Dreadlock Maintenance?!

Okay, so if you really need to do NO maintenance (besides washing your hair) for your locks to actually lock up, then what are your takes on these 2 articles. Why did they actually need to pay a visit to this woman? Were they just impatient? I think the guy named "Doug" said he had his for a year before he actually saw the stylist to repair his. Why would it take more than a year for his to lock up?

Doug's Do Over

Zach's Reconstruction

Do any of you do any sort of maintenance on your locks? Most of the information gathered from this site just states to do nothing.

updated by @lionm: 01/13/15 09:33:28PM

Some people are patient as long as a year and a half before being along enough to identify anything on their head as a lock...I rarely ever see this,and haven't in a few years.But it happens.

It could just be that they have one flaw to their washing routine that keeps it from dreading.Having super straight,smooth,silky hair in combination with this could mean waiting a lot longer than they'd like.I am not sure,since my hair will tangle to the point of needing cut off in just about a week.

Everyone's hair is different. I have a lot of hair (really, A LOT), but my hair refuses to dread. Well, it doesn't really refuse, but it takes my hair much more time to dread than it does some people.

I have been dreading for a year, and it still has a loooong time to go before it actually locks up.

There are really no rules. What people say on here - having mature dreads in a year and such, those are just some average points, but they do not have to apply to everyone. One person may have mature locks in, say, 10 months, someone else (like me) might have to wait for over a year.

All I know is that I would be lucky if my dreads looked the way their (those guys from the articles) did at a one-year-mark (though I do love my own slow-pacing mess more), and I would beat the person who would dare make my dreads look like those in the after 'repair' photos. Take note, I am a pacifist. But would beat them anyways. :D

on the first example...they used root flipping "weaving" at his roots. That imo is the worst thing that you can do to dreads. His dreads were starting to lock up. If they had been left alone, they would have looked great and been a lot healthier. The second guy's dreads were doing great. Lumps and ziggzaggs are exactly what dreads do. They eventually get sucked into the dread. I prefer the before pictures over the after pictures.

Healthy dreads do not require maintenance except to keep them clean and to keep them separated. I do nothing else to my dreads.

Agreed to all this. Mine are taking their time so I haven't needed to separate yet but all I do is wash & wait/enjoy the ride, no matter how much sweet time they take

taye said:

I prefer the before pictures over the after pictures.

Healthy dreads do not require maintenance except to keep them clean and to keep them separated. I do nothing else to my dreads.

Lol wow, I know that to each his own, but those dudes dreads look like shit! They look like sideshow Bob's hair from the Simpson's lol. there's something to be said for having patience, it is indeed a virtue. Natural locks take time, and that's just the way it is. You could see the white wax residue in their dreads Fucking nasty. I hope those guys got kissed, cuz I usually like to get kissed before I get screwed lol.

th43y looked better in the before pics

let me exolain this locticians use shame tactics

they will approach u on the street u could have the best dreads in the work[l=d and they will tell you your dreads look like shit i can fix them for you and tgen they will totaly ruin them

both of them had nice decent locks alr=though they looked like they might not wasg=h them enough

but after the loctician got to them they looked rediculiuse extremely damaged stiff sticking straight out and ruined

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

It's all about patience. I'm one of those people who needed over a year to see much of anything. Check my pics. They look fine. Doug's would have too, if he had been a little patient. Once he saw the stylist, his hair go destroyed. If that't the look he's going for, so be it. But check out all the scalp showing in between his roots. That's ugly and will cause baldness. Plus, his locks are not rock hard and stiff. They stick out in all directions. Locks should be soft and spongy. They should lay pretty flat. When they stick out like that, you can see how damaged they are.

oh those poor people! i hate that brick lay pattern. its extremely unnatural. and the way they stick out is one thing that scared me when i was looking online at salons before i dreaded my hair.

ANY maintenece other than washing and separating from time to time is damaging!