New dreads

topic posted Sun, May 18, 2008 - 12:56 PM by  offlineAlex
I'm kind of worried- ok, paranoid that my new dreads are going to fall apart.
They're really delicate, as always with the first month. I have extremely fine straight white hair, and I really like the way my dreads look. I got them done yesterday, and the guy that did them rubberbanded them at the roots. I palm rolled, a lot. Today, when I woke up, I saw that the ends of some of them are split just a tiny little bit, and it scared me enough to rubberband the tips of each dread. Then I palmrolled and rewaxed. As if that's not enough, the local store has stopped carrying locking accelerator. So I don't have any. I'm not washing for a week, and I do have dry shampoo (no residue.) And I've palm rolled today. (Sorry for my sentence structure, I keep remembering to add things I forgot)
And I've been to just about every site and I've read that they can break easily. Great.

Can I sleep in a tam?

Also, do you think my dreads will stay together? They're knotted really well, but I just don't know.
I've been using proclaim beeswax. Help reassure me :P
posted by:
Alex
Knoxville
  • Re: New dreads

    Sun, May 18, 2008 - 7:35 PM
    The first thing you need to do is take that beeswax and throw it directly in the trash. As long as you put that crap in your hair... you WILL have this problem. I dont generally recommend any products other than residue free shampoos, but at the early stages that you are in, the "Loc Peppa" from dreadheadhq works amazing. It isnt like mose locking accelerators where you spray some kind of liquidy mess into your hair, it is a very fine powder that you sprinkle on your hands and palm roll in, or put it directly on the locks themselves (and again, palmroll or if yours are not extreemly tight, apply it and the carefully backcomb in)... trust me homie, you will be amazed. Loc Peppa is available at some salons, i would check the website to see if anyone in your area is carrying it. But even if you dont pick any up, please dispose of the wax. as long as there is wax in your locks, the wax holds the hair in one certain spot... therefore your locks cannot mature and tighten (i know i am going to get crap for this, so let me say that if you have time to waste, after a LONG time of using wax, they will tighten a bit, but not evenly and it slows the process litterally like 100x). I know if you go to sites like dreadheadhq and knottyboy, they will tell you that you need wax to hold your fragile baby locks together, but keep in mind that they SELL the wax, and they are americans, so they are slaves to the almighty dollar. Plus, no matter how much they may make you feel like they have your best interests in mind, honeslty, just accept it... they dont give two squirts of piss about you or your locks, they just want your money. I tell you all this from personal experience... this is my 4th time having locks over the past 12 years... all other times i have used wax... this time i chose to abstain from all products like that, and my hair has locked better, faster and tighter then ever before... i am telling you, noticible difference. also, before, my locks gained length very slowly, much much slower than normal unlocked hair. But this time, i started them at 2 inches... only 3 years later i am at roughly 22 inches. Clean, unwaxed dreads grow like wildfire. I cant stress it enough, beeswax was not made for making dreadlocks, it is a hair straightener or to keep braids held in shape, and you do not want the hair in your dreads to stay in the same shape, you want them to tangle easly. Good luck man... keep growin that knatty shit!!!!!
    • Re: New dreads

      Sun, May 18, 2008 - 7:44 PM
      Oh, and you could sleep in a tam, but i personally think that the time you spend sleeping with your head rolling around on the pillow all night does some of the best, and easiest knotting... but again, this is really only the case if they are not waxy... otherwise the agression of sleeping on them (tam or not) slides the loose, waxy hairs out of the locks, which in turn pisses you off when you wake up and look in the mirror.
      • Re: New dreads

        Tue, May 20, 2008 - 7:02 PM
        I just read it all, thanks a ton for the advice!

        The wax has actually worked itself out for the most part, I can't feel it at all. They're all dry, and I'm not adding any more wax.

        I've heard of the Locking Peppa and unfortunately, there isn't any in knoxville. So this Summer when I head to my mom's we'll just order some I guess.

        I slept last night without the tam just to experiment and I was pretty happy to say that all of my locks stayed together just fine. It wasn't so comfy, but whatever.

        Okay, so you've been a big help. Thanks a bunch, really :) I feel so edumacated.

        So the only routine I should have is palm rolling, lock peppa (once a week, once I get some) and washing once a week. I'm going to keep the rubber bands on the roots and tips for 2 months. That all right? I'm worried about taking them off within a few weeks because the dreads themselves might come undone, which would make me a sad panda. Is that actually something to worry about or does that even happen ever, at all?
        • Re: New dreads

          Tue, May 20, 2008 - 7:47 PM
          Your definately on your way to some bangin knots man. Just keep workin with them. Lots of palm rolling... when i started out, i rolled blisters onto my hands daily. You can leave the rubberbands on as long as you want... you'll probably have a few you will forget about and they will get swallowed up by the lock they are on. This can become a problem too, but not a big one, but rubberbands turn to goo if you leave them in too long, this doesnt really hurt anything, i personally just find it disturbing when i find one that had gooified in my hair since i am sooooo anal about keeping them clean and free of anything at all. If you can do it, it is better to use thread and just tie it around the base of dreads instead of rubberbands, but i have tried it, and it is a pain in the ass to do, so i always just slap on a rubberband and try to remember to take it off before it goes goo. The most important thing to remember is have patience... there will be days where you will be so frustrated at the progress of your locks or lack there of, but just hang in there. Dreadlocks are like kids... when they are "babies", they are the most exciting (and sometimes frustrating) thing in the world. When they are "teenagers" you wanna fuckin kill them. And when they fully mature, you look back and say "that was A LOT of bullshit, but look how great they turned out".
          • Re: New dreads

            Tue, May 20, 2008 - 7:55 PM
            HA. About that, once your locks are good and... well, locked, do you have to keep palm rolling AT ALL?

            And you say that you're still using rubberbands. How long have you had your dreads?

            It just seems like a bitch to have the idea of having rubber bands in year old or older locks.
            • Re: New dreads

              Tue, May 20, 2008 - 8:43 PM
              No, there comes a point where palm rolling is no longer neened. My locks are just over 3 years old and i occasionally use rubberbands to hold in loose hairs that i have crocheted into the roots in until the growth above it has locked and there is no chance they will un-crochet.

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