5 Reasons Why People Wax Dreadlocks

If you're considering waxing dreadlocks, be advised:  you're about to step into a big pile of hot wax yourself.  Waxing is very controversial, and passionate, intelligent people argue for and against it.  I finally decided to test it out on my own head to benefit people who are thinking about getting dreadlocks.

But the controversy doesn't have much effect on the decision to use wax.  I've compiled these reasons why people use wax in their dreadlocks to help explain why.

1. Google loves wax.  Do a search for "dreadlocks" and what do you see?  If you're like me, your eye drifts down past the paid results, and because I'm looking for more in-depth information, right on past Wikipedia, and I click on Dreadlocks.com.  That site gives a bunch of advice, and has prominent links to DreadHeadHQ, which is where I got my start.
   Bottom line:  sites which advocate wax come up higher in search engine results.
2. Wax replaces patience.  "If you want tighter locks faster, you will use wax."  Dreadlocks, like yoga, is all about patience, but there are plenty of people who are interested in getting the results in as short a time as possible.  If someone wants it badly enough, he or she will decide that the information supporting wax is more compelling than the warnings against it.
   Bottom line:  People believe what they want to believe.
3. Smooth is sexy.  Locking hair involves a lot of fuzzy areas.  Getting dreadlocks tight and smooth is a goal for a lot of people, because it is easier to maintain a clean, simple profile with mature locks.  Fuzzy gets connected with dirty in peoples' mind for some reason.  Smooth, not so much.  Wax can indisputably create less of a flyaway appearance, and that's something a lot of people value.
   Bottom line:  People like the look of waxed locks.



Short dreadlocks laugh at gravity

4. Waxed locks behave.  I've had my locks for a year now, and those first few months were rough!  I had to cover my hair or beat it into submission on days when I simply couldn't afford to look ridiculous.  (There were plenty of times when I actually reveled in how silly my hair looked, but it definitely was ridiculous.)  I used a bunch of techniques, including hats, water, and wax in various combinations, one of which I would not recommend.  A small amount of wax in a dreadlock makes it go where you want it to.  If a waxy core really does build up inside a waxed lock, it's not enough to make it permanently into a bendy figure.
   Bottom line:  Wax gets young locks to lie flat.
5. Marketing.  What wax opponents wish wasn't true is that marketing matters.  Every tale told about the horrors of wax may be true, or they could shameless anti-wax rumors, but none of that matters.  What matters is that dreadlock wax is marketed to fulfill a perceived need.  The information is easier to find, and its reported benefits speak to the desires of a wide swath of people.  Opposition to waxing has little to no money, and without a profit motive it also lacks a really cohesive strategy which would link its facts to the desires people have.  In the "industrialized world," people are programmed to seek out the product which will solve the problem in the most efficient way.  That solution doesn't have to be effective, it just has to be convincing.
   Bottom line:  Marketing works because people want the easy answer.

For every argument against wax, there is a plausible counterargument.  It can be frustrating to try to figure out the truth.  The one thing that is absolutely true is that no harm will come to your hair because you choose not to wax your dreadlocks.  Using wax might make them lock faster, or it could put them on the path to ruin, depending on what you choose to believe.  The truth probably is more complex, containing aspects of both sides of the story.

When it comes down to it, wax is a personal decision.  Some people don't ever know it has baggage, and other people don't care.  There will always be waxers, and those who try to talk them out of it.  Which will you be?