I have decided to take my dreads out, it's a sad decision, but I miss having soft hair. I know that Knottyboy and DreadheadHQ have dread removal kits (although i can't find it on the dreadheadHQ site now..). But i wanted to know if there were any tips somebody could give me. Does it work the first time? Should i use a regular conditioner to loosen them, and then use the kit? Hopefully somebody else has done this before Thank you all!
Hm.. I had a friend who took his dreads of a year and a half out... and his hair never went back to normal. Extremely frizzy/wavy/insane until he just chopped it all off.
olive oil, a sturdy comb and PATIENCE. Like locing, this can take weeks to "look right" at all. I cut my dreads in half, then detangled the rest. I did have lots of damage, but I could live with that for a while. I braided the sections a lot.
How old are your dreads? It will take days to maybe months to slowly comb them out. I managed to comb out almost 4 year old dreads. I did the front and top first, so that I could pull it back in a pony tail and have it look ok still. I just coated them in lots of conditioner and hemp lotion and slowly picked at it from the bottom up. The only hard part is towards your scalp, you have to go slowly because it hurts like a bitch. My hair was healthier after combing them out than before.
don't brush it, in about a year and a half you'll have dreadlo- er, i mean brush it, in about and hour and a half you'll no longer have dreadlocks
You don't need a removal kit. A fork may help. And lots of conditioner, and it's easier to comb when the hair is wet.
I brushed dreads out of my hair 3 or so times now.. the only thing that ever happened to mine was it thinned out. It only took me a few hours. And conditioner.
I took out dreads that were 10 months old and very tight by getting detangler and a small crochet hook and pulling them out from the bottom up. It took a week, and it hurt like a bitch
here's something worth a try: slather conditioner and or oil over all the hair, let it sit for a while to penetrate in. then wash your hair in a tub, so the hair can float (think mermaid) use your hand to detangle what you can. repeat each day until you get significant looseness.
i agree with what drumminmama says. It will hurt and your hair will be thinner... but it will grow back!! Whatever you choose to do, it will look good!
thanks all. i really appreciate it. I have been using conditioner, and combing them out. it takes almost 20 minutes for each dread. It's really painful and ridiculously time consuming. luckily i don't have kids or a job. haha. I'll make sure to post some photos when it is all done. thank you all for your advice, it is really appreciated, and saved me $30
Good luck, I too have combed dreads out of my hair. It's not a fun experience, but it does feel pretty great afterwards...
