I don't know what to do about my dreads! They look so ratty!
Help! Save My Dreads
It's been almost a week now since it's been done. I managed to unloop a few of them, the ones i could and they look a little better. They're still skinny and ratty looking, but with each passing day they look a litttlee bit better. I have incredible faith that in a little bit of time they'll heal and look alright, but right now they just look so silly. Oh well...dreads are a journey, right? Can't go the right way 100% of the time!
Baba Fats said:
I commented on your page about this, before I saw this post. So, that's what I though you were talking about. She interlocked your hair. How long ago was this "maintenance" done? If within a week, you may be able to fix some. If longer, don't try. If it was only done this 1 time, you're ok. Don't freak out. But if you can see EXACTLY where the lock was looped through, try and GENTLY (I can't express that enough) pull the lock back through the way it was originally.
Interlocking winds your hair around itself, creating coils. These are not knots, nor do they eventually form knots. They stay coiled for the rest of your locks life. Because they tighten in that shape, they create weak spots that don't have the spring and elasticity that dreadlocks should have. Eventually, if done over and over, they can snap in those places.
It's always a bad idea to let someone "fix" your locks. Healthy locks don't need to be fixed. They will tighten and mature on their own. And the roots always tighten up eveually. There's nothing you should do to try and force roots to tighten. Baby locks under 1 year generally have between 1-3 inches of straight hair at the root. As they get older, you have 1/4 - 1 inch of straight hair there. It's normal, and shouldn't be messed with.
Since you only did it once, don't freak. They will tangle together and become 1 lock sooner or later. I have a few that I interlocked years ago, and you can't tell from looking. In fact, I only know 1 that was interlocked because of how it feels. But the others healed themselves completely