Are dreadlocks compatible with my hair, lifestyle, and location?

December 17, 2007 3:14 PM

Should I get dreadlocks now, later, or ever?

Should I get them now:

I live in a place that gets cold in the winter (sub-zero temperature, double-digit sub-zero wind chill). I am considering getting dreadlocks. However, I've heard that if they don't dry out properly after washing, bad things happen. Would there be any negative effects to going out in the cold with wet dreads? I'm thinking things along the lines of Sanka in Cool Runnings (the dread breaking off). Are there other concerns?

Also, dreadlocked people, do you lose more heat than when you had more hair? If so, did you find a good solution? I don't like to be cold.

Should I get them later:

I work at places with lots of dirt. I get dirty. My snot is black. My skin and hair is covered with sand and grit and beautiful, beautiful dirt. Will this be a problem? Would wearing a head-covering mitigate the problem?

Should I get them ever:

I have fine, Scandinavian-style hair. It gets greasy relatively quickly (if I wash in the morning, it looks wilty by the afternoon of the following day) and just looks gross after a few days. It also gets that "you haven't washed me in a while" smell. My hair is slighty wavy. It does not lock up on its own. Are dreads a really bad idea for someone with this kind of hair? Are they doable, with the right products?

(I am white. This isn't a question of whether or not white people should or can do dreadlocks. There is ample discussion of that elsewhere on the web. My main motivation for getting dreadlocks would be that I think they look really, really cool, and this is the last good time to get them.)

(Email me for a photo if you think it would help, or if you consider yourself a fine judge of who will and will not look good in dreadlocks!)

posted by ramenopres to clothing, beauty, & fashion (60 comments total)

Should I get dreadlocks now, later, or ever?

No.
posted by dersins at 3:17 PM on December 17, 2007 [12 favorites has favorites]

No, you should not. They will take a lot of maintenance, they will smell, and whether or not you want to deal with the issue of whether white people should get dreadlocks or not right now, you will certainly have to deal with the ensuing fallout if you get them.
posted by streetdreams at 3:20 PM on December 17, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

Don't do it. I second streetdreams.
posted by sondrialiac at 3:22 PM on December 17, 2007

It's so 1991 in my books, and I was living in a fashion-backward place even then. Don't do it. I've nothing against dreadlocks per se, and I'm a reggae/Jamaica culture fanatic. But it's oh so tired.
posted by Dee Xtrovert at 3:25 PM on December 17, 2007

No.
posted by schroedinger at 3:27 PM on December 17, 2007

I'm a huge fan of dreadlocks so i'm going to go against the grain and say yes. But if you're really struggling with it, I know a friend who had one dread at the base of his neck that he started to see if he wanted to do the rest of his hair. He had it for about six months, kept adding hair to it, and finally cut it off. He said it didn't bother him when it was dry, but when it was wet it felt like a wet fish slapping against his neck. So you might want to try it out like he did before you go full on.
posted by Ugh at 3:30 PM on December 17, 2007

There is plenty of info online to answer your questions but I personally hate whitey dreadlocks. And more so on females. Not cool or sexy in any way.

But it's your hair and I'd imagine it would be a fun experiment in playing with your look and identity, so if you must. Oh, and when you get bored with them be prepared to hack your long locks back to a couple of inches to start over.
posted by brautigan at 3:30 PM on December 17, 2007

Frankly, no, I wouldn't get them. They'll cause you a lot more trouble than they'll benefit you. White people "can" do dreads, but if your hair isn't dreading naturally, why would you cultivate that? Nothing against dreads, but they're not a good aesthetic move for you, from the sound of it. Could be disastrous. Why do you want to express your affinity for black/rasta/hippie culture in such a difficult and, from the sound of it, potentially unsanitary, way? Just to stand out? Stand out with your words and deeds.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 3:30 PM on December 17, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Out of all the stupid things I've done in my life, and all the opportunities I've missed and will never have back, the one thing I regret the most is not dyeing my hair neon green in college, when I could have gotten away with it. I probably would have looked stupid, but I'll never know now, will I?

