What to do with damaged dreadlocks?

Hair coming out of a dread along its length: This problem is the bane of many dread owners. Unfortunately sometimes there is nothing you can do about it as the problem depends to a great extent on a type of hair. But cheer up, after about a year, in majority of cases, hair curls into a dread or rubs off. In other cases you can pull it into a dread with a crocheting needle. Some of the hair will try to escape after washing, but sooner or later the problem should disappear. A frequent method of getting rid of short hair is cutting it or even burning off – never ever do it – new hair will get out anyway and your dreads will be thinner and thinner. This problem may be solved by rolling dreads in one’s hands. It is not recommended to use special wax for dreads.

 

Curling up:The most efficient method of curling up is crocheting – it enables a dread-maker to curl up the hair not only at the head but also along the whole length of the dread. Using a crocheting needle you can improve its structure, fill up where they get thinner etc. A supporting method of curling up dreads is shagging them with use of a woollen glove or cap – this method shags dreads well, unfortunately it also weaves the dreads together.

 

Squares: Soon after curling up dreads people worry about a division into individual dreads which is visible on their heads. Not everyone likes skin visible between dreads. Don’t worry – after several days from curling up dreads get loosened. Hair grows a bit and so called squares disappear.

 

Uncontrolled weaving: Weaving of dreads is a natural process. Single hair curls in where it should not and after a while you can’t see where a given dread starts. The quickest and most painful method of solving this problem is to split them by catching two connected dreads and a strong flirt in two opposite directions. It is very efficient but very painful that is why the best method is to cut them – best if another person does it for us as it is difficult to see where to cut. Sometimes it is enough to cut a couple of hair and the dreads get loose on their own.

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Controlled weaving: Sometimes we get bored with a thickness of dreads we have. With thin dreads it is possible to connect them. Using a crocheting needle you can combine two dreads placed one to another. The initial effect of combining is not impressive, however after several months the border between dreads disappears and thin dreads become thick ones.

 

General mess: Dreads may be done badly, they may get neglected, but with appropriate skills and experience, everything may be repaired. If you think there is no help for your dreads anymore contact me.

 

Thickening: There are many techniques of thickening dreads. They may be thickened with other dreads attached to the ones already made or though adding additional dreads on thinner strips of hair. The first method is less problematic. The second one demands thickening growing hair with the synthetic ones which is done best when dreads are created from a scratch. I do not recommend cutting previously made dreads in order to increase their volume. Cut dreads are weak and may easily fall.

 

Dyeing: Whether your dreads are made of own hair only or they are lengthened with the natural hair, the process of dyeing is almost the same. What is important is that dreads absorb a lot of colour and you need a lot more of it than usually. If in the past you used one packaging now you will need two and a half or even more. It is important to remember that dreads lengthened with synthetic plastic hair don’t get dyed. Dyeing helps dreads to get beaten down in the first stage of wearing them.

 

Lengthening: There are many ways of lengthening dreads. They may be lengthened with natural hair – purchased on a tape via Internet or in specialist hairstyling shops. The advantage of attached hair is a possibility of changing colour of the attached hair – it is natural so it keeps its natural properties, it is very soft and light. Its disadvantage is the high price. Another method of lengthening dreads is using synthetic hair, usually plastic one. Synthetic dreads mean here natural dreads lengthened with the artificial synthetic hair. At very short dreads the operation of lengthening is for many people a good solution as they don’t have to wait for the intended effect. Variety and high quality of synthetic hair makes it possible to match perfectly the colour to natural hair and also to introduce many modifications thanks to availability of various colours. Unfortunately in comparison with real hair they are very coarse, and after a dozen of months of wearing the colour fades. It is not so important in the event of dreads. What is important is that this kind of hair cannot be dyed. Another material used for this operation is a special type of wool. It may be dyed and it is much lighter than plastic hair. There are as many techniques of attaching hair as dread-makers. Some prefer sewing with a mere thread, I perform sewing with hair only. It gives more natural effect and thanks to using hair you cannot see the connection. Dreads may be lengthened to an unlimited length.Synthetic dreads may be taken off any moment. With the technique applied by me it lasts longer as except for taking off artificial dreads I also have to take out remains of hair from the places of connection and ends of natural dreads.

 

Rubbing through: This problem relates to several years old dreads. The most frequent reason for rubbing dreads through is wearing too tight rubber band. In the contact place the dreads get thinner and thinner and finally they fall off. A good solution is supplementing the rubbed through place with other hair (if you don’t dye your hair with the synthetic colours, but with the natural colours).

 

Oxidising: Similarly as with dyeing amount of oxidiser needed to achieve the effect must be at least double. If you decide to oxidise your dreads, and before that you used different colours, be prepared for a long-term process full of surprises. Not always the colour covers evenly the hair in the dreads and oxidizing may give the effect of a mosaic. In this case the process of oxidizing must be repeated. At oxidizing the most important thing to remember is that dreads particularly the thin ones get worn off quicker and may fall off. After a year from oxidizing they get even thinner and a lot of hair from the dreads falls off. Before oxidizing, think twice if you really want this. You can always start to grow dreads from anew or have the short ones.