Is Maintenance Necessary?

Standard dreadlock maintenance is a practise involving retightening and reshaping your dreadlocks using a very small crochet hook. A lot of variables will impact the frequency that you need to have maintenance done - these variables include hair type and texture, dreadlock sectioning patterns, extensions added and more!

It does not matter what variables you personally have, you will need to come in for maintenance from time to time! This can range from every 3 months to annually however it is 100% necessary to have some maintenance on your locks.

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Retightening the loose hair fly aways from new growth, fall out or breakage. 

After you lock your hair it will still grow out of your scalp as individual stands, some hair will continue to grow with/into the dreadlocks and others will grow stray until they are tightened back into the lock. In these photo's you can see on the left that the dreadlock roots are over grown, there's loose hair around the locks etc. On the right you can see all the hair has been tightened into its necessary dreadlock. 

For dreadlocks that grow out like this (no matting, just loose wild hairs) you will need to come in for maintenance 1-2 per year. Your scalp will get fuzzy before that time which will not detriment the dreadlocks forming or growing. You are welcome to come in more often for maintenance if you prefer a tidier looking style. 

This will likely be those with very thin hair strands, bricklayer sections, those who seldom wash their locks and those with texture 4 hair. 

   

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Sometimes instead of growing out loose and frizzy like shown above, the roots of your locks will actually start to try and dreadlock themselves. This is often achieved when the loose hairs from new growth slips into the incorrect dreadlock and start to form. For some this results in 2-3 locks joining together at the scalp, and for others it will result in a almost full scalp coverage of mattered hair. 

This is most concerning for those with wavy or textured hair, those with scattered or triangle sections, those who wash their locks frequently and those who wear their locks up often. 

This can be avoided by separating your locks after every wash by 'finger brushing' your sections and making sure no hairs are crossing over the section lines into the incorrect dreadlock. 

Even with separating your locks you will still need to come in for maintenance. Hair types and dreadlock sections like these ones will benefit from coming in for maintenance every 2-3 months to avoid too much matting and ensure a consistent airflow onto the scalp. 

For reference - If your locks are mattered together and you're worried they may be 'too far gone' to be mended, I can assure you they're likely able to be separated and restored to their original sections! So far in 6 years I haven't seen a dreadlock set that can't be mended and separated. 

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All dreadlocks start out as fresh baby dreadlocks. Baby locks have to form over time to become mature, fully formed dreadlocks. Those with straight or thin hair strands will experience their locks getting loose and fluffy between their maintenance appointments (shown above). The dreadlocks remain sectioned and are forming under the surface but the exterior hair loves to pop free which causes your locks to look thick and fluffy like shown above in the left side of either photo. 

Maintenance on baby locks come around much more frequent because we're assisting the locks in their maturing. Maintenance in the first 6-12 months will be a root to tail maintenance to retighten and reshape the whole body of the dreadlock. Over time, your maintenance is primarily scalp focused because the body of the dreadlocks will have fully formed and matured by then. 

Consistent maintenance is extremely important on baby locks if you're wanting to achieve as minimal lumps and loops as possible. 

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Sometimes when dreadlocks are forming or kept in pony tails/buns for too long they begin to create loops and bumps in your dreadlock. 

These loops and bumps are almost always going to be present at the spot of the dreadlock where your hair tie would sit. 

Loops and bumps are most often formed in the first year of the dreadlocks life when the dreadlocks are the most flexible. Your dreadlocks will always want to naturally form to the shape/style they're in most often. 

Loops and bumps can be removed during maintenance and your locks can be restored to being straight sitting. However if the loops and bumps are left too long and end up maturing in that shape, it makes it much more difficult to correct the dreadlock shape and remove the loops and bumps. So if you have wiggly bits in your locks starting to form but you're wanting to keep your locks as smooth and straight as possible than it is best to book in a maintenance appointment as soon as possible. 

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Extension joins - Extensions are crochet onto the end of your dreadlock. Basically the end of your dreadlocks and the start of the extensions are knotted together to achieve a longer dreadlock. This is a brilliant method with a high success rate however there is a possibility of the dreadlock joins slipping loose instead of forming together or weakening over time. Thankfully during maintenance appointment your dreadlock technician will be able to reattach any fallen extensions. Sometimes if an extensions slips down slightly but is still strongly attached to your dreadlock we will simply add additional hair to the thinner spot to reinforce it and also make your dreadlock even again. 

Extensions are either made from human hair, a synthetic fibre or felting wool. All of these materials will deteriorate over time which means your extensions will weaken over time and cause thin spots like shown in the photo above. Depending on the age and integrity of the extension, your dreadlock technician should have no worries restrengthening it. 

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Weak Spots - Even when you don't have extensions your natural dreadlocks can still suffer from weak spots similar to the photo shown above. Weak spots are often caused by breakage from fiction (Hair ties, twisting your locks in your fingers, hats, resting on shoulders). 

Weak spots in natural dreadlocks will often result in the end of the dreadlock falling off giving you a 'natural trim'. If this happens to you but you want to keep the original length then a dreadlock technician should be able to reattach the lock for you as if it were an extension. Another option would be to lock in additional hair into the dreadlocks weak spot to restrengthen the locks and avoid it falling off all together. 

Those with thinner locks, thin hair strands or natural light coloured hair are the most susceptible to having their dreadlock lengths weaken of time. Regular maintenance, looser hair ties & beads and an added moisturising agent in your dreadlock washing routine will help avoid your dreadlocks weakening overtime. 

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In conclusion maintenance is both a need and a want. Your dreadlocks won't lock up at the scalp without crochet hook maintenance a couple times a year. This will help them form, help the loose hairs stay in the dreadlocks and avoid matting. More frequent maintenance is available for those who want very neat, very cylindrical dreadlocks. Maintenance can help a whole list of issues for you and can restore your love for your dreadlocks. 

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