Poll: How felted do you like your roving

[Phoenix]

This question has been playing on my mind for some time now while I've been making roving. I'm not talking about felting a dread once and thinking it's wearable but more along the lines of is it really neccesary for them to be felted until they are rock hard.

I've recieved dreads from two well known sellers but they produce very different styles. One sellers work would probably be considered not felted enough by some yet the other's work would be considered overworked.

[hellsbells]

I definitely like them well felted I find otherwise they shed fibre and mangle the colours/get tangled in the ends of my install plaits. I also prefer the way the dreads end up sitting (I wear roving at around 18-20" approx 1cm thickness) I find anything less than firm just ends up being too fluffy and annoying

[toxic trish]

This question has been playing on my mind for some time now while I've been making roving. I'm not talking about felting a dread once and thinking it's wearable but more along the lines of is it really neccesary for them to be felted until they are rock hard.

I've recieved dreads from two well known sellers but they produce very different styles. One sellers work would probably be considered not felted enough by some yet the other's work would be considered overworked.

agreed defonatly a nice hard dread and skinny asi have took out some thick flufy roving a week ago and they shed wool every where

[MrsEss]

Personally I hate squishy "lightly felted" roving, they go fluffy & bobbly really quickly, but also I don't like hard "overcooked" roving.

I've always said the pull the dread & if it comes apart then it's not felted enough, the fibres should be pretty well knitted together.

I've received roving kits from other sellers, some have been on par with what I make, one or two not so much. Personal preference though, I've never had anyone asj for "lightly felted" but I have had people ask for well felted.

[xalternmommyx]

i like my woolies to feel soft and squishy but ive noticed if you have soft and squishy from the get go they dont keep thier form after a few installs.

i thnk my hair likes to suffocate wool lol

[miasmahair]

I always do mine quite well done, because I like roving that looks like real or synth dreads. There should be slight give when stretched longways I reckon.

[Dystopatica]

The short answer is very. I've bought roving three times in my life and never installed a single set because they haven't been solid enough for my tastes. I prefer it so there is no squish, if the braided part of the roving is narrower than the other side, or you can see visible bulges in between the braided hair or where the elastic is then its too soft for me. I know it is possible to make roving as stiff as I'd like it as I've installed dreads on a friend which were perfect, but I have no idea where she got it from sadly.

[Vex88]

Im not sure about this as I made dreads which I thought were well felted and they were firm..but they stuck together a bit.. and i've had dreads from others that were lovely and squishy..but didnt stick together.
I'd say well felted is probably better but if u have short dreads they may stick out a bit if they're stiff whereas longer ones would tend to be pulled down by the weight anyways. If that makes sense

[MissPlastik]

The short answer is very. I've bought roving three times in my life and never installed a single set because they haven't been solid enough for my tastes. I prefer it so there is no squish, if the braided part of the roving is narrower than the other side, or you can see visible bulges in between the braided hair or where the elastic is then its too soft for me. I know it is possible to make roving as stiff as I'd like it as I've installed dreads on a friend which were perfect, but I have no idea where she got it from sadly.

All rovings will have a slight squish but i know what you mean.
I make mine well felted...i have made a set that I installed on a wig that were kinda inbetween, but that was a rush job before camping lol.
i wouldnt trust taking them out and re-installing them though..

anyway...fluffy ones just fall apart...i've seen some on ebay that look like they have been rubbed slightly once and left...and it makes me sad that people are buying them, when they look like they'll fall apart after being worn once..

Taran (toxic trish) has had a few sets off me and has been happy with my feltedness(itsa good word lol)^__^

but yep..i voted well felted

[Miffy]

I always make mine pretty firm, to make sure they're durable enough. Granted, for the first few days they spike a bit and sit a little stiff on my head, but they soften up a bit after that. I'd rather have dreads that I only have to give a light wash and a little trim (or pluck) of the shedding before wearing them again, than a set I have to refelt everytime before reinstalling.

