I've watched a ton of tutorials and read a ton of topics and comments, but I still have some questions (probably because I'm paranoid). If these have been answered before, forgive me.
I'm going to study soon (in less than a month!) and due to the fact that I've completely fried my hair over the years and it takes me a ton of time to make it semi-presentable, I've decided to make synthetic dreads to remove the hassle of frequent styling (that way my vanity won't make me miss classes!).
In a couple days I'm going to order KK packs to make my first synthetic dreads. Several months to a year ago I made my first set out of roving, so I basically have little to no experience.
I'm so paranoid that I'm going to screw up the dreads because I have no room for trial and error (both financially and time-wise). I'd like to make relatively skinny dreads (the thickest part being like a pencil, maybe a tad thicker) that taper down very subtly (not much circumference difference throughout the length, but wispy, thin ends). I'd like them to be naturals, but I haven't yet decided if I'll try to crochet them. I'm not too worried about fuzziness. They'll be SEs, and I'm hoping to make them long (approximately down to the waist, maybe a tad bit shorter). One thing that matters to me quite a bit is the flexibility. Of course I want them to be durable and last as long as possible, but not at the cost of them being stiff. I'd like them to be as floppy as possible.
First question: Backcombing. In order to get a thin dread and not lose much length, would it be effective to start the backcombing at the top from about a centimeter's distance and keep going centimeter by centimeter, as opposed to backcombing larger sections?
Second question: After backcombing, for the thickness and floppiness I want (but also durability), would palm rolling be enough or do you think crocheting would be necessary to ensure sturdiness? Can I crochet without making them stiff?
Third question: If I were to seal them by dunking them in hot water and promptly palm rolling them, how would the ends turn out? I don't want them to be super defined or "hard" looking, but I don't want them to unravel or anything
I don't know what exactly to expect in terms of KK and heat. Is the wispiness I see in many natural styled dreads possible through dunking them or pouring hot water over them?Fourth question: I have a lot of medium to fine but very dense hair. How many packs do you think I would need to make a full installation (probably leaving no fringe)? Keep in mind that I'm a noob and might f*** up so badly that at least a few dreads may sadly not be wearable... Also I want them quite long. I'm currently thinking of 12 packs. Is that wayyy too much? I'd like to be on the safe side, though!
Fifth question: Color advice. I'm going to order a mix of blondes, a silverish color, a subtle, smokey lavender and a light brown x2 or x3. My natural hair color is medium to dark brown (depending) and it's currently dyed pretty close to my natural, maybe a few shades lighter in a subtle ombre (due to it having been bleached a couple dyes back). Do you think it would be wiser to get more packs of the light brown and mix it with the blondes, or is sticking with about 3 packs of the brown and having the assortment of blondes in packs of one or two each? If I must, I'll dye my hair to match the darkest color I'll get, but I'd rather not. It's FRIED, haha.
Sixth question: When I had my wool dreads in, they were quite squishy. When I installed them, my hair and the rubber bands squished them down and then the actual thickness just puffed out after the braiding finished, and it looked quite odd :p If I hypothetically manage to make the dreads as I described, would they also squish like the wool, not nearly as much or not at all?
Seventh question: The washing machine sealing. Would that stiffen them or make them wobblier? Do you use washing powder (don't know what it's called, exactly :p) or anything? Or just put them in a cycle with water and no added cleaners? Temperature?
Eighth question (gawd, I'm so sorry!): I'm leaning towards making them wavy. I don't want the waves/crinkles to be too small, but definitely visible. Would it be effective to make not-so-tight braids, or would it be better to tightly braid e.g. 6 dreads together in groups of two before dunking in/ pouring hot water?
Ninth question (I swear, this is the last one!): For those of you who have worn full heads of both wool and synthetic, could you give me a ballpark/ approximate ratio of weight difference? xD Just so I know what to expect... The wool dreads were surprisingly light and comfortable. I'm guessing synthetic dreads won't be... I don't know if this is comparable, but I once had regular synthetic braid extensions. It may be that much less hair is used for those (although the sectioning for the installation is also a lot smaller, I'm guessing), but either way, do you think that weight and texture would be a good reference of what weight to expect?
Congratulations for all of your awesome creations!!! I can only hope that I can eventually make something half as good as your guys' stuff.
I really, really apologize for this massive text and all these questions. I would normally ask less and do more to practice, but I don't currently have the time or recourses for that, so I'm going to have to do my best to make something as wearable as possible, very, very soon!
Thank you for your time and for reading this far
Cheers!
\m/
