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Here we go...
I have been thinking about dreadlocks for quite some time now. Recently, I have been taking breaks from brushing my hair, just tying it up. However, once the back becomes too matted, I break down, put massive amounts of conditioner in it, and spend the hour-plus combing it out.
I had dreads for a little while in college...not entirely on purpose. I just didn't brush my hair for a summer, and basically lived at the beach and didn't care too much. In looking back at pictures, it really looked pretty cool! But my hair was a lot shorter then (shoulder length pre-dreads).
Anyway, I went online to get information on dreadlocks and found TONS of sites that advertised for salons that "dread" and all of the products that are available for "dreading" your hair. But, truth be told, any of the photos from these sites seemed a little off . There was something about the dreads that didn't look quite right, and I thought to myself, "If my hair/head is going to look like that, I am not interested." They seemed sort of fake... well, they just weren't what I was picturing and didn't look anything like what my hair looked like back when I let my hair go.
Then, I came across a youtube video about Natural Free Form Dreadlocks and it pointed me to this site: dreadlockssite.com. THANK YOU!!!! This is exactly what I was looking for!
I have the summer off. I am committed to not brushing my hair for the next 90 days to see how it goes. I have read the entire section on Dreaducation, and I am real excited to start this journey. (I have a wedding to go to in August, but I figure I can just put my hair up if it is too much of a mess at that point.) I still have a lot of questions though...
1) What should I do to prevent the "matting" that goes on in the back of my head? I have been finger-combing my hair, but should I be?
2) My hair has REALLY bad split ends. Should I get it trimmed?
3) My hair is quite long (almost to my waist). Is it too long?
1. Get the two dreads that are joining, and separate them, just gently pull them apart. At first you'll have to do this often, but once your dreads mature, you won't need to do it all the time.
2. It doesn't make a difference.
3. The longer the better, in my opinion. But I think the longer the hair, the more it shrinks as it dreads. That said, I wish my hair had been longer when I started out because I love long dreads lol.
My hair started at almost my waist and shrunk to my shoulders within 11 months. Once it shrinks, it starts to grow quickly again. Don't finger comb. Cut the split ends only if you want to, but not necessary. Don't use conditioners. It will separate all on its own, just divide any sections that are larger than 1 inch unless you want really fat dreads. Once mature, they will be the thickness of where the section of hair meets the scalp. As the guys said, separate any sections that try and join on together, it is best to do this when the hair is wet, it is stronger then.
Have a fantastic journey.....peace
Thank you for the advice! I will check out the videos.
you will need to seperate the back often especialy at 1st
the length means its going to dread fast ..but fast can mean congo quickly so you will want to keep em seperated early on
as they start to just feel for the sectioning and pull them apart to keep them seperated
1) There's nothing you need to do other than separate them so they don't mat into 1 giant lock. I have a video on my page that shows how to separate locks.
2) Don't worry about split ends. They don't effect how your locks progress at all.
3) Your hair isn't too long. Longer hair tends to lock up faster and easier. But be aware... Your hair will shrink, a lot. Most people see their hair shrink between 1/3 - 1/2 their original length