Dreads. How to?

[yohomz]

My hair is almost long enough to dread. I was wondering if someone with experience knows the best way to go about making dreads. My buddy said that the real rastas (which I'm not, nor do I intend to be) bring a huge aloe leaf down to the beach, bust it open and lather it in to their hair. They then proceed to wash their hair with the salt water and this will create dreads. What do you think?

 

[Harry Gypsna]

google dreadlocks for uk sites and there is a how2...me im off to see the ppl who did the how 2 for the day and let them do em, after the armache from my old dreads i cant be arsed doing my own thins time.....
dont listen to ppl who say dont wash it...it will hold better if its clean...i had 3years unwashed dreads andhad to cut em off coz my scalp was ****ed and ppl with clean dreads they tend to hold better and look better
use natural shampoos nothing with conditionaer type products in it.
Hard beezwax, looks like shit for a month after putting it on but once it works in and off again u will be matted up.
you will need bands for the ends to begin wih or you can stitch em up.

Real rasta's you wont see their dreads coz they cover em in a big turban wrap thing.
Its more fun if you get someone to do em and turn up with smokeables lol

 

[Guest]

no brushing but keep it clean

 

[Harry Gypsna]

not quite that simple lol
some twisting and bakcoming to be done....they do need maintaining too..best thing for the frizzlies is a rug pulling hook, push through the dread, hook them frizzlies and pul em through.

 

[yohomz]

sweet, thanks gypsy. BTW I just determined that I have a few female K2's from your seeds!!! Can't wait to flower 'em.

 

[Tripco]

There's many methods, but i did it the easiest way: sittin' back and waitin for my hair to dread it self. You could tell that i'm pretty lazy, and you'll be right. It took more than 1,5 year for 30cm long hair (at the start, backthen in 2003.).
If you wash 'em more frequent, more dreadlocks will you have.
It is true about (sea)saltwater, it makes 'em harder, stiffer and stronger. Aloe plant will surely help you, especialy if there are dandruff problems (don't dread to close to the skin, weight of hair itself tends to pull the hair root out, so, the skin damages, and, voila, here comes the dandruff). Don't use any Aloe, but only A.vera, A.arborescens and A.saponaria (O.K., probably some other species, but these 3 are very common in the gardening shops).
I sometimes use scissors to cut through between 2 or more dreads, 'cos it's not that easy to dry 'em after washing if they're to thick. Loose ends are sometimes problem. Try to wrap 'em around, but if it's not possible, use scissors.
If you use this method, every particular dreadlock will have its own different size and shape.

 

[Guest]

sounds like alot of upkeep good luck

 

[Northern_Greens]

I used a lice comb....just twist and backcomb whenever you have a chance....and wax them every now and then.....it also depends on how long your hair is....my first set fell out because it was too short, you loose about 1/3 to half of the length...or more if their fatties

N_G

 

[Blue_adept]

DO NOT WAX! you can never fix waxed dreads, they are really hard to clean and will collect dust/ect. If you are set on uniform size/shape dreads then backcomb, if you are patient and dont mind the messy head for quite a while go natural/neglect.

BlueAdept

 

[PoppinFresh]

don't do your own dreads.. find a competent hair stylist that specializes in natural hairstyles. my friend's mother does that now in NY/NJ. it will depend on how you want your dreads to come out. u don't wanna go the rasta way.. then again if you do more power to you lol. but definitely let a professional do it for you. you'll have to get your hair retwisted every 2-4 weeks depending on your hair type. it could take up to a year for your hair to actually dread up. but some people like my other friend will dread up after the 2nd or 3rd retwisting. you just keep going back to get the new growth retwisted every few months. good luck on it.

 

[Harry Gypsna]

um....im not gypsy lol

As you can see, there are differing opinions......
I completely disagree on the wax...fix em?? simple soloution to that is dont do em wrong lol..... its only a bit near the root and on the end, not full on mr soapy head look lol
But you will get a much better look if you get someone else to do em.....

