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Okay, first off here's a few sites:
www.dreadhead.com
and then there is either www.dreads.com or www.dreadlocks.com, I don't remember which one it is.
First off throw away all the rumors about dreads that you know of. Now listen!
Although dreadlocks in original, historical form were unkempt and unwashed, almost no one grows dreads that way anymore unless you're rastafarian. Everyone you see with good-looking dreads maintains them well and washes them regularly. In fact, if you don't wash dreads then they will get oily, which helps them to untangle.
The key principle of dreads is that your hair is tightly knotted everywhere, which keeps it in dread shape. A mature dread will be knotted all the way to the roots, so as new hair grows in it just tightens the dread. To start nice-looking dreads, you dont need honey or peanut butter or any of that nasty shit... just some plain soap, some combs, rubber bands, and a couple of good friends. This is the method I used, and it worked really well.
1) Find a soap that doesn't leave any residue. Most supermarkets will carry some kind of basic basic welfare soap, the real cheap stuff that doesnt smell and can be used to wash anything. Washing your hair with this will get your hair tangly, sort of the same as rubbing it against carpet will do (thats another way to get dreads, actually, but it hurts and doesnt work that well). So wash your hair thoroughly once or twice with this soap, then let your hair dry.
1) Divide up your head evenly with the rubber bands, banding your hair into locks. Here is where you decide whether you want big, fatty dreads or the thinnier, more 'hip' dreads. Once all the hair has been seperated, take each individual lock of hair and work it into a dread. There are three methods to do this, and all three should be done in no specific order, over and over again until the lock of hair has become a dread.
1)Rolling: take the hair and roll it briskly between your hands, like you're rubbing your hands to keep warm or rolling clay. This frizzes the hair and brings it tight together. Follow this by-
2)backcombing- the main principle of dreadlocking. take a comb, and holding the lock of hair straight up, start combing from the end of the hair back towards your head. Do it vigorously back and forth, so that hair starts to bunch up near your scalp. After this, start:
3:Tying- which will tighten the back-comb. Split the lock into two seperate pieces and pull them apart, so that the knots at the base of the hairs tighten. You will really be able to feel your hair knotting, and it will feel cool.
Do this over and over again with each lock and you will feel and see your hair become dreaded. With two friends and hair down to the back of your neck, it shouldn't take more than three hours. Your hair length should shorten by about 1/3.
THE FIRST TWO WEEKS ARE CRITICAL!!!! in the foundation of your dreads. Every day you will need to keep playing with them- roll them, rub them inwards towards your head (using your fingers to back-comb) and then pull them two seperate ways to tighten the roots. The most important thing is to get the roots tight, because if they aren't then the dreads will fall out and untangle. You have to work them constantly in your spare time, and maybe get a friend to go over them for about an hour every day for the first week. wearing rubber bands at the roots and the tips may help, but it can also cause a thin spot in your dread.
also, the first week it is best not to wash them while the dreads are in their formative stages. I just put a plastic bag over my hair in the shower, and it worked fine. Once your dreads are tight and mature, you can wash them just like you would a sponge: take each one individually, rub some soap/shampoo into it, and then rinse and wring it out. You can't use residue shampoos (ones that leave a smell behind) which is one of the reasons why dreads are the healthiest haircut- you dont have all those oily residues clogging up your follicles and your hair. You can buy special dread shampoos, combs and wax at www.dreadhead.com.
I hope that helped. It better help, or I'll be pissed.
