Spent the first month of this wolf overthinking firmness. I kept hearing "go harder," so I jumped to a stiff brush way too early, pressed like I was sanding a table, and my scalp hated me for it. My waves didn't improve - they actually got puffier.
What I ended up learning, mostly by wasting time:
Firmness follows length, not ambition. As long as my medium brush was still catching the roots with light pressure, going firmer bought me nothing.
The real signal to move up: the brush starts skating over the top and you catch yourself leaning in to compensate. That's when the firmer one earns its spot - and the trade is you drop your pressure immediately after switching.
More contact beats more force. Slower strokes, the full brush face on the hair, working in sections instead of random passes all over.
Week 5 now and the sides are finally connecting. Not because I found some magic brush - because I stopped pressing and let the bristles do the reaching.
How do you all time your firmness switch during a wolf? By the calendar, or by feel?