 

[NOKUY]

man Im the dreadlock autority.....and peeps have given "sound advice''

-dont comb
-do wash (soap and never conditioner)

and....beyond that let dreads happen.

don't fuk up your hair w/ backcomb....and dont dread perm

man if u want "RESPECTFUL DREADS" u let it happen and it's part of you.........otherwise don't bother....I can see thru fake locs

 

[Guest]

Whatever you do DO NOT put anything IN your hair to 'help' it dread. It will result in you cutting off rotting dreads years down the line, I have seen it happen! Backcombing works great on almost any hair. Don't forget to keep it clean, get a good soap that leaves behind no residue.. I recommend Dr. Bronners soaps its about all I use.

Cheers and happy dreading!

 

[D Rock]

here is the perfect web site for ya. http://www.perfectdreadlocks.com/

 

[Yummybud]

Stupid question. wtf are dreadlocks??

okay I know what they look like but how does that happen naturally? It looks like a wig of some sort with the hair glued together in chunks....

and what type of hair does dreadlocks work on? I thought only black people's hair with the tight curls naturally dread.

so are you saying caucasions and asians (like chinese people with thick straight hair) can grow dreads naturally?

I've always wondered.

most caucasion people look like goofs with dreads and I've never seen asians with dread but that would not look very good I would imagine.

and by the sound of it, it looks like a lot of hard work to grow dreads and with all that hard work and upkeep people will still assume you are a dirty hippy that sleeps in filth and has never washed his hair lol.

 

[Harry Gypsna]

dr bronnners indeed..... great stuff.
there are some decent "dread" shampoos now too made for convenience. You must avoid shampoos like normally used though coz they have plastics and shit in em to make hair shiny and soft and these impede the dreading severly.
Ive had dreads twice(1st time were clean-but they were forcibly removed by my dad-i was 15 the second were filthy and ive already said why i cut those off)....not for spiritul or religous reasons,(and im not disrespecting anyone who does, i think its great to commit to something and find something with a meaning for your life) or to hang around with the dready ppl, but because i ****ing like em and the once a month or every couple of months at a push mantanence routine suits my lazy ass better than brushing every day cutting all the bloody time lol. Plus the type of birds i go for tend to like em hehe
Dont ever listen to the dreadlock bores who will drone on about how theres is the only a "Right" way of doing dreads and that somehow anything else is inferior.... you will always run into dreadlock nazis lol... Just like the trendy ppl at school who judged you on your trainers or the price of your jacket.....
Dont listen to crap about putting thigs like baby oil on em, or rubbing cig/joint ash into em(yuk)
they will always look a bit shit to begin with but theyll get there.....

 

[Yummybud]

I have thick wavy hair, when it's short it's not really wavy but when I grow my hair longer there are big waves in my hair and it's thick hair so would my hair dread also?

not that I want to dread my hair just wondering.

 

[PoppinFresh]

I have thick wavy hair, when it's short it's not really wavy but when I grow my hair longer there are big waves in my hair and it's thick hair so would my hair dread also?

not that I want to dread my hair just wondering.

anyone's hair can dread or at least have that dread appearance. but it's the kinkiness that helps it lock into place properly and look right. maybe it's me but i have yet to see a non-black or straight-haired person with decent dreads. they always look loose and about to fall apart. looks ridiculous at times. it's like you can get it dreaded and have it for years but get under some water once and boom it's gone! maybe there are some straighter hair folks out there, white or asian, that can attest to tight locks.

 

[iseankimi]

The people I know that have dreads used wax and all this shit to make it dread...They look fine at first, but I think there are two major problems with using stuff to make dreadlocks: 1, it becomes more of an image rather than a lifestyle (dunno if that makes sense to you) 2, if you use wax and stuff, you have to cut off all your hair if you decide you want to "clean up" your hair.... But that's just my half-assed conclusion.

 

[vod]

I have totaly straight hair and quite thin and my dreads were made by backcombing. they did fall apart in water in the beginning, but with time they got hard as rock.