Alright, well my dreads have made good progress in a short amount of time. "How?" you may ask? Well, I'm here to tell you some basic tips to help your dreadlocks lock faster. 1. If you are going to wash your dreads, don't do it half-assed. Make sure to massage the shampoo deeply into the dreads to penetrate the dreads and get soap on the hairs inside the dread. also, wash your hair everyday or at least every other day. You don't want to fuel the belief that everyone with dreads smells bad... 2. Twist the dread. Yes, just take the section of hair or the started dread and grip it tightly between your index finger and thumb. squeeze the dreadie firmly and begin twisting so that your tightly grasped fingers start to dread the hairs. Simply roll the loc tightly, almost as if you were giving your mother a titty twister. Note- this part can only be done if your fingers are tightly clenched on the loc. You know you're doing it right when after about 10 minutes, you have carpal tunnel syndrome. 3. Separate the dread. Unless you want huge-ass congos, or this: http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:X0R1JHovgZHS3M:http://img.search.com/c/c2/300px-Plait.JPG You will notice that you have dreads, but they are held together by a few hairs that go into each dread so it's like this: __ __ |oo| |oo| |oo| |oo| |oo|--|oo| |oo| |oo| |oo| |oo| |oo| /|oo| |oo|/ |oo| |oo| |oo| |oo|--|oo| |oo| |oo| |oo| |oo| |oo| |oo| Haha, I hope you get my simple picture. But anyways, you should either cut the linking hairs or just rip the two dreads apart. Ripping dreads isnt painful or as intense as it sounds, it's just ripping the linking hairs away so the dreads are now separate. 4. Get the right shampoo. I use Dr. Bronners and haven't used a different kind. The peppermint Doc Brons is probably the best for dreads because it has a powerful fresh scent that's guaranteed to make even the nappiest of dreads... clean and fresh. TO BE CONTINUED...
5. Know dreadlocks. Before you rush into something that you think "looks cool", think of the longterm. Dreads aren't something you can get overnight (well actually, you can) but it is a hairstyle that isn't worth having if you're going to cut them off in a month. 6. Know the methods. Do you want thin? thick? a part of your hair dreaded and another not? your whole head dreaded? Alot of nice thin neat ones? or thick, homegrown rasta dreads? Different methods produce different results so know what look you want so you can acheive it. T.B.C.
sorry but i do not agree, i believe dreadlocks take no method of maintenance, only washing. the only maintenance tip i would give is to rub your head nice and long with a wool sweater or beanie once a week or so, it keeps away loose hair and knotts existing loose hair into little dreads.
Sam, that is your experience and opinion. As Snyfin noted higher, there are several different approaches to locks and lock maintenance. There are, in fact, as many perspectives on the subject as there are people that have locked hair, and even more than that. He is giving some general tips, which is pretty nice of him!
I dont think you have to wash them that often to not smell. Unless you go to bars often. But damn you can smell your dreads when you wake up, so those times are obvious.
Here in humid mountains of TN, it takes so long for my kid's dreads to dry that they sometimes smell a bit musty. Easiest way to fix that problem is to go outside in the sunshine for just a few minutes and the smell is gone.
7. Use a hairdryer with a diffuser. It dries so nicely so you don't have soggy dreads. Without a diffuser, your hair will look like a hellish afro-mane. It works great in winter when your hair can't dry that good. and it accelerates the dreading
sorry for being so frank. i wasnt saying his tips were useless, i was just saying in order for dreads to make good progress in a small amount of time you dont need to follow the instructions exactly. like twisting your dreads. although most of those tips are very usefull.
=) I'm sorry if I came off accusatorily. That's the internet for you! Yeah, I don't use many of the his tips either, but I still think it is nice of him to put time into compiling a thread of his perspective.