I say do it. I wouldn't do it - it's hard to look good in dreadlocks and your hair doesn't sound compatible - but this sounds like something you really want to do, and it's your hair. Get them, decide whether or not you look like a fool in them, and cut them off if you do. Or don't get them, and when you're fifty wish you had gotten them.
posted by Metroid Baby at 3:32 PM on December 17, 2007 [6 favorites has favorites]

If you want to do it, do it. Who cares what anyone else thinks.
If you don't like them, you can always buzz yourself and grow new hair.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 3:32 PM on December 17, 2007

nah
posted by matteo at 3:32 PM on December 17, 2007

No. Especially not if you have hair that tends toward the greasy side, would need products to make your hair dread, and work in a dirty environment. There are just too many ingredients for a stinky congealed mess.
posted by rmless at 3:33 PM on December 17, 2007

I think you've answered your own question pretty well, but to recap:

...if they don't dry out properly after washing, bad things happen.

True. Strike one.

My skin and hair is covered with sand and grit and beautiful, beautiful dirt.

Then dreads are a bad idea. Strike two.

My hair is slighty wavy. It does not lock up on its own.

Strike three.

You will not form dreads through neglect. Read carefully.
posted by StrikeTheViol at 3:35 PM on December 17, 2007

Get them. Who cares what other people think? It's a matter of personal aesthetic, if you don't like them, cut them off. Dreads can work on just about any hair type, you just need to learn how to properly care for them. Which means washing them every or every other day. And a lot of upkeep. I'm glad I tried dreading my hair, and I have similar fine hair. I eventually got tired of all the attention they took and cut my hair, but they looked awesome. You'll probably regrte never doing it more than you would getting them and ending up cutting them.
posted by catatethebird at 3:39 PM on December 17, 2007

They are gross and nasty and I have not once seen a white person pull them off in a way that looks classy at all.
posted by BobbyDigital at 3:39 PM on December 17, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Though it would seem inconceivable based on my profile pic, I grew dreadlocks about 16 years ago. My lifestyle at the time was college sophomore with job as dishwasher.

I'm not sure what you mean by "get," but what I did was just twist the hair into dreads, and not wash it. For a month. The hair was about to my shoulder blades, lengthwise.

It got very itchy and gross and smelly, and at the suggestion of a friend I did occasionally towel on a mixture of water toothpaste (!) to stop the itch and help improve the smell. Even though I kept it under a hat at work, the food smells would linger in my ratty hair.

After about a month, the hair had noticeably matted together, which is the stage at which some people can begin washing again. But mine was too thin and kinky to really hold together, and once I finally washed it, the dreads virtually disappeared. That was a glorious day. YMMV.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 3:44 PM on December 17, 2007

I am a white person whose hair dreads naturally and all too easily. I had something like dreadlocks for a while. It wasn't incredibly bad, but I'm not doing that again--lots of work to keep them neat, impossible to fully wash, don't really look good. Just get a damn ponytail or something.
posted by nasreddin at 3:45 PM on December 17, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Never.
posted by meerkatty at 3:46 PM on December 17, 2007

I completely agree with everyone here about why you shouldn't get them. BUT. Metroid Baby is right. I went through a phase when I dyed my hair funky colors, which was a blast. I then cut it all off (which looked hideous). It's just hair. You do it, you hate it, you un-do it. It grows back. No biggie.
posted by Mavri at 3:46 PM on December 17, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I had dreads for several years.

Some quick responses to your (and other people's) concerns:
Weather doesn't matter. When you put the dreads in, expect them to need consistent attention over months to keep them tight, neat and get them truly locked in. It IS possible to have and maintain clean, non-smelly dreads. Working in a dirty environment could cause problems. When you wash your dreads, they will stay wet for a while. Also, when you get sand or small particles of dirt in your locks, you will never, ever get it all out. If you are caucasian, even if your dreads are clean and kept, you will often face negative reactions from people. This can be especially problematic if you are looking for employment.

If want em, go for it. You only live once. You can always cut your hair.
posted by gnutron at 3:47 PM on December 17, 2007

Apparently I used the neglect method, according to StrikeTheViol's link.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 3:48 PM on December 17, 2007

I'm with Metroid Baby on this one. Go ahead and give it a try. It sounds like something you've wanted for a while. I kind of wanted to try dreadlocks when I was around 14. I never did. I think that was the right choice for me, but I've done some hair experimentation and I think if you never get it out of your system, it just gnaws at you. Sure, putting purple Kool-Aid in my hair wasn't the best of ideas. But I did it.
posted by cmgonzalez at 3:49 PM on December 17, 2007

I am a white guy with dreads.

