How to Straighten Hair After Taking Out Dreads
Anyone who has ever worn dreadlocks for an extended period of time knows that it's not a simple task to remove them. In most cases, you must cut dreadlocks off as the hair has locked and matted upon itself. It's usually impossible to separate locks into separate strands of hair. You can straighten your hair with chemical or thermal styling after you remove the locks. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Straightening Hair After Dreads
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Comb through your hair thoroughly with a wide-tooth comb after removing dreadlocks. Your hair may be tangled, so you might find this easier to do on wet hair. You can also use your fingers to work through your hair if combing is too painful.
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Shampoo and condition your hair with moisturizing products. Concentrate on cleansing your scalp. Detangle hair while it's saturated with conditioner. Begin combing at the ends of hair and work your way toward the scalp.
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Fully dry and flat iron freshly cleansed hair. Apply a heat protectant product to your hair. Work with sections no wider or thicker than 1 inch. Begin at the root and bring the flat iron down in one smooth motion to the ends of hair. Repeat this over the entire head.
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Wait before using chemical straighteners. If you want to apply a relaxer to your hair to straighten it wait several days. Your scalp needs to rest before you apply a permanent relaxer.
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Having waited several days after removing your dreads you can apply a permanent relaxer. Using a relaxer kit apply the chemicals over all the hair, being careful not to get any relaxer on your scalp or skin. Begin at the back of the head and work with sections about 1 inch wide and thick. Use your hands for smoothing the chemicals through your hair, not a comb.
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Rinse the relaxer from your hair according to the recommended time in the product instructions. Rinse until all traces of relaxer are gone. Follow up with a neutralizing shampoo, which stops the chemical action. Use a moisturizing conditioner and then dry and style as desired.
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Tips & Warnings
Wait a few days after shampooing your hair to apply a relaxer. You must use a neutralizing shampoo after rinsing the relaxer from your hair to stop the chemicals from working. Otherwise, your hair can break off from the damage. You'll lose a lot of hair the first time you comb it after removing locks. This is shed hair that you usually lose each day; it's been retained by not combing through your locked hair and is perfectly normal. Flat ironing or pressing the hair are temporary straightening methods. You can easily return to growing dreadlocks if you don't apply chemical straighteners to your hair.
Don't scratch your scalp or irritate it for a couple of days before applying a relaxer.
