When to wet and when to wash my baby dreads?

My good friend worked on my hair for the first time on Saturday (11/10) to get my baby dreads started. She did some backcombing, some palm rolling, and some twisting and ripping, and crocheting, too. I was hoping for smaller sized dreads and ended up with 80-100 little dreadies on my head.

She told me to separate and lightly roll each dread several times a week, once a day would be great if possible. I have been doing that so far.

On Tuesday (11/13), I went to her house for a little more work. She did some more (light) back combing and palm rolling.

Each day my crazy hair mess had looked a little more dreadish, but I have no problem being patient for dreads to happen.

At this point, I have been showering with a shower cap to keep my hair dry, is this necessary? I shower daily. I understand I need to make sure my hair eventually dries. I work in a dog grooming salon, and from that I know that if you bathe a dog with matting (the start of doggy dreads) the mats tighten and are harder to brush out---- which is what I want on my head. So, should I let my dreads get wet in order to speed up the tightening process?

Also, my friend said I should wait at least a month before I wash my dreads. On here I have read about people only waiting a few days. Suggestions?

Thank you pretty people.

[The first photo is the first day (11/10), the second photo is day two (11/11), the last photo is day four (11/13)]

updated by @cassandra-keys: 08/19/21 09:26:51PM

Hi Cassandra, welcome to the beginning of your journey. Glad to hear you have patience for dreads, they sure don't happen overnight. Your palm rolling is harmful to the hair and not necessary & the crocheting is the most harmful of all, over time a dread can fall off due to all the broken hairs caused by a hook. Unfortunately your friend, though helpful, is misinformed. Stop the hook now. Be prepared for your dreads to loosen & shrink before they mature, it is part of the process and very fun to see the loopy,kinky changes. Don't do anymore light backcombing, they need to loosen and go through the stages in order to become mature dreads. Clean dreads are happy dreads, you should be washing 2-3 times a week and not waiting a month for your first washing. There are great recipes found on this site, just use the search bar up top.... never use regular shampoo, a buildup will happen inside the dread. Tips: wash frequently, never ever wax- not even once, and no hooks or palm rolling. Let nature take its course and enjoy the ride. Happy Dreading!

Forgot to mention another tip for you, check your dreads every 1-2 days and separate any that are joining together. Baba Fats has a great video that shows how to do this properly without damaging the roots.

everything your freind said and did is wrong crochet was a huge huge mistake stop riooling them completely wash wash wash thats all wash 1-3 times a week with a dread friendly shampoo ( like www.dreadlockshampoo.com )

never let your freind touch your dreads again she dont know what shes doing

crochets 1 of the most destructive things u can do

not washings just gross

all u should have done was wasjh and let it dread itself

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