OMG I started this post weeeeks ago!!  I’m really sorry for going into another of my lazy-ass phases! Right, I’d better have a read through it now and see why exactly it isn’t finished yet….

….lol I’ve now read through it, and it was already bloody finished! Great, I’ve officially entered a whole new level of crapness haha

Well in that case I’ll shut up and post this thing, so you guys can read it!

It’s time I started providing some more useful information here, given that the dready journey I took such pains to document thoroughly is something I now consider to be flawed and littered with unnecessary products and procedures. It’s a shame really, and I kinda wish I could provide something really helpful, like an account of backcombing then not using wax, or taking the “all-natural” dready route.

Well, the next best thing I can do is make this site an exhaustive dreadlocks resource. Let’s begin at the beginning, literally. Dreads have probably been around just as long as hair. Several cultures and religions can trace the wearing of dreadlocks far back into their ancestry, and many animals grow dreads without even realising it.

The dreadlock product companies are to the evolution of dreadies what humans are to the Earth’s timeline. This planet and its inhabitants functioned perfectly well for millennia before humans came along (and will do so long after we depart, no doubt), and thousands of people were growing perfectly good sets of dreads without any Lock Peppa or tubs of dreadwax for many centuries.

So,

The Natural/Neglect Method

- The short story

In essence this method is  a lack of method; at the most basic level, the requirement is simply that you cease to comb your hair and your hair will dread.

- The longer story

It would be a lie to say you absolutely must wash your hair, since dirty hair will still eventually dread. However, your dreads will be dirty and smelly, and you will be perpetuating the “all dreads are dirty and smelly” myth, so please do keep washing your uncombed hair, otherwise you’re just letting the side down! Washing speeds up knot formation, whilst dirt and grease can hinder it.

- The whole story

Growing all-natural dreadlocks is a little more involved than just letting your hair do its own thing, unless you want it all to congo together into a  giant monodread. Although at first you need to mind you don’t accidentally pull out knots by absent-mindedly running your fingers through your hair (including when you wash it), you still need to take notice of any larger groups of knots which are beginning to form into dreadlocks, and if they are swallowing up too much hair you’ll need to pull some of it away. Further into the journey you will need to continue this practise, known as “ripping”, to stop the bases of your dreads straying into one another. If you do this too infrequently it can be a little painful.

Natural, neglect or patience? It’s probably most correct to call this the patience method, because after hair and cleanliness,  patience is the truly essential ingredient here. If you are not prepared to be patient and enjoy the journey of growing natural dreadlocks, rather than merely awaiting the destination, then this is not for you. It can be really challenging in terms of how you look at yourself, how others look at you, and how you look at the way in which others look at you. By those same measures, though, it can be immensely rewarding and enlightening, which is partly why it is widely regarded as the purest method.

The timeline for natural dreadlocks is an enigmatic and elusive thing, difficult to define set parameters for. By allowing your hair to act according to its nature, rather than trying to control it with products, your own dready timeline will be determined by your hair’s specific characteristics. Some people will find knots in their hair within days of discarding their comb, and have recognisable immature dreadlings after just weeks; for others it will take a number of months to reach this stage; it can even take more than a year for your hair to stop looking simply like a mess to the un-trained eye, and actually resemble dreads.

Generally speaking, hair with a wave or a curl in it will be more inclined to dread, with “Afro” hair being the ultimate dready hair type, able to start forming dreadlocks from very short lengths indeed. For the majority of hair types, about 6 inches can be considered a good minimum start length. Of course, you can stop combing your hair when it’s much shorter than that, but you may not see any knot formation until it is longer.

Loops and Loss of Length

If you’ve looked at any photos of maturing dreadlocks, you may have noticed strange loops, bends and contortions along them. Once a knot catches and tightens, it creates a point of tension, causing other hairs to buckle. (Sadly I think I deprived myself of this fun time with all the maintenance routines that were programmed into me by the product companies…meh). Love this phase, rather than being distressed by it. As the loopies settle down they will become fascinating textural characteristics, making each lock unique.  The longer your initial hair length, the greater the amount of shrinkage you will notice during this knotting phase. You might be tempted to trim very long hair before embarking upon your journey, but this may not be the best choice because longer hair dreads faster, and it will shrink massively anyway.

Control

A wish to grow dreadlocks this way may present you with dilemmas about whether you can make them fit into your lifestyle/job. It would be idealistic and unrealistic not to acknowledge this factor, even though on some level it should not matter. I want to approach the issues surrounding dreads in professional environments in a separate post, so here I will just discuss practical solutions.

There is definitely a point of compromise between growing natural dreadlocks, complete with months-long scarecrow phases, and presenting yourself in a neat and professional-looking manner.

By being creative and experimental with dready headwear, you will be able to cover/disguise/enhance/divert attention from a multitude of your dreadlocks’ teenage quirks. Beads, wraps and twine can be used to create/control/maintain sections and stop your dreads from eating each other up, whilst saving you from having to worry about them too much and also providing decoration. Pushing a bead up a section of hair is also a good way to help prompt it into knotting.

Well that’s probably just about all I have any right to say on something I haven’t even experienced for myself! I hope it was of some use to someone. If you are still at the point of considering dreads, I’d say make this your first option, if you think you can, because it’s the simplest and most obvious really

Yay for dreads