For those who backcombed they're dreads

How far in are u to ure dreading process bro ???? my roots on the top were straioght for a while maybe had 1 and half inches of straioght hair and then one day after the 6 months mark it started to dread down to the scalp now i have like half an inch of loose hair which is cool it allows the dreads to fall down and lay nicely if they were to dread down to the scalp they would stick up right wouldnt they lol

Steaze McGee said:

I think it helped keep the early dreads from breaking, but every wash and they would knot. I didn't know this was good at first. They did best when I stopped palm rolling. The question I have now is rooting. How do I get the dreads to root? I have been chilling to see if they would but a few are straightening at the root. Mainly the top of my head, but one back one is part dreads part straight. It used to be all dread.

Knotty John said:

Wow that's a long time lol. Kudos, looks like they are coming along nicely. So did all the palm rolling work?

Steaze McGee said:

I did not wash my dreads for the first two months. It was great. I had mud in some spots that turned to dirt. My hair was conceived at home but born in the desert. When the mud dried i shook it out.

Now I wash every third day, maybe forth, either with a bar of soap or some non residue wash.

I used to be real gentle, I used to palm roll, now I get in them when I clean and let them hang out. I used to blow dry and now I air dry them. It almost seems like I switched rolls. I get all over them in the wash and I touch them way less out of it. It took me a while to learn how I wanted them, and how they would be. I did not know what our relationship would be. I wanted them to be round chords at first. Really what took me the longest was to break all conceptions and opinions of other people. After I did that my hair finally became mine.

updated by @jack-roth: 07/23/15 04:38:13AM

I am at four months Jack. Cool I hear they will tighten up. It seems they have loosed in some spots before they tightened. Stoked to hear that.

Nope. They may have loosened a bit but if so, nothing noticeable. I was super gentle and very apprehensive, though, so you've gotta understand that I didn't exactly put them through much when I washed 'em. Just gettin some of that soap on my scalp, lettin' it rinse through and that's it.

Knotty John said:

And they didn't fall apart or anything afterwards?

TheSilentRebellion said:

I waited... i think was 4 or 5 days? Used knotty boy shampoo. And was super gentle! Just gettin' that stuff around the scalp and lettin' it run through the hair on its own

Honestly, i woudnt worry too much

my experience was that they mostly all came unbackcombed

and the i jus left em alone to naturaly dread from there.

Good LUCK

member dreading is a journey

the less you worry about it the greater the journey

Peace & love,

Mia

Knotty John said:

So would it be better to massage the soap into the scalp to keep from detangling the hair?

Mia Elizabeth said:

Hey glad you are starting or thinking of starting your journey.

I started 8/23/10 and my goal was to wait as long as i could before washing.

well as long as i could, turned out to be 3 days. LOL

i did a baking soda and apple cider vinegar wash by filling up a small bucket with water while in the shower and adding the bs and the acv

definitely don't run your hand through your hair because u will detangle it and dreads=tangles.

at first i would tie a plastic bag around my head so that i wouldn't get my locks wet when i showered but wasnt going to wash them.

now it doesn't really matter to me. & i wash them whenever it feels necessary. every other day or every three days.

Goodluck. Peace & Love,

Mia

I seem to have been getting the opposite effect, everytime I wash they loosen up but maybe I've been washing my hair too rough.About the root thing it happens to me too but again maybe it's because of the washings so I'll report back later in this and see what I find out.

Steaze McGee said:

I think it helped keep the early dreads from breaking, but every wash and they would knot. I didn't know this was good at first. They did best when I stopped palm rolling. The question I have now is rooting. How do I get the dreads to root? I have been chilling to see if they would but a few are straightening at the root. Mainly the top of my head, but one back one is part dreads part straight. It used to be all dread.

Knotty John said:

Wow that's a long time lol. Kudos, looks like they are coming along nicely. So did all the palm rolling work?

Steaze McGee said:

I did not wash my dreads for the first two months. It was great. I had mud in some spots that turned to dirt. My hair was conceived at home but born in the desert. When the mud dried i shook it out.

Now I wash every third day, maybe forth, either with a bar of soap or some non residue wash.

I used to be real gentle, I used to palm roll, now I get in them when I clean and let them hang out. I used to blow dry and now I air dry them. It almost seems like I switched rolls. I get all over them in the wash and I touch them way less out of it. It took me a while to learn how I wanted them, and how they would be. I did not know what our relationship would be. I wanted them to be round chords at first. Really what took me the longest was to break all conceptions and opinions of other people. After I did that my hair finally became mine.

Ok maybe that's why mine come undone each time lol. I guess I have to be more gentle.

TheSilentRebellion said:

Nope. They may have loosened a bit but if so, nothing noticeable. I was super gentle and very apprehensive, though, so you've gotta understand that I didn't exactly put them through much when I washed 'em. Just gettin some of that soap on my scalp, lettin' it rinse through and that's it.

Knotty John said:

And they didn't fall apart or anything afterwards?

TheSilentRebellion said:

I waited... i think was 4 or 5 days? Used knotty boy shampoo. And was super gentle! Just gettin' that stuff around the scalp and lettin' it run through the hair on its own

Sweet maybe I have been worrying to much. Thanks for the advice

Mia Elizabeth said:

Honestly, i woudnt worry too much

my experience was that they mostly all came unbackcombed

and the i jus left em alone to naturaly dread from there.

Good LUCK

member dreading is a journey

the less you worry about it the greater the journey

Peace & love,

Mia

Knotty John said:

So would it be better to massage the soap into the scalp to keep from detangling the hair?

Mia Elizabeth said:

Hey glad you are starting or thinking of starting your journey.

I started 8/23/10 and my goal was to wait as long as i could before washing.

well as long as i could, turned out to be 3 days. LOL

i did a baking soda and apple cider vinegar wash by filling up a small bucket with water while in the shower and adding the bs and the acv

definitely don't run your hand through your hair because u will detangle it and dreads=tangles.

at first i would tie a plastic bag around my head so that i wouldn't get my locks wet when i showered but wasnt going to wash them.

now it doesn't really matter to me. & i wash them whenever it feels necessary. every other day or every three days.

Goodluck. Peace & Love,

Mia