Need some dreadlocks info for dd.

[SashaBreeze]

So my oldest (age 13) has toyed with the idea of getting dreadlocks for a while now. She has really, really thick wavy hair to her shoulders.
So, ummm, how do we do this?
What about haircare during and after?

[MoonStarFalling]

You can watch videos on sectioning and back combing at youtube or at knottyboy website. BUT you don't need any of the products they boast (special soaps, waxes etc). Just use shampoo of your choice and no conditioner.

Check out the "memories" info at the livejournal community called get up dread up.

[SashaBreeze]

Thank you for your response the link you gave really helped. My dd and I watched it together and she is still really wanting to go for it. I have to say I was super surprised to find out how long it takes. So we figure we will just have to make a party of it, have some of her favorite people over watch some movies and pig out on finger food kind of day.

You said use a shampoo of our choice. So does that mean ANY shampoo would work or is there any particular ingredient(s) that I need to be on the look out for to keep out. How does that apply to homemade shampoos?

Thanks for the info, I think she is planning on us taking the plunge this weekend sometime.

[babygirlie]

I can only tell you how it's traditionally done. Not sure about wavy hair. But traditionally you shave your head pretty far down.. maybe at most an inch left. Then you get beeswax and twist twist twist. You don't wash your hair either. so once you get all the sections done it's something you kind of diddle with all day.. continue putting a small amount of wax on your fingers and idly play with your hair and twist twist twist This will give you the most professional looking and neat traditional dreads. But if you don't have kinky hair I'm not sure it will work out properly. For the straight hippy look I would still think you'd use beeswax and no washing and just rat it with a brush like crazy.

[canadianhippie]

mama's can help you out alot in the dready mama's forum, theres lots of ways to do them, you dont need to use wax, its often not recommended, you can do natural neglect dreads, backcomb or twist and palm roll. You should use a residue free shampoo and you can find homemade recipes for spray's that take the itch out without using alot of conditioner.

[MoonStarFalling]

Most people's shampoo works as long as it doesn't have conditioners in it. A lot of people use homemade, shampoo bars, or any kind of clarifying shampoo like Neutrogena. You must wash the hair. Greasy hair won't make knots (dreads).

[bubbledumpster]

don't use wax! i had dreads for a year, and my boyfriend had two sets, one for a year and the other for two. on my bf's first set he used lots of of wax, and it was really gross, his hair was always greasy and the dreads just looked nasty and dirty.

just use a natural shampoo (i recommend dr. bronners) and no conditioner. i backcombed mine, but some people just rub their hair around until it's incredibly tangled and then rip the knots into separate dreads. to backcomb just buy a fine-tooth flea comb from the pet store, seperate the hair out into sections and backcomb from the root to the tip until you have a long knot.

one resource that i found absolutely invaluable when i had dreads was the get up dread up (gudu) community on livejournal. there is sooo much info in their memories section. http://www.livejournal.com/tools/mem...et_up_dread_up

[SashaBreeze]

One of dd's worries is them being SUPER fuzzy at the start, that was why we were thinking of using a wax but after reading your responses and doing some more reading we see that is not a good idea.

We were thinking of maybe using something like Burt's Bees Avocado Butter treatment??? We both have used it for years for our fuzzies and never wash it out and it always kind of absorbed into our hair and doesnt look greasy or anything. But I am worried it would not work the same on her hair once it is in dreads. Any suggestions for super fuzz?

[SashaBreeze]

Originally Posted by babygirlie

I can only tell you how it's traditionally done. Not sure about wavy hair. But traditionally you shave your head pretty far down.. maybe at most an inch left. Then you get beeswax and twist twist twist. You don't wash your hair either. so once you get all the sections done it's something you kind of diddle with all day.. continue putting a small amount of wax on your fingers and idly play with your hair and twist twist twist This will give you the most professional looking and neat traditional dreads. But if you don't have kinky hair I'm not sure it will work out properly. For the straight hippy look I would still think you'd use beeswax and no washing and just rat it with a brush like crazy.

Thank you babygirlie but there is NO WAY dd would want to cut her hair that short. She has a very Swedish/German bone structure to her face and a super short hair cut would probably not be a very complementing look for her.
But it is neat to think of someone being able to do that and get it to stay, I bet it would look really nice once it was done.

