What do you think of dreadlocks?

Dec 19, 2013

Natalie T.

I posted this in reply to your comment on my profile, but I thought I'd post it here too just in case it was easier for you to see!


You can definitely buy full sets of synthetic dreads if you wanted to, but those usually run around $100 (give or take), but I didn't do too much research on it, so I'm sure you can find better deals, I just didn't look very hard. Making them cost me about $30 for the Kanekalon fiber for the hair and I had TONS left over... the process is very time consuming and tiring, but its cheaper and its pretty fun! I love getting crafty though, so I didn't mind. I spent about 5-10 hours on my dreads a day for about 3 days.
Here's the link to the Doctored Locks Kanekalon Fiber that I bought: http://www.doctoredlocks.com/product/Kanekalon-Jumbo-Braid-Products
I forget how many I purchased and how many I used, but they should be able to help you figure out or recommend how much to use in the YouTube videos I posted. I think I bought way too many, but they're so cheap ($2.55 per package/braid) and they give you a discount if you buy a certain amount... I think I bought maybe 10 packages and still have a bunch left over.

Supplies:
-Lots of synthetic kanekalon fiber "hair"
-Teasing comb
-Heating Device (more info below)
-Spray bottle for water
-Small hair elastic bands that match your hair (I used clear ones from CVS)
-Bowl of water
-Towel or rag to dip in water
-Patience =P


How It Works:
You will be using synthetic Kanekalon fiber, which will melt easily and look like dreads when done so properly. There are other synthetic fibers that can be used, but Kanekalon is recommended because it is the easiest to use and manipulate in the synthetic dread making process. You will tease the "hair" to create an entirely knotty base, then twist the hair into a dread like formation, and seal the shape with hot steam. It sounds kind of basic and like it may not look so great, but they actually turn out really awesome from such a simple process!

Methods:
You need to "steam seal" each dread you are going to make. You can do this a variety of ways. I personally used the "flat iron method" of steam sealing because it was the most readily available method for me. The way I've seen most recommended is by using a steamer: many people on YouTube doing tutorials used a hand held fabric steamer, but it is recommended to use a professional steamer made especially for wig making (but who really has one of those anyways!?). There are also methods that include boiling the dreads and ironing them to create a steam seal. I personally tried ironing them, but didn't have much control over them, so I switched to the flat iron method, and boiling them seems complicated and less effective than other methods.

Directions (for double ended dreads) with the Flat Iron Method that I Used:
-Take your Kanekalon fiber and separate a small piece. You will have to do some experimenting with the amount of hair you want and how thick you want your dreads to be. Take more than you would think you need because you want it to be a really "solid" sturdy dreadlock and the more hair used, the better.
-Take the fiber you separated and hang it on a hook of some sort so its folded in half draped over the hook. I just used a giant binder clip I clipped to my desk drawer. This will make more sense if you watch the videos (they will show you how to make a nice "dread loom" set up if you would like to).
-Tease the hair from ends down to the "root" at the middle of the dreadlock where its draped in half over the hook. Make sure its really solid and well teased. Feel to make sure it has almost the same denseness throughout the entire length.
-Repeat with the opposite side of the fiber hanging on the hook
-Twist the teased hair all the way down, it will start looking a lot more like a dreadlock at this point
-Spray the hair with water from your water bottle. That is what is recommended, but I just used a bowl of water and a wet towel and saturated the entire dread with water from the towel by constantly squeezing the towel up and down the dread as I "sealed" it. You want to keep the dread wet (but not soaking) so it doesn't singe or melt, but heat seals.
-Take your flat iron and clamp down at the top of the dreadlock and use a twisting motion as you press down. This will help form the dreadlock. If you just ran the straightener down the dreadlock, it would come out flat, so you want to use the twisting, rotating method so you can form a nice rounded dreadlock.
-Continue on other side of the dread
-Repeat with next piece of Kanekalon hair

Installation (Double Ended Dreads):
*The smaller the piece of your hair you start with, the better*
-(I started from the bottom) Tie up all of your hair, just leaving a small layer at the bottom to start working with
-Section off a piece of your hair in which you will braid the dread into
-Clip one side of the dread up and away from the length of your hair (there should be a "bend" in it from where you folded it over the hook when making it).
-Split the tiny section (of your hair) in two pieces and start braiding it with the dreadlock as the third strand of hair.
-When you get to the end of your real hair, start adding rubber bands-tie off your hair with the band
-If there are frayed ends of hair poking out, just go in with a rubber band and wrap it around those ends so they are tucked underneath the band
-Unclip the top half of your dreadlock and voilá! you have installed a double ended dread.

Hair Care:
-Since I didn't keep mine in for a long period of time, I am not too sure about how to care for them, but I'm sure the Doctored Locks site or YouTube may have some great methods for taking care of synthetic dreads. You can get them wet and shower with them! The only issue may be them "sliding" down your hair shaft or becoming heavy on your real hair. Since your real hair is the most delicate when its wet, the weight of the dreadlocks on your wet, delicate hair should be taken into consideration and dealt with carefully until your hair is dry again. But have no fear, you can shampoo your scalp, I don't think that you would really need to condition your hair. Still, I didn't deal with this myself, so I definitely recommend looking up some blogs or YouTube videos on Synthetic Dread Maintenance and Cleaning.

YouTube Videos:
Here is the whole page of everything Doctored Locks has put out about making and installing synthetic dreads... it is everything you need to know! I recommend watching all of the videos (even if they sound like they don't apply to you) because you will understand the whole process a lot more.. I know I certainly did! =) Most of them are pretty short, so its not a waste of time
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvKOrkh66Zhfkmy5f9fYaOCEsoRtxqgah

Dreadloom/workspace Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_U0UZqhuqg&feature=share&list=PLvKOrkh66Zhfkmy5f9fYaOCEsoRtxqgah
Single Ended vs Double Ended: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGCevRF-5I8&feature=share&list=PLvKOrkh66Zhfkmy5f9fYaOCEsoRtxqgah&index=7
Double Ended Dread Making: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enGc7VF9VpE&feature=share&list=PLvKOrkh66Zhfkmy5f9fYaOCEsoRtxqgah&index=2
Single Ended Dreadlocks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoIZLIXH0xI&feature=share&list=PLvKOrkh66Zhfkmy5f9fYaOCEsoRtxqgah&index=1
Backcombing and teasing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRClD0UThbM&feature=share&list=PLvKOrkh66Zhfkmy5f9fYaOCEsoRtxqgah&index=10
Sealing with a Flat Iron (there are other methods listed in their Synthetic Dread YouTube Video Section): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4hxPksahF0&feature=share&list=PLvKOrkh66Zhfkmy5f9fYaOCEsoRtxqgah&index=18
Installing Double Ended Dreads:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca0ECeC2KJ8&feature=share&list=PLvKOrkh66Zhfkmy5f9fYaOCEsoRtxqgah&index=38
Installing Single Ended Dreads: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBxlrp-z-dI&feature=share&list=PLvKOrkh66Zhfkmy5f9fYaOCEsoRtxqgah&index=34

Dec 19, 2013

Olivia G.

I think it looks good depending on your style and hair type.