Don't Dread the Dreadlocks
How to Make Dreadlocks
Want to try something totally wild? Maybe dreadlocks are your thing.
If left alone for a time, eventually dreadlocks will develop their way of lying against the head.
Sometimes the hair naturally "dreads" into locks of similar size and shape. But often this approach fails and you get irregular dreads. When they grow together over time, the locks must be pulled apart, unless you like the fewer, bigger locks. But if they are severely intertwined, especially with naturally kinky hair, dreads that have reached this point may be easier to cut them off and start afresh.
So instead of the "let it be" approach, one should manage their dreads by using a a more systematic means of obtaining uniform dreads.
Curly Haired People
For locks of fairly uniform size and shape, those with tightly curled hair begin the process by sectioning and fashioning the hair into small twisted tufts or braids. As the hair grows, wayward strands will appear around the sections, which must be twisted regularly to incorporate the new growth into the tufts, which become dreads as they lengthen. With many people of indigenous African descent, this process of acquiring dreadlocks, refers to the tightly coiled hair naturally turning in on and spiraling around itself. The process could be thought of as letting the hair "lock".
Straight Haired People
If you don't have curly hair, you'll have to first backcomb and tease the hair. To consolidate the hair into locks, pomade or wax is often used. Sometimes wisps of hair are actually sewn in, using thread to wrap the locks, sealing in the shorter hairs. With straight hair, this technique also can be used at the ends of dreadlocks to make them more rounded and prevent them from unraveling. Curly hair can mat and twist into dreadlocks without backcombing or the use of products, aided only by twisting and rubbing the curls with one's fingers.