# How Do You Get Dreadlocks?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 11, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314 "2004-08-11T03:33:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314/1 "2004-08-11T03:33:24Z")
I first wondered a while back when I saw an interview of Eddie Murphy and Dick Cavette. Cavette joked he asked reggae singer Eddie Grant if goat dung was used for this hair style (apparently having heard that some place). Murphy retorts in reality men of African decent simply stopped combing their hair, and it just gets that way. But what that mean? And is that really true? Some white men have dreadlocks, and they obviously didn’t just stop combing their hair (I assume). So, exactly how are [dreadlocks](http://telega.udaff.com/idei/images/kapitanov/dreadlocks.jpg) made? 😕
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### Author:  [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2004, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314/2 "2004-08-11T03:50:37Z")
Bizarrely, there is a [dreadlocks.com](http://dreadlocks.com)([http://www.dreadlocks.com](http://www.dreadlocks.com)) that can answer all of your dreads questions.
Basically, yeah, if a black guy stops combing his hair, it will most likely eventually dread. But if you go to the site, you can find out how to make your hair into dreadlocks and way more than I ever thought I needed to know about 'em.
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### Author:  [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2004, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314/3 "2004-08-11T04:02:39Z")
Not washing the hair is pretty important too.
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### Author:  [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2004, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314/4 "2004-08-11T04:31:40Z")
> [@SmackFu](#):
>
> Not washing the hair is pretty important too.
If you’d actually gone to the website linked in the previous post, you’ll see that they harpoon that myth out of the water. Dreadlocked hair isn’t necessarily dirty hair, and dirty hair actually doesn’t dread as well as clean hair does.
By my understanding, dreadlocks are basically felted hair. Some hair types will naturally dread if left uncombed long enough. Other types need to be artificially dreaded. Felting does not require the hair to be dirty.
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314/5 "2004-08-11T04:32:06Z")
> [@SmackFu](#):
>
> Not washing the hair is pretty important too.
That’s one method, but there are [ways](http://www.dreadlocks.com/methods.html) to create much nicer smelling (and more uniform) dreads without resorting to such drastic measures.
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### Author:  [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314/6 "2004-08-11T04:32:42Z")
Actually, the dirty hair myth is the very first one on the “Facts and Rumors” page of that site…
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### Author:  [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314/7 "2004-08-11T04:47:03Z")
Well almost everyone I have ever seen with dreads has seemed to have had a most conspicuous foul odor emanating from their hair I guess it is possible that these were just a select few.
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### Author:  [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)
#### Post date: [August 11, 2004, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314/8 "2004-08-11T14:03:09Z")
> [@pool](#):
>
> Well almost everyone I have ever seen with dreads has seemed to have had a most conspicuous foul odor emanating from their hair I guess it is possible that these were just a select few.
Or it’s possible that the majority of people who try to get dreads don’t know what the hell they’re doing.
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### Author:  [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314/9 "2004-08-12T01:06:53Z")
Well, the rumor in my neck of the legend forest says that Real Rastas used their own urine to condition their dreads.
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### Author:  [@Tower\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tower_Dweller)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2004, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314/10 "2004-08-12T03:28:57Z")
I spent high school in Jamaica, and most Rastafarians I met (real ones, not posers) were very clean. From what I understood, you just had to twist the hair a little as it grew and otherwise mess with it, but once it dreaded you could still wash it and keep it clean.
It doesn’t really work with “white” straight hair - it can be done with bees wax and other crazyness, but looks strange (trust me!) 🆒
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### Author:  [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)
#### Post date: [August 12, 2004, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314/11 "2004-08-12T05:56:13Z")
I don’t know about black people dreadlocks, but my white friend has them. He backcombs and uses bee’s wax to stick the hair together until it tangles enough.
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### Author:  [@Baba\_Fats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baba_Fats)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2012, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314/12 "2012-06-05T16:31:26Z")
Everyone’s hair can and will become dreadlocks simply be not coming it and keeping it clean.
