I'm very heavily considering starting my dreads soon, and at this stage I think I'll be going the twist and rip way (without wax or other products). I do have one question though regarding length loss. Do thin and thick dreads have any difference in regards to length loss? (In general, I understand these things can vary hugely in different cases). My hair is all between 25-30 inches at the moment, and pretty thick -it tends to knot up on it's own fairly easily -, so I'm just trying to mentally prepare myself for what is coming! Thanks all Milan
If it knots on it's own, why not just let it knot on it's own? I wouldn't expect extreme shrinkage differences, unless you're talking about extremely thin or thick locks.
I'd let it not up on its own but I'm pretty keen for more uniform looking dreads, rather than the all degrees of randomness that my hair naturally knots into. I was thinking of going pretty thin though, maybe 50-70 sections. Realising that it's going to be a bitch to maintain.
50 to 70 is a lot, and depending on your hair type it may not be especially flattering. like roo said, unless you're doing extremely thick locks (like 15 or less) or extremely thin locks (like 50+) there isn't going to be a difference in shrinkage. maybe you should just be comfortable with the fact that your hair will lose length. I'd say at least3-5 inches.
I've got about 60 dreads, and they vary in thickness- between thumb and pencil thickness. I've found recently the thinnest ones have gotten really thin, down to .. say.. wool thickness. I've attached the smaller ones onto the bigger neighbours so that's cool but if you are going for smaller ones be wary this can happen. The smaller ones probably won't break till they are a lot longer but best to get 'em young. Thick dreads also have a downside, you will have to rip them a bit more often, since they cover more area and so want to swallow up the littlens. Plus they might be more uncomfortable on your scalp with pulling. And you will be more prone to bald spots. Even I have one and I have lots of little ish dreads. In terms of shrinkage- I'd imagine they'd both shrink at the same rate.. probably I would just section them about 1-1.5 inches ish.
Thick dreads take ages to dry, that is my only input here, there like a sponge and your trying to dry the middle, its rather difficult
Your hair will knot randomly if you don't let it get properly started. Give it a few months, at which point you could still comb out, and watch what it does. Chances are if you rip, you could even achieve thin locks with neglect. With some ripping, I had around 35 after about 10 months. Only lost my fear of congos at the end, at first I wanted things uniform. Just try it, maybe, like me, you'll realize you prefer non-stuffy locks that make douchebags turn up their noses and look away.
Comparatively, before coming to this forum I didn't think a had many locks (I have 62). They vary in thickness like Dragonvines and I'm happy with the thickness. Depending on the route you go in developing locks, maintenance for thinner, more numerous locks can be very time consuming.
Not necessarily true. Mine dried in about 4 hours. When they were thinner they took at least 12hours. In my opinion, shrinkage, drying time varies between each individual and is akin to "how long is a piece of string". OP, bite the bullet and plunge into the unknown!
