Frustrated...

u diluting the bronners enough? how longs the hair now is it oilywool hats sea salt help a ton

real curly hair might be easier to feel progress then see it do u feel clumps forming?

i would t&r not backcomb! but yea go to the grocery store get some sea saltuse it a week ot 2 and see

beanies might be to tight bronners should definately be diluteds 12-1

I back-combed at first. It's very disappointing, because the back-combed "dreads" just come right out after a while, but the process of back-combing damages your hair so much that when it does lock eventually, the locks are too tight 'cause the hairs are broken up. T&R, on the other hand, really does work - if you do it right. Took me a long time before I got the hang of t&r...to use very, very thin strands and work slowly & patiently through the process of twisting and ripping.

Hi, dissenting voice here... I'm a fan of backcombing. I've done both my sets that way and am very pleased with how they turned out. (Well, not the first set, but that's because I used wax.)If done gently, slowly, and properly, backcombing is no more damaging than twist & rip. In fact, it does the exact same thing as twist & rip -- it forms tangles and knots and helps your hair stay in sections. The only difference is that you use a comb instead of your fingers.It's NOT true that backcombing = damage and pain. That only happens from pulling and aggressively hacking away with the comb. That's the wrong way to do it, and unfortunately, that's what's shown in most of the popular videos and instructions around the net.I think most of backcombing's bad rep comes from (1) doing it too aggressively, and (2) unreasonable expectations. Backcombing is like any other starting method -- it's just a START. It doesn't give you dreads overnight, and yes, a lot of the backcombing will probably unravel over the next few weeks. But you get that with twist & rip too, as the hair shifts around and learns to knot up & stay in sections.It doesn't help that DHHQ and Knottyboy promote backcombing as the best way to "make" dreads, and say that doing so plus using their wax will "give you awesome-looking dreads from Day 1". It's a terrible message and gives people the idea that backcombed dreads will stay tight and knotted from Day 1, which is completely false. That's why so many newbies freak out about backcombed dreads coming unravelled and "not staying together".Sorry for the rant. There's nothing wrong with giving backcombing a shot. Like you said, you could try it on a few sections and see how they progress over the next few weeks. Sometimes hair just needs a little encouragement to start dreading. No shame in that.

I agree i backcombed mine and they feel good and tight i took a bit of work and some hours going at it but they feel pretty good right now:D(glad i didn't buy the jar of wax i was offered) If you are gonna do it go slow but if you form your dreads through hybrid methods that will be interesting

Knottysleeves said:

Hi, dissenting voice here... I'm a fan of backcombing. I've done both my sets that way and am very pleased with how they turned out. (Well, not the first set, but that's because I used wax.)
If done gently, slowly, and properly, backcombing is no more damaging than twist & rip. In fact, it does the exact same thing as twist & rip -- it forms tangles and knots and helps your hair stay in sections. The only difference is that you use a comb instead of your fingers. It's NOT true that backcombing = damage and pain. That only happens from pulling and aggressively hacking away with the comb. That's the wrong way to do it, and unfortunately, that's what's shown in most of the popular videos and instructions around the net.I think most of backcombing's bad rep comes from (1) doing it too aggressively, and (2) unreasonable expectations. Backcombing is like any other starting method -- it's just a START. It doesn't give you dreads overnight, and yes, a lot of the backcombing will probably unravel over the next few weeks. But you get that with twist & rip too, as the hair shifts around and learns to knot up & stay in sections.It doesn't help that DHHQ and Knottyboy promote backcombing as the best way to "make" dreads, and say that doing so plus using their wax will "give you awesome-looking dreads from Day 1". It's a terrible message and gives people the idea that backcombed dreads will stay tight and knotted from Day 1, which is completely false. That's why so many newbies freak out about backcombed dreads coming unravelled and "not staying together".Sorry for the rant. There's nothing wrong with giving backcombing a shot. Like you said, you could try it on a few sections and see how they progress over the next few weeks. Sometimes hair just needs a little encouragement to start dreading. No shame in that.

Agreed I just like the way backcombing looks to start with..My backcombed dreads are slightly coming undone but that's part of the process.. they'll unravel, then lock, unravel, then lock...To those lookin to backcomb, do it right and do them nice and tight cause they'll inevitably loosen up.Only reason I chose backcombing is cause my hair wasn't long enough to t&r and honestly they're more symmetrical /w backcombing. They're soft and fuzzy and yeah you can see knots but not BULGES of knots as with t&r.I guess it depends on the look you're goin for in the first few months of your dreadies... That's the way I see it.Sure backcombing will come undone but that gives my hair a little more room to work with when it starts to lock back up again.It's whatever though, I'm kinda relieved to know my hair is gonna do the locking on its own and that it'll unravel before that happens... That way I know I didn't 100% manufacture my dreads

yeah a lil bit longer than this right now Knotty John said:

Yea I'm definately staying away from wax lol. Do you remember how long your hair was right before backcombing?

ricky williams said:

I agree i backcombed mine and they feel good and tight i took a bit of work and some hours going at it but they feel pretty good right now:D(glad i didn't buy the jar of wax i was offered) If you are gonna do it go slow but if you form your dreads through hybrid methods that will be interesting