Tip rubbing is where you rub the tip in a circular motion against the palm of your hair. The action is similar to using a pestle and mortar and you work the tip of the dreadlock into a ball shape. This action simulates wear and tear on the tip of the dreadlock that would over time cause some dreads to blunt so tip rubbing is an alternative to crocheting when it comes to trying to blunt tips.
Tip rubbing will not work for everyone as your dreadlocks need to already be on their way to being mature before the tip rubbing will even have a chance because the tip already needs to be partially locked - you can't tip rub on a dread that has 6 inches of loose hair at the end!
Tips formed with tip rubbing are not guaranteed to hold their shape and will often take a lot of work to get them good and solid and some people might not find it useful at all.
Tip rubbing like all friction based maintenance techniques does wear on the hair so excessive, continuous or long term use can eventually lead to hair damage, but damage at the tips is far less worrying than damage elsewhere - the roots for example.
I am just starting my dreads and I haven't decided if I was blunt end or if I was to keep the tails. If I keep the tails does that mean I will have to keep back combing longer? I do know it will be a long time for them to mature and I am good with that. I'm just curious as to which is best?
ReplyDeleteYou backcomb them the once and wait. You can backcomb right to the tips and knot them right up, but it's unlikely that this will remain knotted and will usually come out after the first few washes. Some hair will blunt naturally, but more often than not the hair has to be encouraged or forced to remain blunted, but this can only really be effectively be done once the body of the dread is strong enough to hold in the tips.
DeleteSome spots in my locks look matted. Is there a way to fix those ?
ReplyDeleteIs it ok to comb out just the tips and re back comb that area. My dreads were completely free forming and now the ends are very loose and loopy as such. I tried it with one and it looked a bit more uniform at the end, which was my goal just wanted to know your take on it . Cheers
ReplyDeleteyes, I have done this and with good results.
DeleteWhilst making my dreads, I blunted the ends with a crochet hook. They were blunt from day one. At some point I decided to just brush out the tips and try my way with loose ends.
Just comb them out, but do so carefully, try not to break or wear out your hair. you can use some pure argan oil to help the detangling-process along. wash your hair to get all the newly combed hair straight and oils out and you are free to backcomb or crochet your tips. or maybe just keep the loose ends if you like it?