A naaniFAM Member Wrote
"My name is Elisheba. I have admired the loose ends of Tubby's locs for about a year. Four months ago I took out the ends of my own locs and loved it. But now I'm confused on maintence. If I comb the ends out I loose hair, (which I know is natural) but when you have locs for three years your not used to losing hair, even if it is natural shedding, how do you deal with this? Or if i don't comb them out they start to loc back up, which would be fine if I knew I would have the same look. I love the way my hair has the body of a fro, but the length of Dreadlocks. I just need some tips on maintence. Please give me some help. --Thanx Elisheba J.


Dreadlocks, once they reach maturity, are permanent...sorta.

The only way to truly remove dreadlocks is to cut them off..sorta.

There are methods by which you can unravel your dreadlocks but their effectiveness often depends on the length of your dreadlocks, the method used to start them as well as your maintenance routine.

Generally the removal of dreadlocks is a tedious process and often results in significant hair loss.  So if you didn't have a thick mane to begin with, you may not want to go this route.  BUT...with a lot of time, some tiny instruments, the help of a friend and a truckload of patience, you MAY be able to successfully pull apart your dreadlocks...just don't get mad at me if you have five strands of hair afterwards :-)

Undoing Dreadlocks
Recently I met a woman with the most unique set of dreadlocks I'd ever seen.  Although she'd been dreadlocking for several years, I noticed that about 3-4 inches of her hair remained unlocked.  The peculiar thing was, the unlocked portion was at the tips, not the root.

The unlocked hair was natural and formed an afro puff.  It was soooooooo cute.  She'd dyed the tips a very light brown shade so the poof added personality to her otherwise beautiful dreadlocks.

I approached her and asked her how/why she'd done it.  What I learned, I thought I'd share with the naaniFam.

The sista had been having problem with lint for years.  She said that she'd become so frustrated with the lint that she didn't know what to do.  She tried cutting the tips off a few of them, but said that it literally "hurt" to cut them.  She said that even after she'd cut them, there was still lint inside the tips of the lock and she had no way of knowing how extensive it was.  Out of this frustration she developed a technique to remove the dreadlocks.

The Technique
You'll need a pair of angled tweezers, a rat-tail comb with a metal tail, metal nail file or any instrument with a smooth, yet pointed-like edge.  You want a utensil that will penetrate the dreadlock, but not rip it apart.

Shampoo your dreadlocks.  Rinse thoroughly and towel dry.  Doing this process on damp hair will minimize breakage.

Begin by snipping off a very small
portion at the end of your dreadlocks.  When I say small, I mean small.  All you want to do is remove the rounded tip.

Take the tweezers.  Using one of the prongs, insert the tweezer into a small section of the lock.  Gently pull in a downward motion with  the tweezers.  If the prong does not work itself out easily, take the tweezer out, reinsert it and pull down again.  After a bit of maneuvering, the hair should seperate.

If you began with braids, you will notices that the hair will begin to unravel like a braid normaly would.  The same with two-strands.  For those that started with palm-rolls, you will find that the hair will unravel just as easily as the dreadlock will always maintain it's internal structure.

This technique will not work of course if you manipulate/maintain your dreadlocks with methods other than palm-rolling/finger-twisting.  Interlocking for example is similar to creating a series of knots and it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to undo these types of dreadlocks.

Continue unwinding the dreadlocks using the tweezers or like utensil until  you are about .5-1 inch up the dreadlock.  If you're doing the process correctly, you shoudn't see very much hair loss.  The hair that does come out should be that which has naturally shed over years of dreadlocking so there is no need for alarm.

After you have freed the hairs, you'll notice all types of Build-up/lint that has naturally or UNnaturally accumulated over time.  Some dreadlocks will have more than others.  Build-up in dreadlocks is natural to a degree but in the case of excessive debris, you may want to reexamine your maintenance routine.

It's up to you as to how far you want to go up the dreadlock.  The lady I met began by loosening 1 inch of hair.  Over the years, she continued the process and added to the loosened portion.  She said that it'd look too awkward to have only an inch of unlocked hair and 30 inches of dreadlocks.

IMPORTANT: After you've completed your entire head, be sure to shampoo again.  You'll need to wash away the lint, dirt and product residue.

A Word of *CAUTION*
If you're apprehensive about the technique, try it on one of your dreadlocks in a not-so-visible area.  Undo 1/2 to 1 inch of the dreadlock.  If you like what you see, keep going.  If you don't, two-strand twist the end and let it relock.  In some cases, the unlock'd hair may resist relocking so you may have to eventually snip off the end for uniformity.

After a few weeks the poofiness settles and the unraveled ends return to your natural hair Texture.  Mine is a slight wavy pattern.  To view more recent photos, check out Tubby's naaniMODEL profile or images in the photo gallery.

Be sure to initiate the process slowly and methodically.  Don't force the hairs apart...encourage them with a little pressure but too much will result in breakage.