i have had a couple of my dreads for about 3 months, before i started the whole set. and those dreads are completly stiff and locked, but ive seen some locks that move like normal hair, like Zack de la Rocha's from rage against the machine. i was wondering why those ones are so amazing and mine are stiff??
if you use conditioner , you might loosen the dreads. so you want to think twice before doing this. it will make your hair softer , which will undo knots. but ive heard people who use conditioner ... to a certain point.
what do u mean by you had your dreads 3 months how did u start them what did u do and use wax can make them stiff i imagine so can anything that forces tightness unnaturaly if theyre overly dry thgey can be lil stiff as well, aloe can help. conditioning is fine in moderation, once they are lil more mature conditioners wont harm mature dreads much but still shouldnt be used too often my guess is u maybe used wax? wax hardens, it will make your dreads stiff like candles if no wax though then it most likely is just dryness aloe or cocoa butter are fairly safe to condition dreads with
ye i got stiffness in some dreads too but its not too bad. I was told by a rasta that shea butter helps that so imma pick some up next time I hit up atx. aloe works fine also though
let them grow a little. With months/years of movement and growth I bet they will be flexible and awesome....but don't listen to me, only had my locks a few months. Just never met a stiff-as-a-board older dreadie. If you aren't using wax or anything, it will work out. Any more experienced dreadies want to weigh in on this one?
never had any stiff ones, only stiff lock i had was wax. im thinking its about length and thickness in this case.
Mine are stiff sometimes too.... Mine are pretty tight I'm guessing because I had them crochetted and they are pretty packed - my waist length hair was backcombed and crochetted and ended up just below my shoulder, that's ALOT of hair. They get fairly stiff after they dry the day I've washed 'em and are pretty stiff for about a day then they relax, they were getting really dry towards the ends 'cause the weather turned here from being very humid to very dry, so I used the Jasmine Barsoap from Lush that has a gentle conditioner in it and that helped alot and made my dreads much softer and relaxed, made my dreads frizzy for a few days, but that was fine. I've changed my washing routine too, I still wash my scalp about 2 -3 times a week, but only work the shampoo into the lower part of the dreads once a week so they don't dry out so much. The only time if sometimes bothers me is when I'm sleeping, some weeks it's really annoying and some weeks it fine??! GO figure... I've never used aloe or cocoa butter, but sounds fun to try. Doesn't that stuff get stuck in the dread forever?? I also want to start making my own soap....LOL my kitchen is about 3 foot by 5 foot....I don't even have a proper cooker, just some camping stove rings!!