I have fairly curly hair, so they are very easy for me (I do almost nothing to maintain them). I have a bunch of friends who have or have had dreads with straight Swedish hair. They're from Minnesota. The only one I've talked to much about her dreads said they're a moderate amount of work for her.

I find them warmer than not having dreads. And wearing a hat on top of them provides a ton of insulation.

I think if you wring them out and shake them out about after washing them, you should be okay going outside without a hat - they will freeze a little but I'm pretty sure they won't break off! If you wear a hat they'll be fine. If it's cold outdoors and you are indoors where it's heated probably the air is very dry and they will dry out quickly. I think you will want to not wash them every day. The grease will stay closer to your roots so your dreads won't get gross as quick as regular hair will.

I don't know how the grime you're surrounded with will work out - that would be my biggest concern. I would suppose that covering them while you're working is always an option. My day to day life is pretty grime-free (software development), but my dreads have been to burning man three times now, and there's a ton of dust and grit. After I wash them well they seem to get back to normal.

It is possible to undread dreads - you have to soak your hair in conditioner and painfully comb it out, and it's time consuming. A lot of people prefer to just cut them off, but the reason I mention it is to encourage you to just try it and see what happens.
posted by aubilenon at 3:50 PM on December 17, 2007

I had dreads for about four years.

I have similar hair that WOULD lock on its own given enough lack of brushing and dryness.

It would take a fair amount of work, and I would be concerned about the dirt aspect. You can wash dreads just fine.. once they've locked up. So you might have some issues with that.

As far as greasy goes, that's a function of how often you wash your hair. If you wash it often, it'll get greasy fast. If you wash it more seldomly, it'll get greasy more slowly. The first month or so of going longer and longer between thorough hair washing was a bit rough, but after my head stopped getting greasy so fast it was no big deal. I tended to wash my hair about once a week, and rinsed out every couple days.

But... I wasn't frequently getting filthy. No matter where I was in the schedule I'd wash my hair after being out in the wonderful dirt for a while.

And no, they didn't smell.

...now that I'm back to washing my hair at least every couple days, it's back to getting icky in a couple days. I kinda miss the non-greasy aspect of having dreads, actually.
posted by flaterik at 3:57 PM on December 17, 2007

Get them. Who cares what other people think?

Clearly, the asker does.
posted by Dee Xtrovert at 3:57 PM on December 17, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I have seen gorgeous dreads, I have seen nasty dreads. The gorgeous ones are expensive and hard to maintain, the nasty ones seem to require no more than going on a coke and/or meth binge and forgetting to shower for a month.

They both are fucking unpleasant to get smacked in the face with when your bed-partner rolls over in the middle of the night, though.
posted by restless_nomad at 4:03 PM on December 17, 2007

I never take advice from people on cool hair unless THEY have cool hair, so ignore the faceless internet naysayers.

The right hat or covering will keep out the dirt.

If you don't like them, or they freeze or etc. you can always get rid of them.
posted by hermitosis at 4:03 PM on December 17, 2007

Hey, before Bo Derek no one thought about braids & beads on white girls either. If you have a pretty face and a nice figure, there isn't much you can't pull off.

(And if you don't, go for it anyway. It'll make for a good drunken story when you're 40.)
posted by reebear at 4:05 PM on December 17, 2007

Out of all the stupid things I've done in my life, and all the opportunities I've missed and will never have back, the one thing I regret the most is not dyeing my hair neon green in college, when I could have gotten away with it. I probably would have looked stupid, but I'll never know now, will I?

I say do it. I wouldn't do it - it's hard to look good in dreadlocks and your hair doesn't sound compatible - but this sounds like something you really want to do, and it's your hair. Get them, decide whether or not you look like a fool in them, and cut them off if you do. Or don't get them, and when you're fifty wish you had gotten them.

Nthing. Really, this is almost exactly what I would've written. Except that I'm in college now, and that's why I'm doing stupid things like dying my hair weird colors.
posted by spaceman_spiff at 4:06 PM on December 17, 2007

This isn't a question of whether or not white people should or can do dreadlocks. There is ample discussion of that elsewhere on the web.
It is a question of that, and there is going to be ample discussion of it in your face should you choose to do it.

