"OMG, Never Crochet Your Hair!" and Similar Freak-Outs on the Road to Dreadlock Maturity

photo courtesy of the HorseTalker

Whoa.

Seriously, whooooaaa, slow down there, Nelly.

Whew!

By posting about starting my locs, I seem to have stumbled unawares into a long-standing controversy over using the crochet method to dreadlock your hair.

This video by youtuber LazyDreads sums up the entire brouhaha in a quite tidy way:

But here's my take on things from research and my baby loc'd experience:

FREAK-OUT #1 - "OMG, crocheting will rip out your hair and the locs will eventually fall off!"

Well, yes. That is absolutely correct...

IF you crochet the wrong way, basically yeah, you will indeed ruin your hair by being some kinda yank-and-stabby, crochet-hook-wielding, serial-hair-killer lunatic.

Bad technique can ruin a head of hair. The locs may look fine for a while (even up to two years, I've heard, in some cases) but eventually the stab-and-tear, hair-killer approach will cause damage and the loc can just fall off.

But this does not happen if you get your hair done by someone who is skilled, experienced, and does it properly.

FREAK-OUT #2 - "That's cheating! Crocheting locs is a just a shortcut and you're not on a real dreadlock journey!"

Uh-huh. Riiiiight.

Okay, I'll bite: cheating whom? Shortcut to what?

It's your own, real hair being worked into knots and loc'd. You will still have baby locs.

You will still go through all the stages of locking, by-passing only the immediate danger of baby locs easily unravelling, particularly if you have a loose-textured or straight hair type that can easily slip out or fall out of a loc started using a twist method or backcombing alone, or by any product-free method.

FREAK-OUT #3 - "Crochet locs aren't real locs! They are faked!"

Again, what we are talking about here is a set of locs started on your own, real hair (not purchased, pre-loc'd hair that is attached using a crochet hook; that is something different). I fail to see what is fake about that.

Also, a proper crochet method allows you to avoid using any product to start your locs. You'll start your locs residue and gunk free, which is a brilliant thing for the health of your hair and scalp and the longevity of your locs.

(And personally, when it comes to those who choose to use extensions or yarn or attach faux locs, etc, etc, etc -- to each her/his own. Who's to judge?)

FREAK-OUT #4 - "But crocheted are 'instant locs' and cannot unravel, and that's just not fair!"

Seriously? C'mon now... avoiding early and unnecessary unravelling is a good thing, especially if your lifestyle, budget, workplace, or other considerations demand it.

Yes -- so long as you are careful not to do a deep-dive, finger scrubbing, vigorous shampoo in the first days after getting your locs started by crochet method -- the locs are in one sense "instant", in that they will retain their shape and not unravel or be combed out easily if you find that you've changed your mind about dreadlocks for the long-run.

The Truth About Crochet-method Dreadlocks (According to Yuna)

They are not a cheat.

They are not a trick.

They are not a lie, a fake, necessarily damaging, or in any other sense a 'bad' thing.

And they are not so much instant dreadlocks as they are an instant commitment.

You really cannot comb out a crochet-made loc in the first 3-12 months of your loc journey, the way you can with locs made by twist or braid methods, for instance. Pretty much right away, crochet-method formed locs establish your feet firmly on the road to having locs for life.

So while I don't buy into the criticisms of this method creating an instant and thereby 'manufactured product' out of your hair, I do see it as instantly establishing your faith in your choice to go dread.

It's instant dedication.