late night thoughts and a loc FAQ

I really should be asleep, but it isn’t happening. But my head is full of random loc thoughts and now is as good of a time for a brain dump as any.

I’m really surprised at how fast my hair is growing. It was a lot harder to notice while my hair was loose – between shrinkage and breakage, I thought that the 1/2 inch a month thing didn’t apply to me. But with locs, the new growth is obvious. I’m sticking to stretching out my latchings to every 2 months. I don’t really like my hair right after it is latched and I’d rather have some extra growth to work with so it doesn’t look as scalpy. Of course, that means I have to be more diligent about separating my locs after I wash – the extra growth and my lazy  post-shampoo upkeep has led to some serious tangles.

Also, I am in love with head wraps, bands and head coverings right now. I’m not sure why – it hasn’t been that cold so far. I just like the look of them and it gets me out of wild loc days.

And since I’ve been asked a lot of questions over the last couple of months (I must look more approachable), here is my loc FAQ.

How do you wash your hair?

Usually, I use shampoo and conditioner. If I feel like I have some extra buildup, I add some baking soda to diluted shampoo and finish with a apple cider vinegar rinse instead of my usual conditioner.

Can you take them out?

Technically, yes. However, because I have had them for about 18 months now and they are latched rather than twisted, this would be a long tedious process that I have no patience for.

How do you make them so soft and clean?

Shampoo and conditioner. Occasionally some oil.

How long are you going to keep them?

I don’t know. Until I am ready to do something else. But the idea of salt and pepper locs appeals to me. Then again, so does a silver Afro.

How long are they going to grow?

I have no idea. I have never had really long hair – even the longest braid extensions I have had stopped just below the shoulder. When my loose hair got to my shoulders, I always ended up cutting it because the length annoyed me. I have fantasies of bra length locs, but I don’t know if I have the patience to care for them. I usually look at people with long locs and wonder how long they take to dry and then envy their head wraps.

Can I touch your hair?

Well, since you asked first…

Lessons learned

Lesson 1: The best way to detangle my hair
As I mentioned yesterday, leaving the palm coils in for so long and getting them wet created a lot of knots, snags, tangles and matting in my hair. But I managed to get them out without much of a problem. Since I see this question posted a lot on various hair boards, I’m going to post my answer here.
Step 1: I generously apply conditioner to my hair from ends to root while the twists/braids/coils are still in. I don’t think that it is possible to add too much conditioner, I just keep putting it on until my hair is completely saturated. I do not try to untwist or comb my hair in any way.
Step 2: I put on a shower cap and wrap a towel around the shower cap. My microfiber turban is my favorite for this because it stays put.
Step 3: Wait 15-30 minutes. I don’t really time it, I just go do stuff until I am ready to proceed to….
Step 4: I begin to untwist/uncoil my hair. As I undo each twist, I gently comb. Once I undo an entire section, I gently brush it with my wooden brush.
Step 5: I rinse my hair. Sometimes, this is a pre shampoo treatment and sometimes I rinse and style.