Learn to let go. For real. Letting go includes not caring about the speed of the progress, the loopiness or the lack of it, the loose hair, and so on.
I've been dreading for a year (and 2 days :D ), and mine STILL don't look like dreads.
I mean, they do, but there's so much loose hair covering the top of my head, you have to know they're there in order to notice them.
The point is... They will dread someday. They just need their own amount of time.
Well, I have those things too on a couple of 'em, but I don't wear my hair up that much at all. Maybe for an hour on really hot days, just to let the back of my neck and shoulders to get some air.
Are they just loopy near the roots, or are they actually going back?
I used to think mine looped that way because of the occasional headband or me putting them up, but since all of my hair pretty much wants to cover my face, instead of going toward the back of my head, I figured that can't be the reason.
I could be wrong, though.
You have to wash them if you want them to dread. Dirty hair doesn't dread. Dirty hair is just... Dirty.
Was them whenever you feel you should, and separate. That's all you need to do. 
If you haven't washed them since you've got them, I'd advise you to go and wash them right away. With BS or something else that doesn't leave a residue.
There's no need for you to take them out. And if they come out after a wash, do not re-backcomb them. That resets the progress to day one.
I've originally started dreading almost two years ago. I've been into neglect for about 3 months, when my friend called me and told me they need another teacher in a school she works at. So I went there (without combing my hair), and they basically told me the job is mine after I go through a sort of training for the special program they use in that school. They also alluded to my hair, saying 'And you know, dressing properly and having neat hair is mandatory.'
So I combed my hair (I was only 3 months in, and I reeeeally needed the job, especially since it was a teaching job, and I am a teacher. If it was awaitressjob or something, I wouldn't have combed.). I even wore high heels, brief-cases, and everything else, so I would look more professional; I've spent a month in that school learning the parts of the program, just to end up not getting the job.
Some girl came back from America, and being friends with the boss, she got the job. They did not even call me to tell me they don't need me!
So, my point is... A prospect of a job does not mean getting the job.
Unless you want to comb them out for YOU, don't do it. It's a tough situation out there, millions of people all over the world are struggling to find jobs, even if they don't have dreads.
Here, in Serbia where I live, people with college degrees sell popcorn on the streets. If they're lucky.
I, as I said, am a teacher, and have applied for position of a cleaning lady recently (that was one of a few job ads available). They turned me down. Without even seeing my hair.
Well, I don't know if it depends on the hair type or on how well someone's sense of smell is, but... I've heard people complaining about their hair smelling likecigarettesfrom just being in a room with a smoker for like an hour.
I'm surrounded by smokers all day long (both my parents, my brother, and 90% of my friends smoke + myself), and I don't really smell anything on my hair. Neither does my non-smoking best friend who really hates the smell, and notices it everywhere. Except on me, for some reason. xD
I wash my hair every 2 - 3 days, there's no rule. I just do it when I feel like it (or when I don't feel like it, but I feel I should. :D ).
Happy B-day! :D
This site is 3 years and 2 days older than my dreads! :D
And it's an awesome thing it exists, too. I would have crocheted my hair if it hasn't been for dreadlockssite, since that's how everybody does it here in Serbia. Luckily, I google everything, so I found it in time. :D
BTW, the dreducation page is amazing. Valerie should get a statue or something. :D
This is beautiful. I couldn't agree more. :D
It's hardly vanity, since we all tend to look like something that got caught in the drain for a few months (In the eyes of society. Most of us actually love that part. :D).
I started dreading because it is natural, and I wanted to reconnect with nature. In time, it became something deeply spiritual, too. So now it's everything. It's nature, spirituality, feeling good about myself, everlasting change, creativity...
You can do everything yourself. Absolutely no need for paying people for it, even if you do not want to go all natural.
You can do twist and rip, there are tutorials on here and on youtube.
You can also backcomb, but tn'r is less damaging.
The majority of people here don't go about keeping their dreads together. They just are together, knotted hair. If you put wax in them, you only create an illusion. Your hair looks matted up, but it is only glued together.
All you ever need to do (after a starter method, if you chose to do it that way) is to wash and separate them. Some of them will fall apart, some won't. Maybe they all fall apart. That's what they do and it is nothing to worry about. Creating real knots takes time, but it will happen. Any maintenance other than washing and separating isunnecessaryand potentially harmful.
Hope I covered everything.
They will thicken up to about the size of the section, just give them time.
