Starting my dread journey!

Hey there everyone! My name is Pat and I am about to begin my dreadlock journey. I have been doing some research over the last few days and wanted to join a community before making decisions. Currently my hair is only about 1"-1 1/2" long so I have some time before I begin. My hair basically grows into an extremely thick and curly afro regardless of what I do to it. Below there is a picture attachment of what my hair looks like naturally after getting out of the shower and towel drying it. I have always admired the look of dreadlocks, but always had the ill-informed idea that you had to neglect your hair and let it get filthy. Now that I actually have learned how wrong that is, I decided I will be dedicating myself to growing out proper dreads. I would love some recommendations on methods to use and potential products to help me out. I read a bunch of information regarding formulas to increase the speed of growth which is something I am very much interested in. My skin/hair tends to get very oily on its own, but I'm not sure how that will directly affect the process. Any tips/links would be very much appreciated! Thanks in advance.

updated by @pat-c: 01/13/15 09:33:01PM

damn that will dread easy

theres only 1 methoid for u natural

theres no products besides soap

u wont need it to grow too long b4 itmdreads

oily use warm to hort water to wash but rinse with cold cold as u can stand

the baking soda wash without acv till your less oily will help too

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Natural is going to be the best bet for you, man. That hair is wild. All you'll have to do it thrown out your brush, and keep it clean. It looks like it'l need some serious separating now and then, but that's easy.

With hair like that, you can just stop doing anything to it but washing and you won't need it to grow much longer. You can even start now. For the natural method, you don't need any specific length to get started.

They are totally right about your hair. If you were thinking you would need to wait to use a starter method then you might as well prep yourself and go neglect now... by the time your hair is that much longer it will probably already be dreaded.

The dreaducation page can direct you to the BS/ACV recipe and how to wash with it. That alone will take care of your oiliness. Also, check out some of the essential oils because they can also help control oiliness, itchiness, dandruff, and other things.

Once your hair starts sectioning itself out all you have to do is separate the sections regularly.

Thanks for the information everyone! I am going to try the natural method due to your recommendations. Like I said earlier, my hair is currently only about an inch long currently, so I think I'm just going to start with baking soda washes and sea salt sprays. Can anyone recommend products to make my own spray and possibly how much per bottle? I was thinking about just buying spray online to make it easier, but if I can just pick up sea salt at the store then I will just go with that. I'm assuming the best thing to do is to use the baking soda wash about twice a week, use the salt spray daily, and just wait for it to get long enough to start. Anyone have a link to a detailed guide about the natural method here? I have found various articles about it but nothing too in depth. My only concern is that I want somewhat thin locks with all of them being close to the same size. I was thinking about doing the baking soda wash / salt spray for a while, then backcombing once my hair hits about 3".

Well first... You don't want to spray your hair with sea salt unless you plan to wash it out within 2 hours. Salt dries out your hair and scalp, which is helpful, but too long an exposure and you can make your hair brittle, your scalp break out, and everything itch out of control. So wash, like you said, wash 2 times a week, but only use the salt those same 2 times a week. Spray it on. Let it sit for about an hour or 2 and then do your normal wash.

I have an 8 ounce spray bottle. I add a descent squirt of Jojoba oil, about 10 drops of Teatree, 10 or Rosemary, and a couple of peppermint. Then just a dash of salt. Fill the rest of the bottle up with water. And shake well before each use. Sea water is about 3.5% salt. So you want your spray to match that as close as possible. Eagle might know the exact measurement. I just tweaked mine till I found what worked best. When I have time, I'll do the math and figure out how much there should really be.

As for wanting locks that are roughly the same size, just separate them so they don't get too thick. They will naturally section themselves pretty evenly, but just keep on top of it. About 1-2 times a week is good once they start to actually tangle. Don't worry about it for the first little while. Just wash and relax

Ok. Back. So there are 2 Tbls per 1 liquid ounce (US). In my 8 ounce bottle, there are 16 Tbls of water. So there should be about .5 tbls of salt.

Thanks for the information Baba. Going to follow your instructions on the measurements of the spray and give it a shot. Any recommendations on where to get Jojoba oil, Teatree, Rosemary, and Peppermint? I might just use amazon to keep it simple but a few of those sound like they could be obtained in local stores. Is there a certain type of shampoo I should look for? I know it needs to be residue free, but other than that are there any particular brands people have had good experiences with? Also I found some people talking about this "Wild Growth Hair Oil" that seems to increase speed of growth as well as promote healthy hair. Anyone have experience with that stuff?

http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/index.php?AID=122110

This site has an excellent selection of oils. Most Whole Foods, should have a good election too. Trader Joe's has a few, but not many. Other natural foods/health stores may have some to look through.

For washing, Dr. Bronners is good, but doesn't rinse out well in hard water. And being from Jersey (Not sure what part, though), you might have some hard water issues. BS/ACV is always good, but again, doesn't rinse out or dissolve well in hard water. Bucks County Soap has a great selection of soaps in liquid and bar form. They are designed to mix and rinse out in any type of water. They're definitely worth looking at.

If you want to grow your hair a bit faster, Biotin supplements are good. It's a natural supplement that helps your hair grow faster and thicker. Talk to Heather for more info on it.