<steps in cuz my ears were buzzing...after consuming some more rum>:lol
Alright as I learned exactly 1 year and 1 month ago the key to getting excellent dreadlocks is in the backcombing! You need to backcomb the crappacino out of the strands of hair so that it turns into a big ball of fur!
Backcombing is the key to a successful dread is what I learned. If you do not have a large clump of hair you will not have a very good dread that holds its shape. The same is true for real hair dreads that the Rastafarians create. Only difference is that human hair is microscopically serrated so that is how it holds together. Kanekalor shrinks when near heat and it tightens up on itself.
After you have developed this ball of fur go back and backcomb some more and more!!!!
Attach one end to a permanent fixture and start twisting the dreadlock from the top. Be sure to twist and smooth twist and smooth!
Hold onto the end after you have twisted and smoothed multple times so you end up with something like this....
Now steam the hell out of the item. I take about 5-7 minutes to steam each dreadlock. It is a very long process and that is one of the reasons why it took me almost 45 hours to finish my first wig version over a period of two months.
Do not boil because that will soak the dreads too much and it will take them longer to dry out plus they loose their shape when wet! Think of a dry sponge when it gets wet! I was told by a salon gal to not use beeswax on synthetic hair because it does not hold and it will become a mess. Beeswax is used only on real hair dreads.
If you can go out to Bed, Bath, and Beyond or some other store like Target/Wal-Mart, etc. get yourself one of these babies! It is a clothes steamer and they work great for steaming dreads. If you don't want one of these than steam your dreads over an old fashion hot water kettle...the kind that whistles when the water boils. Run the dread through the steam that comes out but be careful not to burn yourself...speaking from experience!
Later in making more dreads no thanks to AWE Captain Jack grew more! I was able to get dreading down to an artform. I also discovered that burning the ends of the dreadlocks formed a nice tip that looked more natural and it also held the dreadlock form longer. I wore my wig four more times up to 8-10 hours during the POTC marathon and at other events and only two dreads slightly unravelled. Twist, resteam, and burn the ends right on the mannequin head!
Final product!
Dam! I need to finish my website so I don't have to keep retyping this How To Guide! Hmmmm!:cry
