Monday 13 April 2009

Different Locks

I have gotten many questions on how to maintain locks and I thought I should start with defining the different kinds of locks available, then how to maintain them. The maintenance is pretty much the same though it may differ just a bit.

1. Back Combing

Advantages: Hair looks like dreads the same day and reaches maturity faster than other methods. You can control the size and shape of the dreads, anywhere from thick and smooth to thin and sexy. It is an all natural method. Backcombing will work on all hair lengths 3" and longer.

Disadvantages: The initial dreading takes a few hours and is pretty labor intensive, nothing a good friend or two can't handle. The best way to back comb is to take your time and make the dreads as smooth and tight as possible.

How to do it:

First section the hair into squares. Square sections make round dreads. Between 1" and 2" squares works well for most people. Smaller sections make thinner dreads. The sections can be secured temporarily with rubberbands. After the hair is sectioned use a dread comb to comb the hair backwards.
Start close to the scalp, not more than an inch away.
Comb repeatedly towards the scalp. Eventually hair will start to pack up at the roots. It is not necessary to twist the hair. It is helpful however to roll the hair you are holding between your fingers a little while you are backcombing. Continue backcombing, slowly working towards the ends of the hair, making the dread as tight as possible as you go. When you reach the ends you can secure the dread with a rubberband. Another rubberband on the roots will help the dread stay tight at its base. The rubberbands can be removed after the dread has a chance to mature. After the rubberbands are applied to each dread the dreads should be waxed with a dread wax that does not contain petroleum. A good dread wax will tame loose hairs and help the hair dread much faster.

4 comments:

  1. Cee

    Great instructional video on the back-coming technique. I'm curious about the difference between "good hair" and the implied bad hair in her description. Is good hair, straighter hair?

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  2. Hallo Mama, I guess she means good hair is hair that can easily be back combed, straight, long hair. Bad Hair to her would be nappy or kinky hair. The Back combing method is usually for caucasian hair.

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  3. I have soft hair..i got the comb twist done 4 months ago..i use the mango lock gel and wax for difficult locking hair...my hair still has not locked what should i do..

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  4. Different hair textures take different lengths of time to lock fully, some upto 18months. So your 4 months ain't that bad. I hope the have locked tips though, that happens within 3 to 4weeks.

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