[MrsEss]

The short answer is very. I've bought roving three times in my life and never installed a single set because they haven't been solid enough for my tastes. I prefer it so there is no squish, if the braided part of the roving is narrower than the other side, or you can see visible bulges in between the braided hair or where the elastic is then its too soft for me. I know it is possible to make roving as stiff as I'd like it as I've installed dreads on a friend which were perfect, but I have no idea where she got it from sadly.

All rovings will have a slight squish but i know what you mean.
I make mine well felted...i have made a set that I installed on a wig that were kinda inbetween, but that was a rush job before camping lol.

Not necessarily. I've made roving a few times with no squish at all as that's how she wanted them.

A little give just makes me think they're not felted well enough, imo. I pull a dread width ways & if it's easy to pull, it needs another felt

[alix]

Is there such a thing as too felted? Or will they all soften up over time?

I've just finished making my first set of DE dreads but I want to make them into falls, not install them. They're quite short (most around 60cm full length) and they are so stiff I can't imagine them ever actually falling! They just stick straight up

Because I'm not installing them I'm not sure how I can wear them in (especially as I was planning on wearing them to an event in 3 days)... and I was hoping someone may have a solution? *hopeful*

[LittlePinkFaery]

I think this depends on if they are for install or for a fall. I f they are for install they can do with being fairly well felted but with a fall you can make them alot softer- I like the very soft look

I voted medium as they are more durable, personally I don't like really hard felted dreads as I find them too spikey when installed- or in a fall!

[SdSiNthetics]

Definitely in the middle, as long as I know it's felted enough to last. I would never sell anything I wouldn't wear myself unless it was specifically requested, I've only ever had one person request an uber soft (unfelted) fall, which disturbed me but what the customer wants and so on. and one person request a harder set which when I tried installing in my own hair (when I still had some to be so painfully and refused to settle ¬¬

I hand felt mine to the point that they look well felted, I also like the tugging method, and I wait until they're really dried out to re try tugging as I know dampened dreads can alter the strength

[ScarletLady]

Before I'd had a bit of experience wearing them, I used to not felt them enough as I didn't realise how quickly they bobble up etc.

Now, thanks to Sarah's kits (I have many) I like to do them to the same texture (if that's the right word) as I know they last well.

[corpseesproc]

I like them hard like rocks, the roving I accidently put in the machine at 90 came out so felted! if it wasn't a ball mess I would have installed them! I love how felted they are! I might make some long ones felt them then stick them in at 90 to shrink them! just so I can have hair rocks! I get really disappointed if cant get them hard enough even if they are well felted

[corpseesproc]

Is this what was meant by completely not felted at all? O.o not made by scoped monster btw I think she's just advertising for somebody else
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= ... 414&type=1

[SdSiNthetics]

Is this what was meant by completely not felted at all? O.o not made by scoped monster btw I think she's just advertising for somebody else
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= ... 414&type=1

Yeah that literally looks like someone has just cut the wool into pieces x

[SdSiNthetics]

Before I'd had a bit of experience wearing them, I used to not felt them enough as I didn't realise how quickly they bobble up etc.

Now, thanks to Sarah's kits (I have many) I like to do them to the same texture (if that's the right word) as I know they last well.

I adore the texture and style of her kits, I never got around to getting one as I chopped my hair off like a week after I discovered them ^^ but a couple of my friends have them and really speak well of them, you can see they last too which is always a good sign x

[VixenSingsBlack]

Roving can be felted to a rock like texture. Some peoples even use wool as roofing material. For dreads, I felt mine until they're stiff with a little squish, but they'd never ever pull apart. Due to my pre-felting process, they are very "locked up" even before felting so I know they're good.

[slaaneshque]

This is probably just because I'm really inexperienced with roving, but I like them soft and fluffy. The few sets I have made have been seriously under-felted--they were really skinny and I just couldn't get them to "stiffen" no matter how many times I tried felting them (I'm sure I'm doing something wrong)--but I love them anyway. They are very comfortable, that is, and I like the look of them and how they move...

They aren't very durable, though, so I have to be very gentle with them. I would never install one of my sets on someone else! So I can see why really felted dreads are so vastly preferred.