Dreadlocks 101

Well, today my dreadlocks turned one year old! I told The Hero last night that sounds silly because people don't usually have birthdays for hairstyles, but in the dreadlock community, it's actually pretty common! Dreadlocks are like wine, they get much better with age, there are necessary stages along the way that aren't so palatable, and you can rush the process but you really shouldn't, it'll be a lot better that way.

When I first decided to go dreaded, I thought I would need to see a "loctician", someone who will professionally put in dreads and maintain them, most people who have impeccably polished and straight dreadlocks do this. It is costly, and they tend to use products on the dreads. I wanted neither of those things. So I did some research and found that while I would need to be more patient than having them put in, I could do them myself and let nature take over. I looked at pictures of lots of different people and talked to lots of dread heads. There are so many ways out there that people care for their dreads and form them, and that makes sense, because there are many different types of hair out there! Straight, thin, or fine hair can't be cut, washed, or styled like curly, thick, or ethnic hair, so why wouldn't there be just as many ways to treat dreads as there are for other hairstyles? I'll just talk about what's true for MY hair here, sense that's what I'm an expert on.

If you  know me in real life or online well, you know that there's pretty much no question off limits with me. I don't offend easily and I love to help set the record straight or answer a question if I can. Today I found that when I posted a celebratory status about my dreadies one year birthday, I had a lot of friends interested in seeing pictures of them and asking questions. I'll compile that all in one place here. :)

Braden asked about the history of dreadlocks, specifically, who invented them (and what do they taste like)? That's because he's Braden. I wouldn't have him any other way. I think the history of dreads is fascinating. Dreadlocks have many different names in many cultures, some cultures have used them as a fashion and some from religious admonitions to let no metal either of comb or scissor touch the hair. They did not become popular among western society until the 1970's. Wikipedia has loads of information on the history of dreads in our society and worldwide.

Novie asked about getting started with dreadlocks, what does it take, what do you do? First step, ditch shampoo and conditioner, throw away hairbrush (be rid of temptation!), possibly cover mirrors (be rid of knowing!). I washed my hair with baking soda only for a week, to get it super clean and start to inhibit the oil production, oily hair doesn't dread well. No combing, even in the shower with your fingers. Messy is better! You will go through an ugly duckling phase. I felt like a hot mess for a while, but it pays off! At about a week into the baking soda washes, I felt ready and sectioned my hair to use the "rip and twist" method. I sectioned it into pieces about half as thick as you want your dreads, and I was very organic with my sections, just grabbing what my hair tended to split into on it's own. It took a few hours to rip and twist all of it. Be gentle, though, you don't want to be pulling out hair. I'll post a video about what I do for maintenance and you'll see the rip and twist method there, though there are lots of other videos out on the interwebs that show it as well.

Brian and Michelle both asked me about washing, which is the most common question I get and the one I'm happiest to answer! MOST people who have dreads wash them regularly. It's a misconception that you don't wash dreads. My personal washing routine, which I do once a week usually, twice a week sometimes,  involves diluting about a tablespoon of Dr. Bronner's liquid castile soap (the peppermint is my favorite, I get out feeling like a york patty! Castile soap is a must, no residue!) in warm water in a container that makes it easy to pour over my hair. Then I wash like you would any hair, I scrub the scalp, sometimes with a sea salt scrub for a treat, and then I rub the dreads too, and rinse thoroughly. I think people are often surprised that I scrub the scalp. Most people don't know that dreaded hair is often loose and untangled the last two inches or so between dread and scalp, I can slip my fingers "under" each one and there's plenty of room. They would be quite uncomfortable if they were right on my scalp. Drip dry! It takes a long time to dry, about 8-12 hours for me. Jessica asked if they smell. They smell like peppermint on wash day and like hair on every other day! If you clean them regularly and let them dry thoroughly, they should never smell.

Emily and Shaina asked me about maintenance. Dreads don't need much maintenance, but there are a few rules of thumb that are super handy! Avoid: products, wax, residue. These things can cause dreads to take longer to tangle, trap moisture and ick leading to fungus or mold (ewww), and create problems leading to having to take out dreads early or chop/shave them off. That's not always how it happens, but I don't want to take any chances, and I like my dreads as clean as possible, so I don't want anything in them that could trap dirt. Some of my dreads have fallen out (I mean like a braid would fall out, not like fell off) so I re-twist and rip them, and some of my ends get looser than I like, so I twist and rip those when I feel like it. When I want them to be tighter, I spray them with sea salt water. When they're too fuzzy, you can roll them between your palms or wear a wool hat or tube or even sleep on an old wool sweater to help suck in some of the loose hair. Some people use crochet hooks to do this, I think it's damaging and time consuming, and leads to an overly-manicured look that I don't like. I don't judge if you do! The last thing to address is that dreads like to grab onto each other and intertwine to create a larger dread. In theory, they will keep doing this until all your hair is one big dread. I separate them weekly. You can add beads and ornaments like wraps to help smooth out big loops and bumps or just for fun. Here's a video of me demonstrating twist and rip on a dread that's got too much loose hair, separating some at the root, and adding a bead to smooth a bump:

 Emily asked about comparing pictures of other dreads and how they all look different, like I mentioned, different methods of maintenance and different hair types will result in lots of different dreads, as will the level of maturity of each. :)


Audra and Michelle asked about deciding to have dreads and deciding not to have dreads anymore. I got dreads as kind of a bucket list thing. I've always admired beautiful women with dreads, the confidence and natural beauty that the style seems to embody to me. I had a 3 month old baby and my hair was always looking bedraggled. I wanted a roll out of bed and go hairstyle that brought the edginess I was used to and was easy and CHEAP to keep up. I decided it was time to pursue my dream and I got the dreads! :) When I'm done with them, I can trim them to any length or leave them and comb them out one at a time with some olive oil and patience, or if I'm feeling a little G.I. Jane, I could shave them off. The Hero has threatened me though if I do that, so odds are I'll probably comb them out.  Have any more questions? Leave a comment, I'm happy to answer!