I'll explain my situation. I've wanted dreads for years. I have nappy hair. I do not want to use wax or any other products. I also don't want to just let them grow all crazy. I wanna know if its high maintenance to worry about dreads. Is it a hassle to swim and wash your hair (I do both fairly often). I wouldn't want to leave my hair unwashed any longer then a week. Are dreads an extreme amount of maintenance? Especially with no wax (which I don't want because I hate things in my hair and I've heard horror stories). Do I have to blow dry my dreads everytime they get wet? I did all kinds of research. I just see many different answers. I'd just love to hear from real people. How much maintenance am I looking at? Is it true that if i just make box braids and kinda use the rub method they will turn into dreads. That doesnt sound bad. I dont mind if they look a bit like twistys. I'd love to know as much info as possible you'd be a great help. Thank you. (sorry this is so long!)
updated by @jordan-bahn: 01/13/15 09:30:01PM
Need information on dreads please !
Dreads are extremely low maintenance. You just leave your hair alone, separate dreads so you don't end up with one massive dread, and wash it when it needs to be washed. There is no need for you to wait for weeks to wash it, hair needs to be clean in order to dread. Oily hair won't dread. And make sure you use a residue-free shampoo. Or baking soda.
You can swim and do everything you used to do without dreads. You don't have to blow dry them, they can air dry. You should only be careful not to go to bed or wear wraps, hats, tams with wet dreads.
If you don't want to do the neglect method, you can do twist n' rip. It's kinda the next best thing, when it comes to the damage (or the lack of it) to your hair. 
My dreads are now 3months old and i am very happy with them. I used the twist and rip method and not the all natural way because I wanted them to look dready from the start. After twist and rip i used the smallest crotchet hook and get them into a good shape over 6 weeks or so, in the last weeks I just did this once a week. Since 1months or so i just let them do as they want and it works pretty good, so i dont have that much maintenance. I wash my dreads 1-2 times a week but i never tried swimming, should be fine aswell.
Well here, My dreads are about a month and 11 days old.
I've honestly done little to none maitence to them dreads are the most natural form of hair. you lose the natural feeling to them when you are constantly doing things to em to make em look good. an also the more maitence you do to them the more and more its going to need to be done it really isnt a hassle to swim or shower with them. just got to make sure they're dry. when u take a shower after u wash them (make sure its residue free soap) grab your dreads and ring em out. then put a towel over em for about 15minutes and then either air dry or use a hair dryer. an they wont grow all crazy if you leave them be they will just be unique. you will have dreads with some lumps and loops and zigs and zags it gives them a little more meaning
but yes for awhile your hair will look like a birds nest an all messy! but its well worth it in the end :D i just uploaded pictures of my dreads for my one month update. all natural pretty much (: an they're not that bad at all! :D have a fun journey (:
very very very bad idea if u want low maintenence dreads the crochet hook will make them extreme high maintenance and very damaged and weak throw that hiook away
now to the original question
i never did a thing to mine
nothing
no rubbing no braiding no twuist n rip nothing
i wash it 2 times a week
i swim
i stiopped combing
and i seperated them
thats all
its been 22 years and i still do nothing
and they look great
Andre said:
My dreads are now 3months old and i am very happy with them. I used the twist and rip method and not the all natural way because I wanted them to look dready from the start. After twist and rip i used the smallest crotchet hook and get them into a good shape over 6 weeks or so, in the last weeks I just did this once a week. Since 1months or so i just let them do as they want and it works pretty good, so i dont have that much maintenance. I wash my dreads 1-2 times a week but i never tried swimming, should be fine aswell.
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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
but that is a very bad idea it breaks a ton of hairs weakening the drad making hairs pop out making them take 6 months longer to dread u never shouldf use the hook even once
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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
Thank you all. But once again in getting mixed answers. Some saying twist and rip then crochet. Others say that's not a good idea =\.
no your not getting mixed answers crochet is a mistake always the answer is natural is the best way twist n rip next best wether u go natural or tnr u do nothing but wash and seperate after day 1
doing the crochert for weeks was a bad mistake
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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1
I am approaching my 3 month mark and I started with the twist and rip method. I use the Dr. Bronner's wash with essential oils and I have had no problems (check out my video's or my blog about what I have done and my progress if you'd like!)
I wash my hair usually 3 times a week and in the morning so that it has plenty of time to dry on it's own. A couple of times I've used a hair dryer but that was only because it was cold out and I wanted those puppy's to dry faster.
I pull apart the locks regularly because my hair has a tendency to congo in certain places (even before dreads it would get really tangled from sleeping.)
There is a lot of information about the starter methods as well as washing in the dreaducation link (5th link at the top of the page) for you to review. Since it's mentioned here I will give you some facts about the crochet felting method:
Yes, crochet felting forces an appearance of more mature dreadlocks but it's actually pretty bad for your hair. When you use the hook to felt the dreads you are actually breaking a ton of the hair in order to force the knots. If you try to crochet the roots tighter then you become dependent on the hook for maintenance because it takes longer for the hair, when growing out, to dread on it's own. The hook will make your dreads more compact and this can be seen by members photo's who post in the crochet recovery forum (worth checking out as well.) Since there is so much breakage with crochet felting, if for some reason you need or want to comb out your dreads later on, just consider how much broken hair at various lengths you will have (not saying that I encourage a comb out but every week I see members post about having to do this for various reasons so I thought it would be a valid point to consider.) Another thing that can happen from hair breakage is, if there is enough breakage in the hair then it may not hold together over a long period of time. Some people have had dreads become so weak and thin from crochet that the dread itself falls apart or breaks off.
Ultimately the decision is up to you on what you want to do but I would encourage an informed one. I can say for certain that the information about all of the methods on this site is accurate and can be validated by member success in the timelines as well as the recovery stories from the not-so-hair-healthy methods people have used.
