Learning how to get dreads can be a complicating procedure. Often times you will find conflicting information online which only adds to the many stories you have been personally told by people who have dreads. This article will describe what are the four main ways people get dreads.
1. Natural Method – This method is the oldest way of getting dreads. In fact, I bet each cave person wore a lovely head of dreads. All you need to learn how to get dreads for this method is to wash your hair with residue free shampoo and do not brush your hair. Almost all hair types will natural dread after the hair reaches about six inches in length. You may have to use a bit of the Rip and Tear Method discussed next to help keep dreads a certain size and to stop the top of your head from matting.
2. Twist and Rip Method – The act of ripping and tearing your hair is far less painful than it sounds. All you are doing is twisting a dread size piece of hair really tight and then dividing that into two pieces and pulling down on each of these. And then you repeat. People will start by dividing their hair (see methods below) and then using twisting and ripping to tighten the dread.
3. Backcombing Method – The hair is put into a dreadlock position by backcombing the hair. This is done by sectioning the hair and then rubbing the comb towards the root from the ends of the hair. People usually want sections about one inch in diameter, but research what would be best for your hair type (thick, thin, fine, etc) to learn how to make dreads the right size for your hair. You can use a grid type pattern for sectioning your hair, or doing it in a more random natural way and just choosing sections as you go along.
4. Waxing Method – This is the only method I mention that requires a type of product in your hair. Essentially, a person will backcomb their hair or rip and tear their hair and then use wax to hold their hair in place to encourage dread growth. I believe if used sparingly, wax can be ok, but I personally do not use it, nor do I see a need for anyone else to use it. Please do more research if this is what you thought was the best method of dreading.
With the first three methods, you can wash your hair whenever you like as long as you are using residue free shampoo. There is no way, now how to get dreads if you do not wash your hair. Dirty hair provides no benefit to the dreads whatsoever. Dreads prefer clean hair. However, I cannot comment on the shampooing technique of waxed dreads.
