Size

Hi dreads-

i'm just starting out natural, 

i already had half a head of dreads half a year ago, but i cut them off because i prefer the wild look and character of natural dreads

so,my hair's about 12 cm long now, no signs of dreading yet

and i'm wondering...

arround here's a guy with natural dreads, and they are ALL very thin.

i don't like that. Before i cut my hair, there were some naturally forming, and they were on the small side, too. 

i'm sure there are some factors influencing the size in which they form,  besides one's hair structure...

any tips, ideas, experiences, thoughts? Please share:-)

well..  when mine were 18 years in most were pretty thin. the reason was i separated often, cause my 1st set, had formed as a neck pillow (short wide beavertail that fit right under my neck) and, 2 horns on top

it wasn't just 3 dread, there were 4 or 5 other lil ones  but most pulled into those 3

this time i separated often so i had 1 or 3 thick (1 inch) and over 70 thin.. at 1 point found 1 that was  1 mm x 2 mm and that was 3 thinner dreads congaed. 

at the time this picture was taken i had been using the baking soda (regret ever suggesting that)  and the ends were getting lost often, i thought from dragging on the ground. well it was the baking soda that made them weak

long story short i stopped separating, so when the hair at my head reached the ground it would be stronger. as many as 6 thin ones joined into thicker ones.. but still always new dreads are born.. 

dont worry about the sizes as long as they don't get too thick (that  where trouble starts) after they mature and thicken you can always let them congo

my best friend is on here @chevelle-trant hers i watched start in the woods as whispy whimpy lil tangles and now they are thick  as can be.. they will thicken just from dreading   but if you still want them thicker after they are good and mature simply don't separate 2 thin ones and hey join together

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

I think i got a problem of separating too much and that's why I'm not seeing progress. On the back of my hair i got some good looping going on, but near my ears bangs and top of head, nothing. I see my hair trying to form a dread, but then I pick up the strands of hair, and it's like a 2x3 inch square of hair trying to knot into one dread, so i separate and end up at square one.

I don't have very thick hair, but I hope to have around 40+ sizable locks, but I don't know if that's possible with my hair type. Something to make my head look pretty full

Hi! My hair started dreading when it was 12-15cm long, so yours shout be right to start soon. I guess if someone goes the natural route there

will be a mixture of different sizes of dreads and also different forms like round or mostly flat. That is that special natural look, every dread is unique in size an look. So it is very normal to get thick and thin sections, mostly first there where you sleep on a lot.

You can leave the section alone till the hair starts to knot together, then you have to think about if the section is ok in size or if you want to separate it into 2 or more smaller sections. The less you (have to) separate the bigger the dreads should get, at least after time.

Don't separate too often and only when really needed, then you should get pretty close to the result you are looking for.

Best wishes!

My hair is knotting up at the ends. It looks like just one giant rat's nest. Also, most of my loose hair is at the tips and balling up there threatening to fall out. Pretty much only the bottom quarter of my hair is knots. It looks like chains with balls at the ends.

Yeah, this chaos you describe sounds very familiar to me! I had some soft balls at the tips, too and most of my hair starts to combine at the tips and slowly dreads down towards the roots. The balls will disappear after a while, some will probably fall out, some will get flatter after some time and combine with the rest of the sectioned hair. Also every dread has almost its own length. You will have some really short ones (the skinnier sections) and some really long ones (the thicker sections). At least in my case...

Unfortunately my hair doesn't have any clear sections. They're more than likely going to fall out.

Do you have any tips on showering/sleeping etc. I already use dreadlockssite shampoo and not blow dry my hair and such.

only worry about washing the scalp dont need to rub the hair or soap it at all the microfine clays clean as they rinse through..so apply a lil use fingertips to gently scrape at the scalp then rinse

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My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

If you wash your hair at least once a week you are fine! Nothing special about sleeping, no wool pillow or anything else is needed. I wrap my hair after a wash with a microfibre towel, because with a normal towel you might catch some lint in your dreads. No rubbing with the towel, just wrapping and after a while air drying.

I had a lot of hair falling out in the early stages too, that is normal. If i remember correctly it was almost the whole first year. After the sections got firmer the hair will not fall out any more and stays as a part of the dread. That is why dreads can get so long, because you don't lose hair at a certain point of the journey.

Like S.E. said, just continue washing and don't worry too much, everybodys hair can and will dread!