You can't discount the grief factor in your value judgement, despite the "if you want to, do it" attitude. Fashion makes statements, and it's important you take into consideration that for a lot of people the statement you make is going to be "Hi! I'm a spacker". You do the considering now while it's still an option, not when you've no choice and are getting hassled on a Saturday night.
posted by bonaldi at 4:07 PM on December 17, 2007

(Speaking as someone who had them, and wondered where the girls went)
posted by bonaldi at 4:08 PM on December 17, 2007

The first time I got mine, I was travelling, swimming in the sea a lot, and had given up on my hairbrush. When a forming mat/clump/proto-dread got too chunky, I'd just grab it in two hands and rip it in half. I did this because I liked having long hair, but I was fed up with having to put conditioner in it just to get a brush through it.

When I got back from travelling, I kept the dreads because I was well used to them and they'd settled in to the point where I no longer had to rip them in half. Maintenance involved washing my hair with plain water (no shampoo). They would occasionally smell a bit funky if they'd taken a long time to dry, especially in winter. A swim in the sea, or if desperate a chlorinated swimming pool, would fix that.

I cut them off after an epidemic of head lice went through our share house. The only other dreadlocked occupant chose to keep hers and treat her head with kerosene. I think I suffered less. I used mine as mulch for a young pumpkin plant. It was that kind of house.

The second lot happened as a result of letting my hair grow out again and just never brushing it. Once again, ripping too-big ones in half was the only actual dread construction method.

I got rid of those a couple of years ago, since my hair was starting to thin on top and I became persuaded that Riff-Raff from the Rocky Horror Picture Show was not a look I wanted to grow into. These days I just cut everything off with the dog clippers every six months (usually the same day the angora goats get sheared).

My hair is thick and wavy, and if grown long, it frizzes like crazy when brushed dry (brushing it wet makes it go into ringlets). I got away with having dreads because of that, and because I do live somewhere warm enough to keep them mostly dry most of the time, and because they never got much actual grot rubbed into them.

Given what you've said about your hair type and your living and working environment, I can't see dreads being a good option for you right now. Maybe go travelling somewhere more equatorial, and spend a lot of time in the ocean, and see what happens then.
posted by flabdablet at 4:16 PM on December 17, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Let this be a warning to you.
posted by ColdChef at 4:20 PM on December 17, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

no
posted by loiseau at 4:21 PM on December 17, 2007

By the way: anybody considering dreads as a look, as opposed to acquiring them as an inevitable part of an overall choice of values, is probably best advised to go for some other look. Posers in dreads are instantly recognizable as such, and quite completely laughable.
posted by flabdablet at 4:32 PM on December 17, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Get them.

Shortly before I started working for The Man in earnest, I had the urge to die my hair shock blue and cut it into a mohawk. I didn't really have a reason to, I just never did when I was 16 , and at the time I was 23 and stable. I had a good job as a programmer working for a small company I loved. I could certainly afford it, so why not?

I talked to my boss, asking if he would be okay with it. His response was, "Why would I care?" I loved that place! I nearly ended up having a four-way with three girls who were trying to talk me out of it, too. Let's just say that it would have been the best move I'd ever made, had I done it.

I ended up getting a "professional" job that required slacks and button-down shirts and professionalism. At that time, the best I could do was to grow it out down to my shoulders. A pretty piss-poor substitute.

I wish I had done it. Like, really, really badly. I'll never be able to do that again without it either a) causing me to lose my job, or b) looking pathetic on a middle-aged white dude.

God damnit, do it, and do it NOW.
posted by TheNewWazoo at 4:34 PM on December 17, 2007

Nah.

I had shoulder length dreads in Scandinavia for six months in the winter. I had no issues with heat loss.

Dreads are very high maintenance. If, like me, you give up on the daily hour long grooming sessions and let them wild, they will fester and itch and harbor all kinds of nasty. You will then tend to wash them and walk-dry them off. Bad idea. Couple this with your workplace grime and you have a limp itchy hundred-tentacled sea-serpent stuck on your scalp. Uh-huh.

I shaved them off when a girlfriend said they smelled like fermented coconut - the point being the smell envelopes everything in a four foot radius which you grow oblivious to - but is immediate and jarring to others. And I hate coconut.

