake looking manufactured ,ook perfc-fectly smooth uniform no bends (except from being stiff) no personality or uniqueness

then they get so weak a hard rain breaks them off

one session alone wont make em break but it will make em so unaturaly tight and skinny that they take 6 months to loosen before rthey show any singns of actual dreading (like loops)

now wax and lock peppa are purw scam they create an illusion only

lock peppa makes u think the hairs more knotted by providing a temporary grittiness its literaly dirt u sprinkle in your hair /9and its toxic) 1st wash its gone along with any knots u thought u had

wax on the other hand acxts like sa glue glueing hairs into acandle like chape so the knots dont wash out nor does dirt or water or wax ..

ofcourse knots cant wash out ..they also cant wash in..

heres the rub (pun intended again)

ppl who go natural see progress after every washing

ppl who backcomb fear washing away progress

wax alowed them to wash without fear of losing..or gainingf progress(or dirt) in fact nothi9jg will happen without hours of rubbing and rolling (which i never did even for a second) so lots of salons telo u not to even wet yoir hair for up to a year tu]=ill youve dded 5 ooumds of wax!
*(average salon dreads only last 3 weeks before being started over right)

when wax is used the hair cant move so instead of dreading while u walk dance play tc u have to sit in front of a p]mirror with a complicated list of rum]=bbings and rollings pokings and manipulations designed to simulate ...livuing

oh and..sleeping

they literaly makeit harfdr to dread to sell u crap to make it easirr to look like its dreading without it ever actualy dreading

hokus pokus

have u ever combed out a tangle?

then it was already dreading all by itself

you spend your entire life going to sakons and using products and working on your hair with 1 goal

to prevent it from dreading

all u had to do to dread was stop that all

now what salon would tell you all u had to do to get dreads is sti]op going to the salons?

they know your about to take your busines away from the entire industry so they want to a

charge u a huge amount to give u dreadlike thinfs

keep u coming back as long as they can to take as much as they can before u figure out that u dont need hem no more

u can do wax removal (very hard to fdo takes a long time) then wait 6 months for it to drad and a year or so to lose that manufactured look or start over and be sure u got the wax out and grow your dreads healthy natural and free

id probly recomend the wax removal if possible they look good for salon disasters so are savable

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
updated by @soaring-eagle: 02/05/15 10:12:49AM

Thank you both for your totally informative, in-depth replies. I will work on getting the wax out. I'm now proceeding to take out the base root strings that were tied into my hair.

Soaring eagle - Did you section your hair before dreading it?

well i didnt section it nor did i dread it i let it section itself and dread itseldf

well in the very back i added some beadsto 3 or 4 sections so in a way i guess i sectioned a couple by just grabbing hair and stickin on a bead

the 1st week or 2 yiour hair sections irtself perfectly

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Ok, so just to be clear... Will wax remover destroy my locks that I have in now? or will it just simply wash out in time?

What will happen is when you are vigorously washing the wax out your dreads will loosen up. After all, you are scrubbing them. But you can apply aloe to tame them a bit and just start doing a normal routine and they will start locking up on their own...

There was a gal who did this and actually keeps track of her progress... Lemme try and find her thread.

http://www.dreadlockssite.com/forum/topics/my-journey-from-waxy-sal...

She has a couple pics of her hair with wax and then with the wax removal. So they definitely loosen up. But if you have any questions you should ask her, in regards to her progress since this.

Also, if you want an example of what the inside of dreads look like that have used wax, page 3 has some pictures of split open dreadlocks. It definitely put's a new perspective on the issue.

Thanks a pant-load, both of you. I bought some of that 'wax-be-gone' I read some great reviews...

Awesome. Feel free to start your own timeline here too so that future dreadies can get like-minded information. Can't wait to see the dreadlocking process.