We need a "My hair won't naturally dread" support group!

I think this thread is the EXACT reason anyone comes online to find help, this line of discussion is exactly the problem most people including me have had finding any information.. I have spent ages looking online at all the forum's answer sites how-to sites and even been on here and read half of this site.

So as I am new I thought this be the best place for me to tell my story so far...

I currently do not have dreadlocks and consider myself a noob, but I have had many a failed attempt and think it may help some people understand a few things and hopefully I myself am realizing my own mistakes. My first attempt was almost 11 years ago and yes if id known all the right info and had patience i would of had dreadlocks by now, that in fact is the reason im posting in this particular thread and site.

I first tried to dreadlock by myself I had been given a dreadlock once that was made with toothpaste by an older stoner friend back when i smoked weed but as anyone knows it was just stick and i soon removed it due to general cleanliness, but that was when i was first introduced to the idea of backcombing rather she rubbed the hair until it formed with toothpaste.(I should have learnt my lesson that day but i forever proceeded to fool myself into wanting instant dreads)

So anyway back to my attempt, I asked a few people and got told about using a comb, so i went to the pet store got myself a dog grooming comb(sounds funny but at the time it all seemed so understandable) went home started backcombing which hurt like hell but i figured it hurts cos everything has a price..done about eight at the front and was left with a mass of frizzy hair that looked nothing like the cool people Id seen..

After a few web searches I found the palm rolling and twisting, done that felt rather pleased with myself, left it for a week and had my first shower and mostly all untangled... after some more searching and asking a few more people I heard about beeswax..made sense holds it all together...so after realizing i needed a friend I proceeded to find the only dumb person that would do it too me as most had the idea dreadlocks were stinky messy disgusting ( as my dad had always told me and that he would disown me if i ever got them).

So my very stoned friend grabbed a hair product that contained beeswax and petroleum of some sort and proceeded to put me through more pain for few hours got bored and made each bigger till i had ones the size of sideshow bob from the simpsons. And when I looked in the mirror I was horrified at what had went wrong, I then went and looked up any hairdresser I could find that made dreadlocks, I found one went in and asked with my hair covered, I inquired about making or remaking and had a lovely conversation about how they could remove the wax and re-dread with the "proper wax" dreadheadHQ and that sectioning was essential.

After being told that 200 for removing the wax and 500 for re-dreading I made my excuses and ran out the place as fast as my feet could take me, spent a few hours maybe longer I shudder to think removing them myself not the most comfortable thing I could be doing on a saturday night and I must admit the pain was unbearable I was 16 at the time and thats my excuse for being a sissy.

It was awhile before I got it into my head to try again when talking to a guy that had done dreads for people before and said he would do it for some beer... sounded good, the suggested I buy Knottyboy wax (I know I just dont learn) but I bought some from strangely enough the hairdresser I had ran away from. He proceeded to plat my hair covered it with all the wax there was and said to leave it in for a month then take them out and keep twisting them and palm rolling, so for a month i had to sleep in a stocking constantly was my pillow case and had sticky spiked braids with very colorful band that died and fell out at random times, needles to say nothing ever happened except alot weird looks from my family.

I soon was fed up and approached the guy and found out he had only done african hair and that it had worked and could not understand why mine wasn't. After that was when I looked more into dreadlocks and spent many hours searching and the main information I found was on non african hair it was backcomb and wax, I remained constantly annoyed at the fact that only hairdressers seemed to posses this magical fix, but was still convinced I just was being cheap and didnt want to pay..

After many years of inquiring but not attempting, I found out about croceting and more wax related theories, even asking random people who had dreadlocks and being told knottyboy etc even one who had used clay from the ground I was starting to realise that organic was the way to go, but as wax was labeled as organic and even crocheting was product free, I was convinced it was backcomb with proper wax or crocheting, Needles to say I tried both even abit of twist and rip. Luckily my girfriend was nice enought to help me both times and did do EXACTLY as advertised.

This time it was the same as every other time, palmrolling root balling, crocheting tangles back in, waxing to reduce frizz constant bombardment from people and websites that had a new cure for making insta dreads, I was even close to cutting a friends hair to dread to attach extra length, getting synthetic dread that help the proccess while new dreads form.. But anytime I went near water or a shower even not using shampoo or conditioner the came apart till eventually gone or just clumps of wax that would fool nobody except me when I first wanted them.

I cut my hair and kept it jhonny clean for a few years more, but every time I seen a dreadlock or somthing inside of me wanted to have locks of my own and partly their lied my problem, even after all that I had come across this website and found backcombing on here or twist and rip yet I didnt see past it. Natural had always seemed the dirty way I still had my dads voice in my ears even tho i had convinced myself that dreadlocks were not that at all.

After awhile I realised what I had been doing I had been falling for the very thing I was trying to escape not just the scampering back to jhonny clean but I had fooled myself into thinking that I could get something by either paying for it or having my quick fix satisfied if there was a problem there was a quick fix out there to make me feel like i was in control that all I had to do was to find the right fix, needless to say my previous drug habit hadnt helped my beliefs( I do not take drugs now but I dont condemn their use, I have many friends that still live happy and healthy lives and even my mother uses marijuana for pain relief and personal use) but back to my point, is if only I had left my hair alone I could of had which we all desire to have.

I have combed this site(pardon the pun) and seen every attempt SA has done to teach people how to truthfully realize their goal be it the spiritual or practical approach, and even now I felt myself waiver, I had switched to baking soda and vinegar shampoo mearly to remove previous products, but I caved again last night I twist and ripped my now only 8cm long hair maybe only in the vain attempt to gain some control over where my one day locks may lie.

