If wax is bad why do some people still recommend it?

When you're thinking about starting dreadlocks or already have young dreadlocks you're very likely to come across dreadlock products such as waxes and gels. Now I've covered the reasons why waxes and gels should never be applied to dreadlocks in my 'why wax is bad for dreadlocks' section but there are still many people and companies out there that will try and convince you that wax is great for dreadlocks, so I thought I would try and explain why they're compelled to do so.


3 kinds of people recommend waxes:

People who sell the products-
They want you to buy the wax because they want to make money off you, they take advantage of the fact that dreadlocks are messy when they're young and convince people that the wax solves that problem. When the wax slows down the progress of the dreadlocks they will continue to stay messy and therefore you'll be compelled to buy even more of their products. A cycle of buying lots of products and seeing little dreadlock progress ensues.

People who work at hair salons-
Now if they've never had waxy dreads they probably don't know any better - it's very easy to believe that wax is good for the dreads because there's so much marketing for the various wax products because there's money to be made from it! not so much marketing out there for staying away from wax - because there's no money to be made there! So a hairdresser may very well believe that they're doing the right thing. But I believe the main reason a hairdresser will recommend wax is because it makes their life easier. Young dreads are messy, it's just a fact. When dreadlocks are started, that's it - they're started. It takes months and months before they mature into the strong long ropes that people picture when they get into dreadlocks. When someone pays a hairdresser to start their dreads (which is often a considerable sum because a lot of their time is used) they might be very disappointed to find out that they just ended up with a some messy lumps of hair and not actually dreadlocks at all! - because the dreadlocks take months of patience, not hours and dollars spent at a salon. So a hairdresser would find it highly beneficial to use wax because it will stick the hairs together and make them look all round more dreadlock-like! the customer thinks they've got great looking tight, neat dreads and isn't going to complain!.... months later when the customer finds their dreads are actually not maturing as they should, they're collecting dirt, feeling waxy against their face and just acting like lumps of gunked up hair... well it's rather hard for them to go back to the hairdresser and complain after all those months have passed - it's too late.

People who also use wax-
Because there's so much bright and shiny marketing around wax products - normally with cheesy grinning cartoons, bubbly spokespeople and glowing testimonials lots of people will jump to recommend wax to you. They don't know how dreadlocks are supposed to be and are supposed to develop and normally have young dreads themselves and are convinced that the wax is great for their hair and put their trust in the wax sellers. These people will try and push wax on you so you're both in the same situation. A few months down the line when un-waxed dreads are really starting to mature and look nice and lush and their dreads are still hard lumps of gunked hair with loose roots they'll come to regret their decisions... or buy more wax and products to try and remedy the issue and just instead make it worse.