My 3 week old babies- twist and rip, a few questions

Hey guys, I decided to join today because this site has given me a load of useful information on dreadlock care. I twisted and ripped my dreadlocks in about 3 weeks ago and i am in love with them. It's a struggle at the moment because I have a lot of loose hair and my dreadies tend to unravel quite easily after a shower but it's a labour of love and they are my babies

Anyway, only through best intentions, whenever my hair unravelled after washing it, i re twisted the ends that had come loose probably every few days and usually i would end up re-twisting a few others between washes too. I have recently discovered that this is a big no-no and i was just hoping that I had not done any lasting damage to my dreads if i stop doing itimmediately.

Currently I think they feel fine, obviously there are a few weaker dreads and such, but my scalp never feels irritated and there is plenty of loose length at the root.

I've attatched a few photos so that you guys can share your opinion.

I want nothing but the best for my locks and I feel ashamed that I could have damaged them with my impatient ways

updated by @ginger-rasta: 01/13/15 09:26:28PM

It shouldn't do any lasting damage to your locks. All retwist n Ripping does is bring you back to day one in the process. It may pull out a few hairs here and there, but if you stop doing it now, then they should thicken themselves up again, and be fine.

Your locks look great for only a few weeks. It's natural for them to unravel, as I'm sure you've found from searching this site. They need to unravel a bit in order to tangle up again and become locks. So you don't need to worry about any of the loose hairs. They will get pulled into nearby locks or just knot themselves into thinner ones. The variation in size adds to the natural flow of your hair, as well as creates a cool layering look.

What do you mean by "weaker" locks?

Thank you, I'm glad you think they look okay. I'm definitely just going to leave them well enough alone for the next week i think before i wash them again, I only really washed them every few days cos the site says it helps them dread faster. When i first put them in i left them a week without washing and my hair didn't even feel greasy or dirty one little bit, in fact my mum was a bit sceptical towards the idea of dreads even remarked on how good the condition of my hair was- So i think i'm gonna go natural for a while.


Weaker dreads- well some of my locks feel nice and tight from about 2 inches from the root to like a inch and a half from the end, where as some are kinda just "loosely knotted" hair at the moment- most of these are located at the back I think cos they maybe recieve a bit of a battering when I sleep lol. Oh well, give it a month or so and i'm sure they will have all tightened up a little

They do get batted around more when you sleep, but that helps them knot up faster, by making them tangle more. Don't worry about that. They will tighten on their own.

And it's better to wash baby locks every 3 days or so. The constant barrage of water and clean scalp lets them tangle much more and keeps them healthy. As they mature, you can wash them once a week, but even I wash mine twice a week in the summer, and they are almost 6 years old.

Great, I shall continue washing then Thank you for your advice.