If I wanted to let my hair naturally dreadlock–no goop or anything, just quit brushing and combing it–how long would it take? I have thick hair, which is good, I think–but it’s also blonde and slick.
I’ve seen blondes with great dreads, so I know it can be done. Any experience or input?
Thanks,
karol
I have thick long curly hair and have gone months without washing it (extended camping/hiking trips). During this time my hair certainly got ratty, but in no-way resembled nice dreads.
In high school I did dread my hair at a salon. It was the typical combination of back combing and goop. Years later when I cut them off I noticed that as my hair grew it was dreading itself, and there was a noticeable difference in texture between the salon made portion and the natural growth. The salon made portion was fluffier and straighter, the natural growth was tighter and maintained the curl of my hair. I wish I had never cut them off - I suspect my hair would have continued to make naturally curly dreads.
TL : DR I suspect your hair will never naturally knot into anything that looks like dreads. You will get clumps of rats nests and spend several months very unhappy with your hair. If you want dreads, start the process right at a salon and proceed from there. There’s no shame in buying your dreads - everyone I’ve ever known with attractive dreads spent a lot of time starting them off correctly
A great resource for dread information is the website for a salon/product in Vancouver. Their website has videos of a woman turning a frizzy hair boy into a rasta king in a day. If you have the resources, schedule yourself a nice vacation and come back with a hairstyle for life. Think of all the money you’ll save on haircuts! =)
If you just stop tending it, you won’t get ‘dreadlocks’. After many months of awful bedhead, you’ll end up with 3-7 enormous, nasty mats that will hang off your head like small animals and won’t be able to be salvaged into decent-looking dreads even by a professional. You will also most likely be unhirable since your head looks like that of the most crazy homeless people. I knew several straight-haired people in high school that tried this experiment.
Go to a salon with experience in dreading straight hair, spend a little money for nice results, and research how to maintain them yourself.
A fella I went to high school with attempted what you’re contemplating.
He wound up with one massive, cone shaped dread on the back of his head. It was…not attractive. He had to shave his head and start from basically bald because it was such a mess.
If you really want the dreads, spend the $$ and have it done right.
As long as you’re showering/washing your hair (shampoo not needed) every other day or so it won’t dread up all by itself. At least, not in my experience. It might get a bit greasier, but probably not by much and it might end up looking “healthier”.
All the visual images are kind of cracking me up. 
I don’t think my boss would let my get away with dreads, but I like the idea of it. I’d be so way cooler.
When my son went through a phase of wanting dreads, I buttonholed several random dreadlocked guys I found downtown. Some of them had professional dreads, but at least one of them advised him to just wash regularly, quit combing/brushing, and let nature take its course. He (the guy) had great dreads, but he may have just had naturally good-locking hair.
My son obsessed for several months and then gave it up…just as well since it wasn’t working out for him. I think I want the cone-shaped single dread on the back of my head. Then I’ll look for a cartoony name and maybe nest some small mammals in it.
Stuff You Should Know did a good podcast on this. Search for “dreadlocks” on this page.
http://www.howstuffworks.com/podcasts/stuff-you-should-know.rss
Am I reading this right- some people actually think they can just let their hair go unattended and it will form itself into dreads somehow?
Some people can, SoaR, if they have just the right amount of natural curl. I’ve seen it done …
I have long, straight, blonde hair. Speaking from firsthand experience, when I did dreads in college, I tried a couple of methods, among them half-assed back-combing and waxing, the “just stop washing it and let it rat up” method, and finally ended up having to pay a salon a couple hundred bucks to undo that and do it right from there.
Of the three methods, the salon one was by far the best one, and the only one that ended in anything remotely good.
It was the usual back-combing + goop method mentioned earlier. If you had a really dedicated friend who would spend 8+ hours doing it, you might be able to do it yourself, but especially with blondes it’s nice for the person to have some expertise to get it done right. Blondes are the hardest to get good dreads for, from what I hear.
FWIW, when they were done, they were an awesome looking, low maintenance hairstyle. Plus, being blonde, any colored extensions (I had some blue and red hair dreaded into a few dreads) or beads or glass you wear in them really pop and stand out. It’s a great hairstyle and really eye-catching on blondes, you should go for it, but get somebody with expertise (either friend or salon) to get it done, because it’s hard to get right for blondes.
FWIW, I’ve known a couple of people who could just let it go and end up with decent dreads. But they had good hair for it to begin with–they didn’t have such white-girl hair to start with…one was my son’s GF who was black, the others were hip musician types. But they all washed their hair normally, so I never assumed I could just quit washing it. Then it would just be dirty and greasy, for me at least.
If I ever get laid off from my job, I’m doing it. Maybe professionally, though, since I don’t wanna look like I forgot to comb for a few weeks.
Thanks for all the info and resources.