Quite often with dreadlocks repair appointments, clients with thinning hair

want to know “should you combine your locs or just start over?”.  It is hard to have one straight answer to questions like these as the solution varies with each case!

When it comes to maintenance,  I have had situations that required more “creative thinking” to

retain the dread/loc.  I find it depends largely on how much time has passed before the client came in for repair.  Those that waited years usually ended up having little choice as to what happens because it is now freeform dread/locs and I form them according to the size that works. 

If you are asking the question: “should you combine your locs or just start over?”, here are a few

scenarios that might require it:

• If the hair is essentially a plot of tiny loc strands and the client does not want to start over for say financial or spiritual reasons, then we join them to the size agreed on.
• The dread/locs hang by a thread of hair and the bottoms are maybe as thick as a pencil or larger, then either cutting, combing out and combining two them is a possible solution.
• Strands of different dreads/locs have sealed together and pulling them apart would take the hair out, then officially combining them is necessary.
• The client comes in with a large number of strands that have fallen out and the hair is mostly straight hair – making new dreads and using the broken ones as extensions if possible.
• The client has various really short pieces among the shoulder-length dreads/locs – maybe putting the short ones with the largers ones or cutting some of the really long locs to use as extensions.
• If each appointment is a repair for dreads/locs that have either broken or fallen out – starting them over is probably best.

Most clients know what size dreads/locs they want.  I know when calls start coming for sisterlocs

or microlocs, Pinterest has posted the hair of some influencer/stylist and fantasizing folks want that flush, bouncy set of sisterlocs/microlocs immediately.  Although, I do not do those, I have had to explain to them that you only get what your hair density will allow. 

The look they want is also usually from someone with maybe 10 years growth and different genetics. 

This has to be kept in mind when taking the amount of hair at the beginning because when the hair locks, it shrinks in size.  If your hair was already thin, when it reaches your shoulders, if it gets there, it will start breaking even if it is sisterlocs/microlocs.  

The type of food you have is also important.  I once had a client who had dreads/locs for years. When I

saw her hair, they looked like spaghettini, with broken ends.  I did the general health check: how is your iron; do you eat vegetables? if they say they eat vegetables often: which ones – usually they eat lettuce tomatoes and carrots and we take the discussion further from there.  This client ate very well and had been vegetarian for a long time so nutrient intake was not the problem.  My solution was to join four or more of her tiny dreads/locs into one.  Six months later, her hair was falling mid back.