[bubbledumpster]

Originally Posted by SashaBreeze

One of dd's worries is them being SUPER fuzzy at the start, that was why we were thinking of using a wax but after reading your responses and doing some more reading we see that is not a good idea.

We were thinking of maybe using something like Burt's Bees Avocado Butter treatment??? We both have used it for years for our fuzzies and never wash it out and it always kind of absorbed into our hair and doesnt look greasy or anything. But I am worried it would not work the same on her hair once it is in dreads. Any suggestions for super fuzz?

i wouldn't use any kind of softening or smoothing treatment. the hair needs to tangle and using any sort of conditioning or moisturizing treatment is going to untangle it. when stuff gets absorbed into a dreadlock it's really really difficult to get out and most of the time it's going to be in there until you cut them off.

there's a few things you can do, like stabbing your dreads repeatedly w/ a felting needle, or sticking a latch hook tool through, wrapping the loose hairs around it and pulling them through the dread. (you can read about that here: http://www.livejournal.com/tools/mem...izz&filter=all ) ime, part of having dreadlocks is having fuzzy sideshow bob locks in the beginning stages. if you want healthy non-greasy dreads it's just something you have to deal with at the beginning. personally, i think it's pretty cute.

[babygirlie]

np This is just how they do them in Africa. You don't use a gob of beezwax just so your fingers are coated and not all day long. They look very tight and very professional. Ingredients are a bit limited in Africa. But they do use a spray sheen for braids anyway which I've never seen in the states so not sure how to describe it.

Love African hair do's I remember sitting in a parlor in southern africa to get my braids in. Took like 7 hours and pounds of extensions but looked soooo nice. but they are pros and just lines of women up getting rastas in (braids) so they are really fast

[FarrenSquare]

I found your dread thread

There is a lot of helpful advice in this thread already, but I do want to emphasize a few things I've learned in my own journey with dreadlocks... because it really is quite a journey:

-Backcombing (with a flea comb, like a PP mentioned) is really the healthiest way to kick-start a set of rocking dreads. Using a crochet hook or felting needle can rip and break hairs and that can leave you with thin spots, breakage, and extra fuzzy dreads.

-Wax / smoothers / any product at all is really not a good idea. They can gum up the hair and stop the friction needed to create those tight knots that make up the length of the dreadlock. Plus they get trapped in there for years, and can occasionally cause mold!

-When choosing shampoo, always choose something "clean rinsing." I have heard Dr. Bonners can leave a residue, but nearly any shampoo does. You may have to go through a few to find one you like. You CAN wash your hair as often as you like, water makes hair knot up like crazy! I bet your dd has noticed that after the shower before.

- The secret about dreadlocks is that they are supposed to be fuzzy at first, and that is something that maybe your DD will have to think about before committing. Dreads can be a lesson in patience and they will go through many phases (including a messy frizzy "halo" phase during the beginning... and again about a year and a half in) and you end up having to accept what they are doing on their own because too much messing with them can be damaging. It can be hard for some to get dreadlocks because we are used to worrying about what others might think of our fuzzy heads. Sometimes it takes a while to let go of expectation and let them do their thing.

-Once you backcomb and the dreads start to tighten, you have to separate them at the root by pulling them apart. Try to do it often so that you don't have any gnarly messes to rip apart (cause that really hurts!)

That is all that really comes to mind right now when I think about what I wish I knew ten years ago before I launched into this project! If I think of anything else I'll come back.

[SashaBreeze]

You had me at mold FarrenSquare.

Seriously though, MOLD oh my, yes, any thought that I had in the back of my mind of getting her a wax or something similar has officially went out of my mind, ewwww.

I talked with her about the fuzz issue last night and today she told me that she was fine with it, that she still wanted to go ahead. So I guess we are making a weekend of it. I will have to post a pic when we get done.

I think she has wanted them for a while now but felt self conscious about it. A few weeks ago she got a chance to watch Jean Kilbourne's Killing Us Softly and I have noticed a lot of subtle little changes on her whole attitude as far as those sort of things anymore. She has become far more comfortable in her own skin and I think this will just be one more step in her being her own person. Scary for me as a mommy but exciting too. I think she is an amazing person, regardless of her hair.

Thanks again for all the help everyone.