Also: never, ever listen to people who tell you wax-dipped dreads are for the discerning. No matter how cute they may be and/or stoned you are. Especially not if they suggest dipping your dreads themselves, lovingly, each strand at a time, interspersed with languid full-body and head massages - mmmmmm - Ack! Arggh. Aaaaaaaargh - NEVER.
posted by sushiwiththejury at 4:38 PM on December 17, 2007

Be prepared to be stopped more frequently by both policemen and drug dealers. A bedreaded, non- pot smoking, not particularly clued in friend of mine could never understand why he was subjected to so many pointless traffic stops and offers of mota.
posted by oneirodynia at 4:45 PM on December 17, 2007

anybody considering dreads as a look, as opposed to acquiring them as an inevitable part of an overall choice of values, is probably best advised to go for some other look.

But if that person got them because of a "set of values", it would be automatically okay, regardless of what the style looks like on them?

It's a look, you do what you want for whatever reason you want. Or I suppose I'm a "poser" when I curl my hair.
posted by cmgonzalez at 4:48 PM on December 17, 2007

No, matlocks are not compatible with your job, because of the dirt. They will get gross. However, if it's something you really want to do, you might as well do it. It's just hair. You can cut it off after you've gotten the urge out of your system.
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:52 PM on December 17, 2007

White men can't do dreadlocks = White men can't play the blues.
posted by ersatz at 4:57 PM on December 17, 2007

I had dreadlocks while living in Chicago. I also had dreadlocks while living in San Diego. So I've dealt with cold and I've dealt with sand. Additionally, my hair also does not naturally lock on it's own, so it did take quite a bit of work.

Putting them in will require time and patience. Helpful friends as well. Check out Dread Head HQ for useful tips and products. Their dreading kit works wonders! Make sure to get the lockpepper as well, it will save you HOURS! When I had them put in, I just rented a lot of movies bought a lot of pizza and invite friends over for a dreading party. The more people you have willing to help, the better. (You can also find some salons that will do it, but it will be expensive). The backcombing method combined with the DreadHead HQ dreadkit will work on any hair type. Everything is pretty clearly explained on their website.

The first 1-2 months are critical. Since your hair will not naturally lock, you have to make sure to follow a pretty strict maintenance routine, otherwise your hair will come out. If you keep your hair waxed and are pretty good about making sure the roots stay neat, after 1-2 months your locks will be set, and you should be good to go. After the initial setting period, maintaining your dreads will be a lot easier! You won't have to keep em waxed (although they'll look neater if you do), but you should also be maintaining your roots. Once again DreadHead provides really good instructions for this.

Dealing with the cold! DO NOT GO OUTSIDE IN FREEZING WEATHER WITH WET DREADLOCKS! The water will freeze, and it can break your dreads. It won't do it all the time and if your quick about it (like running from your house to the corner store and back) it should be fine, but if you're going to be outside for more than 10-15 minutes, make sure your head is dry. Blowdrying works fine. I bought these really cool super absorbent shammies here which I would use to dry my dreads before using the blowdryer, which made the process a lot quicker.
You should note that drying your dreads is not only important in the winter. Leaving your dreads wet for a long period of time can cause mold to grow inside the dreads and that will suck!

The Dirt Issue! This will not be a problem assuming you wash your hair! No matter what anyone tells you, you can wash dreadlocks! You have to make sure to use a residue free shampoo, otherwise the chemicals left in your hair will loosen the knots and ruin your dreads. Not to pimp DreadHead too much in one answer, but I really liked their Dread shampoo as well, but any residue free shampoo will work. I'd spend days tromping through the desert in Joshua Tree or playing in the sand on the beaches and get all sorts of crap in my hair. It will wash out, so don't worry about it. When you are first forming your dreads (that really critical first 1-2 months) washing your hair can hurt the dreads if done incorrectly. Since your hair is fine, your fingers will catch it and pull it out of the dreads, you can solve this problem by washing your hair through a stocking cap. Put the cap on your head, cover it in shampoo and lather through the stocking. This way the shampoo gets to the hair, the dirt comes out, and your fingers stay away from the lose hair.
Yes wearing a headcovering while at work will help this problem. What kind of headcovering is up too you.

For your situation, you should probably wash your hair at night when you get home from work, and then make sure they're dry before going to bed. Wake up in the morning, throw on a headcovering and head to work. Most people suggest not washing your hair every day (I've head every 2-4 days is pretty common) I tended to wash mine every 3 days, but if you think they're getting gross all the time, washing everyday with the right shampoo is not a problem.

