Neglecting with a bit of combing

Hi, I'm in aprox 2 months of creating dreads. For first month my friend made me few dreads (hooking) but after a while the started getting loose and she don't have time any more to help me with them. Last week I decided to take matter in my own hands and started. My method is backward combing (don't know if there is term for that but basically it's combing not from root of hairs but form end to roots), and it's working like charm but they ale loose as hell. Should i tighten up them or let them be and they will do that eventually by themselves?

updated by @pau: 01/13/15 09:52:29PM

u shouldnt backcomb (the proper term) at all

the hooking is 1 of the worse backcomb is borderline..barely acceptable when you comb backwards its like ..well ever gone fishing? and when you descale a fish you use that descaler thing (its been over 35 years since ive fished so not sure the name)

its alot like a comb

if you use it on the fish head to tail almost no scales come off

tail to head alnost all do

your hairs like a fish covered in scale like curicles comb the wrong way and they are pried up and permenantly damaged

its not as severe as the hook

but its permenant

dreads are suoposed to be loose for many months

in fact the hooked dreads will take 6 months to loosen enough to even begin to dread

stop all combing and it dreads itself no harm at all

just let it dread

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Okay, thanks very much!

Now I'm going to throw my comb to trash :D

Hi Pau. Hooking dreads (crocheting) is one of the two worse things you can do to dreads if you want them to last. All it does it break each lock into hundreds of pieces and eventually, the lock will break off, they will not last you if that is what you are looking for. Do you only want dreads for a couple of years? Or do you want them to last many years and perhaps a lifetime? If yes to the second question, then I will give my advice as follows: Stop touching your hair, stop trying to change them, stop trying to tighten them. You did the backcomb method, that is the term for it, now you stop and do nothing else. The sections you have now are not really dreads, they are man made hair forced into those sections. They need to loosen up in order to go on a journey to become mature dreads. This can take a year or more for them to mature. They will loosen, zig zag and shrink, slowly becoming the thickness of where the section of hair meets the scalp. Every time you do something to those sections, you are setting back the journey of them maturing. All you need to do is wash them 2-3 times a week, keep all wax and gels OUT of them, separate any two or more sections that are trying to join together....and then sit back and enjoy the wild ride. They will tighten on their own once mature, just let everything be now and you will be fine. By the way, hooks are meant for knitting/crocheting tams and hats and for doing crafts, not for breaking hairs....Peace

ha, sorry, did not see the post come in before I finished, so I probably repeated some stuff...Peace

No probs. Actually i have two questions about what you said.

1) Should i undo dreads I have by hand or should i let them do that by themselves.

2) I don't use any gel, soap, ... , i only use herbal shampoo but I'm planing on quitting that too and use only water. Is that okay with dreads or should i use at least something?

1 no need thats up to u if u want truly natural dreads then yes if it doesnt matter then no

no no gels needed (the 1 from dreadlockshampoo is ok tho) u should wash wash with a dred soap juat any ol herbal wont do u want a good drwd soap (not knottyboy or dreadheadhq!!!) or the baking soda mix the best dreadlocks shampoo is www.dreadlockshampoo.com

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1