Dreadlocks

Do Dreadlocks Get Thicker

black men dreadlocks

A great question for people with locs is do dreadlocks get thicker? The answer is yes. Normally they shrink a little as the locs get tighter and then they thicken up some but not a lot. To add girth to your dreads you should marry different sections, but keep in mind the thicker your dreads get the harder it will be to reach and clean your scalp.



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About the author

thirsty roots®

Our goal is to share the beauty of Afro-textured hair and to have a place where we can come together to get examples, advice, and information of black hair growth and hairstyles. Whether you have permed, pressed, or natural hair it's still black hair and it's beautiful.

13 Comments

  • My two boys, and husband have dreads…. HELP!!! My oldest sons dreads is getting thin, and breaking off what can I do to prevent this. My youngest sons dreads are thick and all drawn up, is there anything I can to do to make them longer? Now my husband dreads are doing great, but his are getting thin in the middle, almost like a bald spot what can I do for that. I do their dreads myself, so what is the best shampoo, oils, etc for their hair.

  • @Sonya, try Jamaican black castor oil. It is used to thicken hair.

    @Shauntae, are you twisting their locs too often?

  • @Shauntae: Hi Shauntae, as a loctician, I’ve come across different unhealthy issues with dreads, and thinning and breakage are a couple. There may be different reasons for your son’s loc breaking – and may be due to dryness, braiding stress or the hanging weight of long hair.

    If hair is dry, moisturize – use natural oils to oil hair and scalp (olive oil, coconut oil…., leave in conditioners, moisture conditioning treatments…) Remember, dry hair breaks easily. Moisturizing the hair will strengthen it.

    If thinning is caused by the hair constantly hanging, and weighing down the base, then keep locs styled in twists/braids (ensure that braids are not too tight to prevent stress on hair and scalp), bons, etc. Thinnning may not be cause by heavy weight of locs or breakage, but can also be hereditary.

  • Hair thinning can be from a silica deficiency. If you purchase some silica and take the recommended dose then the roots and hair itself will strengthen, thicken , have more elasticity and will be really hard to break.

  • When you marry your dreads, it’s better to take the 2 dreads u want to marry, and stick one of the dreads thru the root of the other instead of twisting them together. It’s a moral natural lock, and they don’t come untwisted. This is what I did, and my dreads look great.

  • Itching scalp? I found 2 things that was causing this with me. One: I am allergic to wheat and milk. Two: I’m highly sensitive to the chemicals in store bought cleansers and conditioners, even the “natural” ones. I now only eat wheat and milk occasionally. This abstinence has done wonders for even my itching skin and rashy face. I also switched to weekly washing my scalp & locs with a baking soda & water pudding — a natural cleaning. After I rinse it out, I condition with a 1/2 organic apple cider vinegar/water mix. I then rinse that out and spritz my drying hair, not scalp, with my favorite fragrance. In summer, I rinse my sweating locs and scalp nearly every day with plain water – less in winter. Monthly, I hot oil scalp and locs with a natural oil (coconut or light olive oil) making sure to rinse it out with very warm water before I do the above wash. I never twist my locks, only binding stray growth into a loc. This may sound like a lot, but it truly is very low maintenance. And, I have great looking dreads. I started my 4″ dreads with thinning hair that was going bald on the sides and top. It is now 3 years and they are 4″ away from my waist. After years of perms and scalp-bulb destroying braids, my hair has filled in nicely. Although it will never be as thick as it was when I was a kid, I’m loving my hair again and I love, love, love, my dread locs! Good luck, I hope you find the a solution that works for you.

  • Hi Have locs but i keep it at a certain lenght as i don,t want it to heavy as it grows! i’ve seen too many locs where it looks great from the bottom half, but the top bit (Roots looks so thin), with mine it’s quite thick but there are some bits where i had to joint together. Please advise me to keep the roots thick that’s the main thing is the roots not the bottom bit.

    Many thanks

  • I love my dreads but they soak up oil sheen I put they stay dry I try to use a lot of products wit vitamin e in it I can go through a can of olive oil oil sheen in 2 weeks cause they be so dry and white at the scalp and my back 2 rows r hanging by a few hairs. A few on the third row as well I have started connecting them together hoping they will catch and lock together watch should I do I even put hot oil treatments n myhmy hair I’m goin start back deep conditioning as well I truly need some help cause they are about shoulder length and I feel like I have came to far to cut them all off please help me cause I take the can off oilsheen and spray hard in da area that’s bad

  • Hey , my name is ashley williams i have been growing my locks for awhile and i started off with real fine hair , and every time i wash my locks they feel so thick but when i go to get them retwisted they are all small and thin and some are thin now , i really love my locs and i don’t want them to break off so what can i do to make them thick i just order some Jamaican castor oil (black ) hopefully that helps . but i would love to make more advice please .

  • I have had locs for 8 years now. First of all I find that the less you twist your hair the stronger the loc becomes. After washing and conditioning, carefully pull them apart. Marry the ones you think you need to marry. Twist your locs about once every two months. Let your roots thicken. When you go to the shop they twist them too tight clip them and put you under a dryer. Locs don’t like dryers. Let them dry naturally. You will see a difference.

  • I am three months into my lock journey and i just had my first wash yesterday and i noticed after i was done twisting that i have 3 dreads that looks more like twists than dreads im starting to get discouraged i dont know what to do. Please help

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