The dreads will keep your head warm, so don't worry about that. You can always wear a wool tam or something on top if your still cold.

And as someone mentioned above, you can always comb them out if you don't like them (this takes a lot of work! But it is easier if done soon after putting them in)

I'd say go for it! They're lots of fun to have. The first 2 months is a lot of work, but after that, as long as you keep em clean and maintain your roots you're good to go. If you keep them clean, they won't smell. I wish I still had mine, but for some reason law firms didn't seem to want to hire me with em. Oh well.

Good luck! If you have any questions feel free to contact me.
posted by Arbac at 5:19 PM on December 17, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I had dreadlocks for several years. I was sexy mofo with dreadlocks, everyone loved them. Then I decided to cut them off.

IT TOOK ALL FUCKING DAY to cut them off and based on the crap I saw that had embedded itself in the locks over the years, I will never, ever get them again.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:24 PM on December 17, 2007

No!
posted by sneakin at 5:26 PM on December 17, 2007

The framing of this post makes it appear as retarded fucking chatfilter, you should have refrained from composing it with that single quotation as the headliner because if that's all the question was it should have been deleted. However, it's not the entirety of it as you have some actual questions, so I digress.

I have had dreadlocks twice, once for 3 years and now going on 4 for a second set, straight blonde hair, entirely german ancestry. It doesn't matter what kind of hair you have, proper backcombing and standard maintenance like root rubbing and palm rolling will do wonders for any kind of hair.

I live in the midwest, I wash my dreads whenever I feel like it, they do not smell. After you squeeze all the water out of them and do a towel wrap on your head as you get dressed they will not be dripping by the time you are are ready to do whatever needs to be done.

I do rare maintenance on them, because the initial investment in work is put upon the back-comber to do their job and do it well and spend the 8+ hours sitting on the couch with you in between their legs. If you buy some shitty beezwax that is filled with petroleum jelly and you back comb your hair for an hour by yourself and slap rubberbands on both ends of your "dreads" they are going to look like shit.

Just because someone hasn't seen it done well doesn't mean they've seen it all.

I had dandruff before I had dreads because I would wash my hair every day and assault my scalp with conditioners, now I have none. I wear newsboy caps, tams, and standard winter hats without issue and as a matter of fact my head is incredibly more warm than it was without the mass of tangled hair surrounding it, I don't know why you would figure the opposite. I actually prefer to hang my dreads out of my winter hats over my ears because it is like built in earmuffs, which is great because I hate earmuffs and always lose them.

If you want them gone you cut them off at the base and rock the buzzcut for a few weeks until your hair grows back in. IMO, correctly locked dreads cannot be uncombed, I don't care if you soak them in fucking gasoline for a week it should NOT happen.

I had a standard cropped/navy style haircut for most of my life, and one day decided to get dreads. Do whatever you want, just refrain from asking the goddamn internet at large what their opinion is before you do it.
posted by prostyle at 5:53 PM on December 17, 2007

I forgot to address the dirt aspect of your question.

I spend a fair amount of my workday around CNC Router/Mill equipment, which produces insane amounts of chips and debris in the field of thousandths of an inch in scale.

Wear a hat, you'll be fine with the dirt. You'll learn to deal with the extra sweat later.
posted by prostyle at 5:56 PM on December 17, 2007

Get them. Who cares what other people think?

I didn't make this post to get people's opinions on dreadlocks in general, but to get specific answers to specific questions in order to inform my decision. I'm sorry if that wasn't clear. I understand how the headliner could be misleading. Rest assured that I do plan to do whatever I feel like doing. :)
posted by ramenopres at 6:37 PM on December 17, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I don't have dreadlocks, but my partner does - waist length. Based on that my answer would be:

1. Dreadlocks are very high maintenance. Seriously - lots of twisting and product application is required. And from what you say, your hair may require even more.

2. You won't be washing your hair very often - once a week generally. If your work gets you very dirty, then dreads are not for you. Having dreads does not = stinky hair, but your job does sound like it would be the case.

