What You'll Need | Washing & Sectioning | Backcombing | Waxing

Washing & Sectioning...

Ok Its dreadlocks time!... First thing you should do is wash your hair with your residue free shampoo.

We can't stress enough that it needs to be a Residue Free Shampoo. Regular shampoo's leave residues that condition your hair and keep it silky smooth which stops it forming knots and locking up, this is bad bad bad for dreads. It's also just as important to make sure it has been washed, oily or greasy hair will make the dreading process twice as hard. Dreadheadhq or Knotty Boy shampoo will do the trick or have a hunt around for a natural alternative on the market.

OK, if you want your dreadies in rows go ahead and section the hair off. This might seem like a lot of work. It does take a little while but we highly recommend it. If you don't section it, there is a tendency to end up with some dreadlocks a lot bigger than others and spaces in between. If you don't want straight rows that's fine, but sectioning it is still a good idea.

Start by parting it in the middle. Take one side and clip it to get it out of your way. Take the unclipped 1/2 and section it into squares. Each square should have about the same amount of hair. Put a rubberband thingy on each section to hold it so it doesn't get caught in the dreadlocks your about to make.

Don't worry about the sections and rows being visible in the finished dreads, as the dreads grow and thicken the sections won't be noticeable. Try to keep the size sections as uniform as possible. The amount of hair in the section, of course, determines the size of the dread.

Bundles of hair about the size of a pencil are good for dreadlocks of average size (about 1/4 inch in diameter) . If your hair is very fine the size bundles may vary, your diameter of hair may be smaller than a pencil and create sections of hair that are too big. Sections that are too big leave unnecessary space between the dreads. We recommend keeping the sections between an .5" square at the smallest to 1.5"-2" square at the largest. That should make sense but just in case it doesn't I'll elaborate....1 inch sections means that the hair is sectioned in to squares that are one inch wide square or 1" X 1". This is pictured below. .5 "X.5" will make smaller dreads, 2"X2" will make thicker dreads. Stay anywhere in between .5 and 2 inch sections and they will come out great.

The dreads will end up being thicker than the bundle of hair (so if the bundle is as big as your pinkie the dreads are going to be bigger around than your pinkie, probably about 1/2inch' in diameter) and the dreads will come out smaller than the section. After you do a few you'll have a pretty good feel for this. You'll be making the first dread in the back of your hair so you can make sure the size of your sections is right. You can adjust the others by the first one. Use your good judgment and take your time and they will come out supa nice.

Remember, they don't have to be perfect but getting them around the same size will pay off later on. Different size dreads will lock up at different speeds. Bigger dreads have the advantage of locking up faster. Thinner dreads have the advantage of drying faster and being more easily accepted by conservative straight haired folk.