Help

I just redid my dreads for the 3rd damn time,and now I'm trying to retwist them,and I know you all are going to say 'Leave em alone', but sorry, that didn't work. Tried that on my first sets and it failed. I have to retwist them, but I'm really afraid to. I've tried the clips, aloe vera gel,and other things. I'm afraid of the thinning, and I dont even know what to do now. If I leave them alone, the newgrowth will just keep growing and ruin my dreads again.

updated by @borntodie: 02/14/15 10:52:15AM

how will new growth ruin your locks? new hair growth locks up too. That's what makes locks longer. Your hair grows. It won't thin out unless you mess with it too much or have baldness on your mom's side.

Aloe is a conditioner. That alone will make your hair lock slower and come out every time you wash. I'd only ever use it if I had to get pictures done for a formal event like a wedding.

On my last two sets of dreads, my newgrowth especially in the back, started to basically mash into my dreads and it was just one big mess. Plus, I wasn't separating either. Even if I were to 'leave it alone' and separate and wash, the same thing would still occur. The neglect method doesn't work for me,and I'm so afraid of twisting,because I can't tell when it's too much. I read that if you twist and you feel a little sting,then it's too much or something. Palm rolling won't work either,especially since my dreads are new,and I love them so far. They're much better than first 2 sets. I don't want to mess up again.

If you didn't separate on either of your last sets, why do you think that if you do separate on this set it will end up the same? That's the point. Separating makes them not mash together into 1 giants messy lock.

And you should never twist/ Twisting them causes the hairs at your roots to get pulled out of your scalp. That is what causes thinning locks and locks that end up falling out because there is too much weight being pulled on thin roots.

If you washed and actually did separate regularly this time around, I'm sure they'd be better. Don't separate too often, but once or twice a week after you shower will keep them from matting all together.

That mashing into your locks was what dreadlocks do. that's how the tangle. Look at peoples pictures here of how loopy their locks are. As they grow and mature, they will tangle with loose hairs on your scalp and even with themselves. Dreadlocks typically loose 1/3 to 1/2 their original length because of this looping. Dreadlocks are tangled loopy hair. If you had let them go and allow them to keep getting sucked into themselves, you'd have been fine.

That makes perfect sense, but doesn't the hair texture have any sort of affect at all? I have afro textured hair.

I don't have afro-textured hair, but my hair's very curly and messy. The back of my head has new growth, and cos it's short, it turned into a bunch of balls, basically, looked stupid. But then I just kind of forced them apart so they were in separate sections rather than all tangled together. I have to separate them often cos they dread quickly at the back, but they do eventually stop being like that. The problem seems to be two things: the first that you didn't separate, and the second that you weren't patient enough. I'm not saying you don't have any patience, just that...when it comes to new hair growth, you do have to be patient while it locks up on its own, or joins another dread. Separating isn't obligatory, but I'd say it is in your case because you don't want them to all join and go crazy, so just keep separating the new hair whenever it starts to mash into the others, and eventually it'll dread on its own.

Alright. Thanks a ton. Do you think now I should stop twisting all together? Not even with the locking gel from dreadlockshampoo's website?

Well, you said you're worried about retwisting, and your hair will dread anyway, so there's no point to it, but if you're talking about the new growth, if you want to give it a hand then I'm sure the locking gel would help, the results seem good. I think, just try to not worry about your dreads for a while and be patient and it'll help you a lot, cos it can be discouraging when it all looks too messy and not like dreads, but that's just part of the phase, isn't it?

My dreads are coming along very well and I've gotten quite a few compliments on them! All I have been doing is washing and separating. Some of the roots are starting to tighten up and then some are still quite loose. I'm waiting for them to start locking. Some of my dreads, especially in the back, feel as though they're already locked! I'm loving my dreads.

If you sleep in your back, they will come together fast there. Whatever side you sleep on usually see the fasts progress