3. Seriously - you can't wash your hair a lot - it will take all day to dry.

4. If you are young and you really want to do it, then why not? You only live once and you can always cut it off. That is the cool thing about hair - it grows back.
posted by mkim at 6:41 PM on December 17, 2007

People have answered most of this, but just chiming in. I had dreads for... ten years maybe. I cut them off two years ago because I started swimming regularly and they didn't dry right. Most of the time if you are not swimming they don't really get wet because water runs off of them, so I wouldn't worry about that part. More answers

- you can wash your hair with dreads, dirt is no problem
- I didn't wash mine much, they didn't smell, itch, whatever. I know other people who had this problem
- I had the opposite issue of bonaldi, I wondered where all the guys went AFTER I cut them off
- they are HEAVY. I swear I had neck problems as a result of waist-length dreads for so long. Yoga helped.
- I was a librarian with dreads and no one cared, it was fine
- I loved how low-maintenance they were, very easy to deal with, keep clean and tie back and forget about. I dislike having to fuss with my hair

So I say go for it if you think you're going to grow out of it later. You can always cut them off.
posted by jessamyn at 6:41 PM on December 17, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

If you do it, please find a stylist who knows how to properly "lock" hair. Fine Scandinavian hair is not going to take to this naturally. It'll just end up looking matted and nasty. Properly styled and maintained dreadlocks look great on anyone, and would be awesome on a Scandinavian, but bad ones will have people avoiding you in the subway.
posted by nax at 6:59 PM on December 17, 2007

White boy? No.
posted by electroboy at 7:43 PM on December 17, 2007

No.

Did you ever see that episode of "What Not To Wear"? Call me crazy, but when the hairdresser was trying to saw through them, and all the dust and grime came out... ew. Even the person having the makeover admitted they were heavy, and tended to pick up all kinds of debris, including smoke and cooking odours.

However, it's your hair.
posted by Savannah at 7:59 PM on December 17, 2007

Another vote for yes on the sole reasoning that you can COMB THEM OUT if you find you don't like them. I had them for 6 years and they were down to my waist. I wanted them gone but I wanted the length, so I just combed them out. People think you can't but YOU CAN. They are NOT permanent, just a hassle if you want to keep the length. DO IT!
posted by crustix at 8:00 PM on December 17, 2007

Please. Don't.
posted by notjustfoxybrown at 8:10 PM on December 17, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

My main motivation for getting dreadlocks would be that I think they look really, really cool, and this is the last good time to get them.

That's it? That's the best you got? I think that sounds really, really weak. (But I am a functionalist with hair that is fine and straight. I don't care to do anything which adds one more minute to my daily routine.)

That you came here to ask suggests your will not go through with it, although, like others have noted, it's hair. HAIR! Eventually, it will grow back and then, inevitably, fall out.
posted by Dick Paris at 11:01 PM on December 17, 2007

Don't get 'em. They're dumb unless you're a Rastafarian.
posted by Caper's Ghost at 5:16 AM on December 18, 2007

Never.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 6:08 AM on December 18, 2007

I dated a guy for several years who had decided to get locks. He had ultra fine hair. You really have to decide what kind of dreads you like. He wanted very neat, thin dreads. We found a very esoteric african salon who took 10 + hours to lock his hair.

What we learned: very fine hair will take lots of work, but it can be done. You can clean them, you will need to pay attention to little ones cause they can combine on you, lastly you can not "unlock" locked dreads. Don't look at them when you finally cut them off, they are really, really gross.

In all sincerity, if you are in a position in life where it doesn't matter what your hair looks like, go for it, its a memory if nothing else.
posted by stormygrey at 6:53 AM on December 18, 2007

Wow. A lot of misinformation and useless assumptions being tossed out here.

Count me in the "white with dreads" category. I've had dreads for 2+ years now and don't have any plans to remove them any time soon.

Arbac pretty much has it right. DreadHQ is one of the leading authorities on Caucasian dreadlocks - the other being KnottyBoy . I chose to follow the Knotty Boy guidelines and buy their products mostly because they're all natural products, not animal tested, and the information on their website seemed to me the most useful and comprehensive. YMMV.

The first 6 months were the worst - there was a lot of maintenance (as described on the Knotty Boy site) and they didn't really look great most of the time. The Knotty Boy wax product that held everything together is a little messy, but after 6 months or so, I was pretty much done with it.

I used the Knotty Boy dread soap for the first 2 years, but its pretty expensive. I recently found Dr. Bronners on Amazon for ~2 bucks per bar and it works great!