Those who use wax do not have locks. They have glued together hair. If the wax was ever washed out, they’d have straight hair. Wax prevents locks and causes mold, mildew, and rotting. That is probably the smell you smelled. The probaly did wash their hair, but because wax is water proof, it trapped the water inside and turned their hair into a swamp of decaying matter.
No one who grows their hair naturally into locks has that problem unless they don’t let their hair dry between washes. The correct way to grow locks is to just let it happen and don’t brush it out. No just black people can do this. My locks are 6 years old and have never smelled or been coated with anything.
It’s a horrible misconception that you need urine, or mud, or feces to mat your hair into locks. That’s disgusting. No self respecting human being would put that stuff anywhere near they hair. And if you truly believe that, then that’s a shame for you. It’s the simple minded that give locks a bad reputation.
Check out the forum [dreadlockssite.com](http://dreadlockssite.com) for the real information. Stop using youtube and random searches to get your information. Obviously it’s full of negative and dangerously misleading “facts”.
Dreadlocks are not felted hair. They are not waxed hair. They are not crocheted hair. They are not twisted hair.
Dreadlocks are tangled matter hair. The only way to get that is to let them tangle on their own. There are ways to jump start this by twist and ripping them into section, or back combing them, but this only separates the sections. Locks do not form over night. They require months of patience. Even black people who grow locks wait months for them to be mature. White people can do this too. Within a year you see so much progress and around 1 year they will be mature. That’s all there is to it
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2012, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314/13 "2012-06-05T16:44:56Z")
> [@Baba\_Fats](#):
>
> **Are you guys stupid?**
[Moderator Note]
**Baba Fats** , insults are not permitted in General Questions. No warning issued, but don’t do this again.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
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### Author:  [@Baba\_Fats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baba_Fats)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314/14 "2012-06-05T19:07:16Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> [Moderator Note]
>
> **Baba Fats** , insults are not permitted in General Questions. No warning issued, but don’t do this again.
>
> Colibri
> General Questions Moderator
Sorry. That was just the title to get people’s attention. I did not make the post insulting, only informational. And many people do not read long posts that have facts in them in the title is boring. I’ll make it cleaner next time
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### Author:  [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314/15 "2012-06-05T19:24:19Z")
Why are they called “dread” locks?
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### Author:  [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314/16 "2012-06-05T19:36:31Z")
Also, please note that the original post here is from 2004. 🙂
(we need a dreadlocked smiley)
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### Author:  [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314/17 "2012-06-05T20:08:28Z")
> [@Tristan](#):
>
> Also, please note that the original post here is from 2004. 🙂
>
> (we need a dreadlocked smiley)
Or at a minimum a zombie smiley.
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314/18 "2012-06-05T20:34:12Z")
> [@Baba\_Fats](#):
>
> Everyone’s hair can and will become dreadlocks simply be not coming it and keeping it clean.
> Those who use wax do not have locks. They have glued together hair.
Be careful with the generalizations. My son (who has no African heritage whatsoever) trained his hair with wax, but once it got long enough, never had to use it again.
I will second that it doesn’t have to smell. My kid wore dreads for something like 8 years and there was never a hygiene problem.
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### Author:  [@Baba\_Fats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baba_Fats)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314/19 "2012-06-05T22:07:59Z")
> [@kunilou](#):
>
> Be careful with the generalizations. My son (who has no African heritage whatsoever) trained his hair with wax, but once it got long enough, never had to use it again.
How long has he had locks?
He may not have to use it again, but that’s because it is still in there. Wax does not wash out. You HAVE to go through many wax removal sessions with soaps that are meant to get grease out to get it all out. If he did this, you and he would see that his hair is still more straight than knotted under all of that
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2012, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-get-dreadlocks/259314/20 "2012-06-06T06:59:47Z")
> [@Baba\_Fats](#):
>
> …Dreadlocks are not felted hair…
> …Dreadlocks are tangled matter hair…
(assuming you meant ‘matted’) These statements are mutually contradictory. Felt **is** tangled matted hair.
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