Comments on How to Make Dreadlocks

*sea salt, lemon juice,purified water, will make a nice locking agent. *Aloes gel, purified water, Lavender (for smell, and shine) creates a nice light conditioner that doesn't loosen dreads because it dry quick. If you are maintaing your own dreads, be sure that you do it every day and after every nap and shower.

As I am reading the tips, I think that it should be noted that 99% of them advise against washing and are for people with straight hair. If you have curly/kinky hair washing promotes the locking process. I washed my hair 1 -2 times a week when I began my locks. Of course they washed out each time (for 9 months); however, each time you twist your hair after washing you are training your curls how to grow into locks. The best lock holder is aloe juice. It holds your twist and does not build up like gel or beeswax. Never use wax. To lock your curly/kinky hair, take a fine tooth comb and starting at the root pull back slowly and twirl the comb as you go back. This will take all your curls and force them to gather in one direction. For nine months I would wash and twist my hair and it was a little time consuming but worth it. In the ninth month I gave birth to twist with tiny little puffy lock at the end of my hair. Don't comb these out! Your hair will lock at the ends first and then work its way down to the root. Remember, you are not making locks, you are growing them. Simply continue to wash and twist, wash and twist. My hair is soft, but curly so it took a while for my first puff, but if you are lucky and have thick kinky hair, it will lock faster. Now my hair is down to the middle of my back and the time I spent in the beginning was well worth it. If you do not have to use wax, gels and other items to make it lock, don't do it, don't try to speed up the process. Your hair was meant to grow locks slowly. Always take care of them and never put anything in your hair that you would not put in your mouth. Your locks are a part of you, your locks are your babies.

Don't use any wax, even dreadwax, cream, gel, toothpaste, peanut butter, oil, conditioner. Use nothing. All human hair will lock naturally given patience and time, regardless of hair type. Coarser, straighter hair might take longer, but it will all lock eventually. Backcombing may help in some cases, but I'd only recommend that if your hair is shorter than 6". If you don't need to, don't do it, because your backcombed locks will unravel a bit and then re-lock and it will have taken longer than if you just went natural. Forget all those websites. They just want to sell you a bunch of junk that will mess up your hair, and when it's messed up, sell you some more junk to try to fix it. Also, forget perms and salons. Don't even walk by a salon. You definitely want to wash your hair. Anywhere from once a month to every other day, but you definitely want to wash it. If you're used to washing every day, your hair will feel oily, but that will change as your scalp produces less oil. Again, avoid conditioners and shampoo that leaves behind a residue. It's good to add essential oils; such as lavender, eucalyptus, tea tree oil, etc. as those will benefit your hair and not leave a residue. Avoid shampoo with Sodium Laurel Sulfate. I use Dr. Bronner's liquid soap. In a pinch you can use Ivory bar soap. An apple cider vinegar solution can't hurt either. Also, that mildew problem that some folks have mentioned. Guess what...I don't have a mildew problem because I don't have wax in my hair. Clean hair will not mildew if you air dry. You do not need a blow dryer. Just let it hang for a few hours and you're good. Again, put nothing in your hair that you can't rinse out cleanly. Trust me. After a while you will get an eye for good dreadlocks and you'll be able to tell the difference between those who got perms or put junk in their hair and those who went natural. All the best, thickest, "phattes", healthiest looking locks - all those Rastafarian guys you see at the Bob Marley fest who just have the *best* locks - those folks all went natural.