How to Untangle Natural Dreadlocks: A Step by Step Guide

Here is an extensive step-by-step guide on how to untangle your dreadlocks without losing any hair length or causing damage to your hair follicles.

Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to cut out your natural hair just because you want to revert from dreadlocks to natural individual hair.

Dreadlocks are such a beautiful and high-maintenance hairstyle which draws a lot of people to it, however, if you do not dedicate the needed time and patience to grooming it, you may soon get tired of it.

Whether you have decided to get your dreadlocks to make fashion statements or have had to embrace this style for spiritual purposes, career reasons, personal expression etc, we have curated this extensive guide to show you how to untangle dreadlocks with ease.

If you are attempting to untangle your dreadlocks, proper care and methods must be applied. Bearing in mind that the duration of the dreadlocks will be a determinant of how long this process will take.

Preparing your Dreadlocks for Untangling

After you have decided to untangle your dreadlocks, start by washing your dreadlocks every two days until the actual take-out day; this is so that different residues, grease, and previously applied hair products will be washed out appropriately.

On the take-out day, prepare moderately warm water in a basin or a container where you can comfortably sit and have your dreadlocks soaked in for a minimum of 15 minutes. To prevent further hair damage, while drying your dreadlocks with a towel, ensure your dreadlocks are left a bit damp for the next stage.

Hydrating your Dreadlocks before Untangling

Using a spray bottle, apply hair oil such as coconut oil or a leave-in condition to each dreadlock. Each dreadlock needs to be hydrated with either of the aforementioned. This helps keep the dreadlocks wet enough so that when it is being untangled, it will not rip out the hair or cause any damage.

Combing Through Your Dreadlocks

Remember here, after selecting each dreadlock, the first thing is to hydrate by spraying with a good hair oil or deep conditioner; then proceed to using a rat-tail comb to gently divide the hair into tiny sections – imagine you are trying to comb through your hair, but with a rat tail comb, and in this case, you are sectioning only one strand of dreadlocks back to its natural setting. Thus, this has to be done with patience and almost surgical precision to avoid losing your hair length.

Remember, you have carried these dreadlocks for as long as you can remember, therefore, it will be a slow but sure process.

Deep Wash Your Untangled dreadlocks

Congratulations!

You have now learnt how to untangle your dreadlocks and have carried it out with such grace – please go ahead to deep clean with a good shampoo and conditioning.

Hair Examination

Let’s be real, your hair won’t miraculously be the same after all these months, and years of being locked – you may now have to examine different aspects of your hair, i.e. after washing and drying your hair.

Check your hair for any signs of damage, split, length, growth or reduction in volume as this would determine the appropriate care your newly untangled dreadlocks need the most.

It is advisable to choose products that have been designed specifically for afro-textured hair all through this process.