I am bothered by the wet dread/drying process. I live in the midwest and the wet dreads are pretty cold in the winter. I've found, though, that wringing and shaking after a shower helps a lot, then wrapping my hair in a towel for awhile. Some days I'll take a blowdryer to it, but it would take hours to completely dry.

In your situation, I'd suggest showering after you get home from work to remove the dirt, etc.. that you might pick up. This should give you good time to dry before you go to bed.

I don't notice my dreads making my head any colder in the winter than before the dreads, but I still like to put a big wool hat on. I have had trouble finding hats to cover my ears though, since the dreads seem to keep the hat higher on my head - again, YMMV.

I mountain bike 3-6 days per week and my dreads don't stink or get 'funky' even with the helmet and sweat. I wash them almost daily in the summer, and a little less frequently in the winter.

Yes, your fine hair can dread with the right 'help' - it will take products and work, but it can be done and it can look good.

Yes, dreads can be brushed out after soaking in conditioner.

And, contrary to popular belief, dreadlocks are actually one of the most healthy ways you can keep your hair. I no longer use any hair care products other than the Dr. Bronner's soap and an occasional spray of Knotty Boy conditioner in the winter.

Finally - to put some perspective around the style and look, I 'created' my dreadlocks when I worked for a Tier3 automotive supplier as a Network Engineer. I was able to acquire a job with one of the largest Catholic Health Care organizations in the country, in the corporate offices, as a Network Security Engineer with said dreadlocks.

Sorry for the long post - hope the information helps. For what its worth, I scoured the internet for nearly 2 years looking for dreadlock information before I took the plunge. I can't recommend this enough - look through DreadHQ and KnottyBoy websites and choose a method that makes sense to you and stick with it.

Good Luck and have fun!
posted by CorporateHippy at 9:03 AM on December 18, 2007

Hi, a little late to the party, but I sent your question to my be-dreaded sibling and this was her response:

can i get dreads even if i live in subzero temperatures sometimes? oh absolutely, yes! theoretically you could get them during the winter, but i would recommend against it. i love my dreadlocks in the winter because they are thick thick thick and keep my ears warm something wonderful! i have also just found out that i can tuck them into the front of my coat for even MORE warmth! that's why hair is there, right? warmth and protection. i generally don't wash my dreads in the winter. it's just a bad idea. and if i am going to wash them, i make sure i'm not going to have to leave the house for at least a day or two to allow for a massive blowdrying operation. but keep in mind, i've had these babies for almost 4 years now, they are getting very long and heavy and thick so they take about 2 - 3 days to dry. your dreads won't freeze and snap off.. that's just silly.

as i mentioned before, my dreads actually keep my head pretty warm. i haven't had to wear a real hat all winter, just loose tams and floppy bowl thingies, my dreads do all the work. so don't worry about your head getting too cold. it gets a little hot in the summer time, but it's not impossible to adjust to.

dirt: i haven't worked in dirty places, per se, but more very sticky places that are swarming with dairy products and sugar and stuff of the sort. i've never experienced my dreads actually getting dirty as a result of where i've worked.. and man, selling ice cream gets HELLA intense and that shit gets everywhere (literally). i found if i covered my hair with a bandana, everything would be a-ok. so i think if you got them, keep them tucked up in a big ol' tam or some other kind of hat or similar hair containment device, everything will be alright.

hair: people with ANY texture or thickness of hair can get dreadlocks!! i am a testament to that. myself and my awesome brother (who is posting this for me) both have pretty fine, super super super silky hair. you can literally tie our hair in knots and it will just spring right out. so naturally, my hair doesn't lock up on it's own, and natural dreadlocks would never be viable.. or maybe with several years of neglect but that's not my style. dreadlocks WILL work in your hair with lots of back-combing and tender loving care. and remember, dreadlocks are not a hairstyle, they're a lifestyle.
also good to know...
the more you wash your hair, the greasier it gets and faster. the more you remove your scalps natural oils, the more it feels the need to replenish them. honestly, since i've gotten dreadlocks, my hair doesn't get dirty. it will take it several months to feel slightly greasy on my hands after playing with them. they never ever smell, they don't collect strange debris or what have you, and considering that now they're down to almost the small of my back, i consider this pretty amazing. i used to get very greazy hair as well, but since i stopped washing my hair... that's all changed.

If you have any more questions she's happy to answer, so free to MeFiMail them to me and I'll pass them on.
posted by benign at 3:32 PM on December 18, 2007