Neglect/free-form confusion

I have a couple of questions about neglecting and free-forming.

First off, is there a difference between the terms "neglect" and "free-form"? I know neglecting is letting your hair dread all natually without doing anything to your hair. But I've heard people saying that they have let their t&r dreads free form by not doing any maintenance, and therefore they were now considered neglected dreads..This is confusing me, and I dont know.. is this accurate?

If you start out with f.ex. T&R and stop maintening them, can you call your dreads free-formed dreads? Where are the borders here?

updated by @steenvick: 01/13/15 09:55:37PM

Shalom. From my understanding, free-form and organic dreads are the same; formed with no manipulation whatsoever. I would think that twist and rip dreads can not be considered organic or free form because they began by being twisted. Maybe they can be considered "neglect" if one stops "maintaining" them.

Exactly what I thought aswell. I don't really see how you could call them neglected if you started them by twist and rip, even if you stopped maintaning them, but of course you could call them more natural without maintenance, right?

Terrean Jackson said:

Shalom. From my understanding, free-form and organic dreads are the same; formed with no manipulation whatsoever. I would think that twist and rip dreads can not be considered organic or free form because they began by being twisted. Maybe they can be considered "neglect" if one stops "maintaining" them.

I agree entirely! One could "call" them what they like, but logically speaking, they can not be free-form if they began from twists! LOL! More "natural" opposed to someone who sees a loctician I suppose

They are not called neglect but after the tnr you "neglect" them. There is always neglecting going on so tnr then neglecting isn't natural/free form/ neglect. Hope it helps

It helped, but I don't understand completely. What does the neglecting do to already twist and ripped dreads?

thank you!

Kubilay KAPUCU said:

They are not called neglect but after the tnr you "neglect" them. There is always neglecting going on so tnr then neglecting isn't natural/free form/ neglect. Hope it helps

neglect is like a starter method. Your hair dreads by itself...but you keep it sectioned. Free form is where hair dreads by itself and you do not separate it. If you used TnR as a starter method on a dread...then that dread can never be a neglect dread. You can say you neglect your TnR dreads but cannot say they are neglect dreads. In my opinion you can have TnR and do no maintenance and call them "natural" dreads....but other people disagree on that. They believe that only dreads started by neglect can ever be called natural...but I disagree on that one

The correct term for dreads that were started with TnR then neglected is....TnR dreads that are naturalized. Lol but I have different individual dreads from different starter methods. I am not gonna say I have partial TnR partial backcomb, partial neglect and a few braids that have all naturalized. I have about 12 backcombed dreads, about 8 TnR dreads, about 36 that are strictly neglect and a couple that started from braids. It is so much easier for me to just say...I have dreads

and to answer the question what does neglecting do to TnR dreads? It allows them to knot and form on their own in a natural healthy way without harsh methods of maintenance such as interlocking, crocheting, waxing, twisting or felting. That is what is meant by "naturalizing."

Well said Taye.