If you wear synthetic dreadfalls, you may notice that, from time to time, they will start to unravel and become giant balls of fluff, rather than the sleek, stylin' falls that they once were.

In this Instructable I will endeavour to instruct you upon one method of resealing said dreadfalls to bring them back to their pristine condition.

To learn more about this process follow me onwards into the depths of this Instructables, for which this website, Instructables, has so kindly allowed space upon their server.

Step 1: Preparation and Requirements

To begin, you must have synthetic dreadfalls, or else this entire process will be for naught.

I assume that you do have dreadfalls, and that is why you have followed me into the depths of this Instructable.

You will also require, for this method of resealing, the following :

- A bowl of water
- A small towel
- Something to tie the dreadfalls to whilst you reseal them (here I have used a piece of ribbon
- A hair straightener
- Time (in this case, Hammertime)
- Somewhere to lay the dreadfalls out before you reseal them (in this case, my bed)
- Somewhere to lay the dreadfalls out after you have resealed them (also my bed)

Other optional extras you might want to consider are :

- Something to thread you synthetic dreads on to, in order to turn them into falls (I have used cordage from a set of Venetian blinds)
- Something to assist you in threading your choice of threading material through the ends of your dreads (I have used a bendy drinking straw)
- Cybergothic styles
- Pity (as used by Mr. T)
- A camera, if you want to make your own Instructable

Step 2: More Preparation

I would recommend that you lay your dreads out in a logical pattern, I have used the 'groups of five' method, as you can see, for it allows ease of counting how many dreads you have left to seal, and gives you an excuse to go for a cigarette once you have completed a certain amount.

This step is entirely optional, but then again, so is resealing your dreads. You could just walk around with skanky dreads, or just purchase new ones when yours start to die.

Let it me noted, too, that I have 26 black dreads and 24 orange dreads to reseal, giving a total of 50 dreads.

Also let it be known that it took some 10 hours to reseal 50 dreads (however, I include in that time the time I spent preparing, smoking, eating dinner, surfing Facebook, watching television and so on...with an average time of 45 minutes to reseal 13 dreads, theoretically it should have only taken 3 hours.)

In a perfect world Step 3 would follow...let's see how lucky we are today.

Step 3: We Are Almost Ready to Start....Just One More Thing...

Before we really get up and racing, we must do one more thing....ok, two more things, if you want to get technical...

Firstly, turn on your hair straightener, and set it to a fairly high setting. This particular model, the Remington S-3006 (ceramic technology with Teflon), has hair thickness settings, and I have it set to the second highest. I am informed that it is appropriately 190-200ºC (374-392ºF). Once you have set it to the appropriate temperature, set it aside and allow it to reach it's optimal working capacity.

(by the way, did you know that the word 'set' has the most different definitions of any word in the English language?)

Secondly, place your small towel into the bowl of water, if you have not already done so.

Are you ready? Let's get down to business. I've got my business socks on......it must be business time.....

Step 4: Now the Fun Begins......

OK, so now the preparation is complete, we can get down to the business of resealing the dreads.

In this method, which we will humbly call the CybergothiChé Method, firstly you must thread your tie (in this case the red ribbon) through the hole in the end of the dread.
Then you must extract your small towel from the bowl of water from where I have told you to place it.
Upon it's extraction, you must wring it out until it is only somewhat damp, to a point where you can feel the wetness in it, but where no water drips from it back into the bowl from whence it came.
Then lay the damp towel across your lap.
Having done the abovesaid, then, once again, pick up the dread that you have tied to your fixed point and twist it in your fingers, forming a tight, twisted dread, in the style that you wish it to form once you have resealed it. A slight dampening of the fingers may assist the process of coaxing the smaller hairs into the main body of the dread.
Having done so, then take the damp towel you have sitting across your lap and fold it over the dread, as shown in the picture.
Once you have the damp towel over the dread, please follow me on to Step 5...

Step 5: The Actual Sealing Process....

So, this is where the actual resealing takes place...

Take your hair straightener, which you have let heat up sufficiently, and begin by clamping it to the end of the dread, through the damp towel, furthest away from you (or closest to you, whatever floats your boat), and slowly draw it towards (or away) from your hand.
As you touch the damp towel, you will notice a large plume of steam coming from the damp towel and the towel will grow to be very hot. Be warned that steam is dangerous and can cause serious burns, so try to angle the straightener away from the dread so that the steam does not billow across your unprotected hand (you could wear gloves, or, if you are a masochist, you could allow the steam to burn you...again, whatever floats your boat...).
It is the combination of the steam and the heat that seals the dreads.
You must hold the dread in the position and the twist that you wish it to remain in as you steam it.
If the dread is not properly sealed after one pass you can simply pass it over again, until it is steamed to perfection. However do not let the towel dry out, as it will begin to burn, and burn the dread within.

Then, once it is sealed, you can remove the towel, to reveal a nicely sealed dread beneath.

Once you reach the end you can seal the end of the dread by quickly and deliberately touching the unprotected (by the damp towel) end between the plates of the straightener, for just a fraction of a second. Touch it a few times, rather than holding it on there. If you have done it right, you will have a nicely sealed and plasticy end to your dread. If you have done it wrong you will either end up with a partially sealed dread (too little time/heat) or else the end will simply fall off (too much time/heat).

Having completed this process, simply repeat again and again and again until you have sealed all your dreads. As I mentioned previously, I had 50 dreads to seal, so it took some time.

Remember to leave your dreads to dry for at least 20 minutes to half an hour before use or rethreading.

Step 6: Rethreading

If, like me, you decide to wear your dreads as falls, as opposed to braiding them into you hair, you will then have to rethread them onto a cord or lace or something in order to tie them into your hair.

I have devised this system for rethreading.

Firstly, take your bendy straw and it through the holes in the end of your dreads, one at a time. I would recommend bending the bendy straw to stop the dreads slipping off the other end of the straw. Once you have all your dreads on the straw, 25 in this case, then take your string or lace or whatever (I have used cordage from Venetian blinds, as I have mentioned earlier) and pass it through the straw. Once you reach the bend, unbend it, taking care not to let the dreads slip off the end of the straw, and pass the cord, or whatever, all the way through the straw.
Then, with the greatest of care, and, perhaps whilst uttering words such as "viola" or "make it so" or even "I pity the fool who threads their dreads on to their cordage one at a time", withdraw the straw, making sure that the cord remains within the holes at the end of the dreads. Once the straw is fully extracted, remove it completely from the cord and tie the cord into a loop to complete the process.
You should, assuming that your dreads have not slipped onto the floor, into a large pile of synthetic hairy torment, be holding a completed dreadfall.

Step 7: Conclusion

If you have followed the steps that I have listed and explained in the former steps (1-6) you should now have resealed and rethreaded dreadfalls.

Now go out, stylin' :D

I hope that you have found this information helpful, and that your dread resealing process is simple and easy :)

goodnight and good luck.....you're gonna need it :P