But hopefully with the help of this site and threads like this I may leave well alone and let nature take its course... but look what I went through in my vain attempts and failures...its by no means easy and only time and belief whether spiritually or not is my hairs only locking friend. I shall be staying away from the mirror and trying to tame myself from wanting to control them and let time pass and maybe just maybe Ill be blessed with soft silky locks, instead of product reinforced lies.

excelent post and wow..200+500? seriusly?

people pay that much for dreads that wont ever dread?

really glad you finaly found us

i really regret not making this site long long ago

but to me dreading was always so simple..forget to comb you dread..never imagined the need for a site with over 1/2 a million pages to explainthat simple truth

excelent post and wow..200+500? seriusly?

people pay that much for dreads that wont ever dread?

really glad you finaly found us

i really regret not making this site long long ago

but to me dreading was always so simple..forget to comb you dread..never imagined the need for a site with over 1/2 a million pages to explainthat simple truth

Think because dreadlock had the stigma of being dirty that natural seemed the dirty way to go so any other method only had to deem their product clean so kids could explain to their parents look mum its clean i can shower they sell it for money and have pretty advertisements and products it must be ok.

Does seem funny tho that it takes a lot of effort to learn not to do anything, makes you wonder how many other pointless money wasting activities are we doing in an effort to make things better but only making it worse, atleast anyone that does have real dreadlocks can be happy in the understanding that they resisted temptation long enough to not care anymore, seems to me their is really a spiritual journey in a hairstyle that is still even tho popularity among the masses a self help method and a way to gain freedom from the things we are constantly trying to escape.

And does look damn sexy

Just my take anyways ^_^

Hey Nicole,

First I am going to repost your note in the " natural, neglect, freeform, organic, dreading guide " because I think it will be of value there too, and also because the "desert island' process seems highly orthodox. Second I have some questions for you. Ok, during the "ascetic" process did you encounter any scalp issues i.e dandruff, flakes, crustiness ect.? What type of scalp did you have before dreading, and this is assuming that it was very healthy: was it oily, neutral, or dry? How would you describe your hair type, before dreading? Could I wear a tam through the whole process? And lastly, how did you go about drying your hair? Please be as detailed as you can about the last question, as I am finding this to be my most difficult hurdle, as I enter my second week kind regards, PB
Nicole Binns said:

This seems like the appropriate place to mention that it's possible to go even further into extreme neglect, but it's something most people are not comfortable doing. It could be called the 'ascetic' method. It will get reliable results quickly. You are able to wash your hair one last time thoroughly with only shampoo, get out any residues, and then, stop using shampoo of any kind, completely. You rinse your hair with plain water only, as often as you want.

After a few days, you will see the oil building up on your hair. Keep waiting. Don't wash it. You will have to resist the temptation to wash your hair with some kind of shampoo, and you'll sit there wondering if you can use some other substance that will be similar to shampoo or soap. Use only water and resist the temptation. Your hair will definitely look greasy by now. It will start driving you crazy and you will feel disgusting.

After a few weeks, your hair will stick together in greasy strings. This is too gross for most people to tolerate, and that is why most people don't do their dreads using no shampoo and extreme neglect. This is the way that I made mine. If you can put up with this, you will have sticky strings in a couple weeks. A short time later, the roots closest to the head will start to form mature, matted, 'real' dreadlocks, while the hair farther away from the scalp will still be just a string of hair that is hardly tangled at all. You don't need to worry about whether your hair is tangling or not. The greasy strings keep the hair sticking together enough to make the roots get matted.

That is the 'desert island' method of getting locks. That is why humans had locks before shampoo and soap were invented, and that is how the donkeys and dogs and other animals who have locks are doing it without backcombing or washing or anything.

Hey Nicole,

First I am going to repost your note in the " natural, neglect, freeform, organic, dreading guide " because I think it will be of value there too, and also because the "desert island' process seems highly orthodox. Second I have some questions for you. Ok, during the "ascetic" process did you encounter any scalp issues i.e dandruff, flakes, crustiness ect.? What type of scalp did you have before dreading, and this is assuming that it was very healthy: was it oily, neutral, or dry? How would you describe your hair type, before dreading? Could I wear a tam through the whole process? And lastly, how did you go about drying your hair? Please be as detailed as you can about the last question, as I am finding this to be my most difficult hurdle, as I enter my second week kind regards, PB
Nicole Binns said:

This seems like the appropriate place to mention that it's possible to go even further into extreme neglect, but it's something most people are not comfortable doing. It could be called the 'ascetic' method. It will get reliable results quickly. You are able to wash your hair one last time thoroughly with only shampoo, get out any residues, and then, stop using shampoo of any kind, completely. You rinse your hair with plain water only, as often as you want.

After a few days, you will see the oil building up on your hair. Keep waiting. Don't wash it. You will have to resist the temptation to wash your hair with some kind of shampoo, and you'll sit there wondering if you can use some other substance that will be similar to shampoo or soap. Use only water and resist the temptation. Your hair will definitely look greasy by now. It will start driving you crazy and you will feel disgusting.

After a few weeks, your hair will stick together in greasy strings. This is too gross for most people to tolerate, and that is why most people don't do their dreads using no shampoo and extreme neglect. This is the way that I made mine. If you can put up with this, you will have sticky strings in a couple weeks. A short time later, the roots closest to the head will start to form mature, matted, 'real' dreadlocks, while the hair farther away from the scalp will still be just a string of hair that is hardly tangled at all. You don't need to worry about whether your hair is tangling or not. The greasy strings keep the hair sticking together enough to make the roots get matted.

That is the 'desert island' method of getting locks. That is why humans had locks before shampoo and soap were invented, and that is how the donkeys and dogs and other animals who have locks are doing it without backcombing or washing or anything.