As I’ve been getting the blog started up again people have asked me about taking dreadlocks out, and old school Dread Mama fans remember when I took my daughter’s locks out and told me to be sure I put those pics up again! So here it goes. It was a long process because I wanted to make sure I didn’t rip or tear or break off her hair as much as possible. To loosen each dread I initially soaked my daughter’s hair in conditioner, an entire bottle’s worth. This made her locks very loose. Then I rinsed all the conditioner out and unraveled each dreadlock with a fork. It took over 2 weeks to take them all out, I’d say pretty close to 3 weeks.
Within the nearly 3 week span of taking her dreadlocks out, I did her hair in a variety of hairstyles that disguised some of her hair being loose while some of her was still in dreadlocks. Here is a pic of one of the styles. If you look closely you can see the ends of some locs towards the end of her puff:
Here is her hair completely loose, all dreadlocks untangled. Yes, she did wear the same shirt on the last day of unraveling as she did on the first day.
After getting all her locks out, I washed and twisted her hair. I set it with just a little almond oil. As with my hair I only combed her hair with a pic and also used a soft brush so as not to tear or break off her hair. Her hair has a loose curl so waves very easily. I simply twisted it into big chunks, let the twists dry, then took them out. Then I finger-combed through her hair.
She liked this style ok and wore it like this for a bit. Then decided she wanted a Mohawk. You know my philosophy, it’s just hair! So I said ok. This is after her sides were shaved:
Questions I’ve been asked:
So how long did she have her locks for? Did she just get tired of them?
She has had locks off and on several times since she was 5. This set she had from 2002. She likes to change her hairstyles and this time she wanted me to try unraveling her locks rather than cutting them off.
How long did it take to unravel each loc?
It’s not a fast process. it took 10-15 minutes per dread, spread out over a few weeks!
Were any of her locks latched?
No, none of them were latched, or crocheted, or back-combed. I locked her hair using the 2-strand twist method.
What kind of shampoo and/or conditioner did you use?
I used Dr. Bronner’s liquid peppermint soap to wash it. Normally for dreadlocks I don’t use much or recommend this for washing because it can leave a cast on your locks, but since I was taking them out it didn’t matter. For conditioner I just used Suave conditioner. I used the entire bottle in one go, let it sit for a few hours, then rinsed it out. This made her locks much looser than they were before and easier to unravel.
What color is your daughter’s hair/Is she a red-head?
No, the color is reddish brown but is from hair dye. Her natural hair color is a lovely dark brown.
Have another question? Ask away!