Washing, tips, rubber bands, and roots?
General Questions
Hey, thanks for the help. I'll loosen those bands up.
And at least I'm not the only one with the dreads that wont lay down. Vinny said: the rubber bands you have at the roots look way too tight. they'll restrict movement of the hair, thus restricting dreading. If you decide to keep the bands in, because you really don't need them and its debatable if they even help, you should loosen them up. Also rubber bands have a nasty habit of melting and fusing into the hair, happened to me, so dont leave them in their for longer than a few weeks.
backcombed baby dreads tend to "not lay down" for a week or two. just wear a hat or a bandanna to keep your self from looking funny. the roots will lay flatter as your hair grows and your dreads mature.
Blunted tips make dreads retain water longer, which means they take longer to dry. but if the extra hassle is worth it to you, go for it. Just keep in mind that dreads with blunted tips are more likely to get moldy so they require extra maintenance. most dreads, even 20 yr old dreads, still have loose tips. They either blunt on their own or they don't. there are ways to help them blunt up but i dont know what they are but im sure someone else here does.
You can wash your hair when ever you feel like you need to, but a lot of people wait at least a week or two before washing brand new dreads. I always washed mine by lathering em up, squeezing the soap in, then rinsing and squeezing the soap out. almost like if you were gonna wash a sponge. With the baking soda wash you don't even have to lather, so its extra gentle on baby dreads. Rinse as long as you feel you need to. You can shake and air dry them, you can roll em up in a sham-wow and squeeze em, I even used to just wring them out like a wet towel (that might have been a bit damaging though)