Obviously you don’t comb your hair. Someone once told me you couldn’t wash it either. That sounds outlandish to me though, I don’t think anyone could stand that.
Whats the scoop?
I don’t think this is the recommended way to do it, but I once sort-of got dreadlocks by accident. I have long, thick, curly hair that will get itself into a mighty tangle if not washed and brushed every day. I once went backpacking for 4 or 5 days and never showered or otherwise attended to my hair and when I returned I discovered that a single enormous dreadlock had formed on the back of my head engulfing about [sup]1[/sup]/[sub]3[/sub]-[sup]1[/sup]/[sub]2[/sub] of my hair. It was disgusting. I had to soak it in an entire bottle of conditioner to comb it out (if that ever happens again I’m going to shave my head).
I’m pretty sure there’s much more controlled method of doing it, but if you’re desperate…
these statements are contradictory.
Generally, almost anyone can acquire locks if they simply stop cutting, combing, or conditioning their hair. Washing is just fine. In fact, if the hair is long enough, washing helps the process along by tangling the hair even more. If the hair is not washed, however, the greasiness may inhibit tight tangling.
Beyond this, there are ways to try to make locks form, but most of these just don’t work too well. A lot of people will manually twist their hair, but this is usually obvious when you look at their “locks.” Others, mostly black people, AFAIK, go to locticians, who perform various procedures on the hair to form it into uniformly round, even locks. This hairstyle generally requires maintenance to keep the hair looking good, whereas natural locks by definition require no maintenance whatsoever, and should become progressively better over the years.
Now, if one is letting their locks grow by themselves, they will usually guide their formation, mostly by pulling apart any locks that try to grow together that are already big enough as they are. If this is not done, a lot of people will end up with huge masses of hair. Also, beads or wraps can be put around the lock for ornamentation and to keep the locks from growing together.
The locks generally take years to get to the point where they are long and round. Black people have an easier time with it, and they reach a desirable state much faster. People with curly, long, or dense hair have an easier time. Asians tend to have the most difficulty. I have a friend who is half Vietnamese, who said she had hair down to the middle of her back and when she let it grow into locks they shrunk to just below shoulder length, but she still wasn’t happy with them.
There are some things you can do to create dreadlocks pretty quickly:
- Backcombing. I’ve never tried this, but I’ve been told it works. Grab one piece of hair and use a comb to push surrounding strands toward the scalp, thus creating a terrible tangle which tends to stick.
- Also, you can buy waxes to use that will facilitate the process by holding the dreads together.
http://www.dreadheadhq.com sells waxes.
http://www.tachyonlabs.com/dreads.html has all kinds of fun instructions.
Huh? How’s that?
Good question Bobort…got me baffled.
I think that K. Trout is saying if you can comb it out it ain’t a dreadlock.
I don’t know the veracity of that statement, that is just how I interpret the post.
indeed, tevya.
if you can comb it out, you don’t have dreadlocks. you have matted hair.
If these things cannot be washed, don’t they smell and doesn’t the scalp get dirty enough to grow greens? Of all the hairstyles I have seen over the years, the major dreads worn by Black men, those dusty, thick things or those small, just starting spikes, have got to be the absolute worst.
My italics
Main Entry: dread·lock
Pronunciation: 'dred-"läk
Function: noun
Date: 1960
1 : a narrow ropelike strand of hair formed by matting or braiding
2 plural : a hairstyle consisting of dreadlocks
Yes, they can be washed. It takes considerably more time to wash them than it does for straight-haired-Sally to wash her hair.
You know, this sounds remarkably similar to a post composed by…ah, nevermind. 
Well, I’ve never had real dreadlocks, but that sucker looked a lot like one to me. Also I should note that although my experience suggests that dreadlocks can in principle be combed out it’s really a fool’s errand. A lot of the hair ended up being torn out, and what was left wasn’t exactly in the best of shape.
I somehow doubt that I could. My hair is extremely fine, and lacking in curl. When I used to wear it shoulder length it just hung down straight, and if it got the least bit dirty, flattened against my head and let my ears stick out. Dreadlocks? No way.
Well, I can’t say for sure, having never personally seen your hair, but I’m willing to bet if you followed the formula and waited an indeterminately long period of time, they would form. As hair gets longer, it gets more easily tangled. At shoulder length, it might not work for you. My hair is similar to how you described it. It’s a bit below shoulder length now, very straight, and as you said, tends to flatten out when dirty. However, this summer, I did not comb my hair at all, and after about a month and a half I had one sizable lock. I combed out the rest of the hair, and the single lock is looking halfway decent now, about three inches long.
We never washed our hair since we camped on the beach all the time. Most of us had problems with our hair drying out and my friends hair grew straight out from his head in long thick dreads, which made it look like he wore a wide brimmed hat. I asked him about it and he said it had to do with all the salt in his hair crusting and forming dreads. He also said he knew of a few people that would form them using some kind of mud or something but he never talked about it more.
Why his hair did it and not anyone elses was beyond me.
Similar experience to Heath’s, on an extended sailing trip in the Bahamas I washed my hair in salt water with bar soap. The initial result was a Don King-look but dread locks (at least a blond white guy’s version) were starting by the time I reached George Town and ample fresh water.
I’ve never had dreads myself, but I have heard of people speeding up the dreadlock creation process by first braiding their hair and then soaking the braids in something mildly acidic like citrus juice.
I saw a girl put dreadlocks into my ex-girlfriend’s hair once. She would grab a bit of hair, rub a bar of soap on it, and use the backcombing technique described above.
One of the best ways to get a good set of dreads started (according to the half-dozen or so white Rastafaians I know in town) is to rub your finger liberally in Surf Wax (such as “Dr. Zog’s Sex Wax”) and apply it to the hair by grabbing the desired amount between your fingers and rolling it back and forth. Repeat the prcess withthe same bit of hair until is is farily well coated.
The only problem is that it takes several hours, and your fingers will get very tired. I recommend a SO or good friend to help.
BTW: Sex Wax can be found at any surf shop (if you have those in your area), or a good hairdresser might stock some, or at least be able to order it. If not, let me know, and I’ll mail you some.