https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/dreads-and-install • Posted by Nevaeh
I made these in about 3 days. I'm in College and all my classes are early morning so I have a lot of time to waste. lol I ended up with about 120 double-ended dreads, but installed them like single-ended dreads. I purchased 4 bags of Jumbo KK hair and a steamer called "My Little Steamer" off eBay for about $15, roughly. Went to Sally's and purchased a backcombing comb. And had lots of those clear Goody's no snag hair ties. I have my hair tied back into pigtails using the front and top of my hair, leaving the back down. Also, my dreads are red and blonde with a few cadycane dreads of the 2 colors.
I made these in about 3 days. I'm in College and all my classes are early morning so I have a lot of time to waste. lol I ended up with about 120 double-ended dreads, but installed them like single-ended dreads. I purchased 4 bags of Jumbo KK hair and a steamer called "My Little Steamer" off eBay for about $15, roughly. Went to Sally's and purchased a backcombing comb. And had lots of those clear Goody's no snag hair ties. I have my hair tied back into pigtails using the front and top of my hair, leaving the back down. Also, my dreads are red and blonde with a few cadycane dreads of the 2 colors.
First step is to open the hair and separate them into sections of about 1 inch or so. (I made mine entirely too thin). If needed since these will be doubled over, cut the hair to the length you would like. Once you have that, take the hair and make a larks head knot (seen on the left)with the hair on your plastic coat hanger and backcomb one leg, starting from the bottom and working your way up. After going over it once, pull it apart as to not have any knots. and backcomb again and repeat until it looks all rice and ratty, but still holds the length you want. Do the same to the other leg.
By now you have 2 ratty looking legs of hair still tied to the coat hanger. The middle now needs some back combing attention, too. Untie your hair and take one leg and secure it any way you like. Some people use their toes, others use chip clips, really anything works. Just like before you're going to back comb and keep an eye out for knots.
Now on to the twist test. with this, you take the hair and twist is end squeeze the hair feeling for any large lumps. These lumps will cause your dread to look deformed once it has been sealed. Easiest way to fix this, it to pull that section apart (like we did while we were backcombing) and backcomb slightly to make sure it will stay together.
Repeat steps 1-3 for all your dreads. For a full head you'll need about 120-140 depending on the thickness of your hair,and also the thickness of your dreads.
Once we have all of our dreads made, we seal them. I prefer to use a steamer. Now comes the tricky part! What I did, was secure once end around my toe, and begin to tightly twist as my steamer heated up. Takeing the dread hold it in front of the steam, careful not to burn your fingers!!! As you steam continue to twist your dread as it will become lose the more you steam. While I was twisting, I made sure I was also smoothing down the hair so I did not have stray bits hanging out. Once you get toward the bottom break out those pliers! These are something I like to use for a nice tip and to save my fingers from the steam! Place the pliers on the bottom section of the hair where you will have you tip, and continue to twist. once your down to the tip, keep twisting more and more until the steam severes the bottom section of hair and leaves you with a nice tip that does not require a lighter to completely seal! Plus no cutting required!
Repeat step 5 for the other half of the leg remembering to smooth as you twist! Very important!!! This keeps your dread looking nice and not as itchy!
Once you've sealed all your dreads, comes the install!! I did make double ended dreads, but found it difficult to work with because my hair is thin. What I did was put my dread on the top of the coat hander dobling it and taking my clear hair ties to make a small loop (like the one on the left. But this one will have 2 legs instead of the one shown on the left.
This is the worst part and takes the longest. The install. I sat down in a beanbag in front of a mirror and began at the bottom working my way up. Separate your hair into 1" x 1" squares. I used the Ashbet method: Separate out a section of your own hair, and divide it into two -- one section twice the size of the other. Use a latchhook tool to poke through the loop on the dread, grab the big section of hair, and pull it through the dread loop. Then separate the big section of hair into two, and do a normal three-way braid the length of your hair, and at the end of the braid, tie in your clear rubber band. I like this method the best because it's tight to the head and stay in really well! Use this method to install these and being that we have 120 single-ended double legged dreads, you'll have a nice head full! Because ine were so thin, the weight wasn't too bad, but I did have a slight headache the first day.
Wearing and caring for your new dreads: I do not recommend washing these while you wear them if you're new to dreads. Use a dry shampoo for your scalp, trust me you'll need to. and when you do go to shower, just take them and tie them into a bun and put a shower cap over them. And there you have it!!! Wear them proudly!
The pictures used in the steps are not mine, I'm stupid and did not take pictures of each step. All pictures were taken from google images and are property of the owner. If you have any question please end me a message and I will try my hardest to explain! I know this wasn't easy to follow, sorry! :( Thank and good luck!!!