How Often You Should Retighten

I got a comment earlier this month and have tried replying several times but whenever I select send, the reply would disappear so I decided to write a longer version.

I have mentioned in one of my first posts that I keep to a 4-week schedule for retightening my locs. I was recently asked about when my locs are mature, how often would I need to retighten them. So for the final time - here it goes:

The general rule for retightenings (for me) is no less than 4 weeks and no longer than 10 weeks.

Retightening too often can place tension of the base of the locs which can lead to the loc itself thinning out and eventually breaking. If you keep the base loose enough, you might be able to avoid all those problems but why would you risk it? No true professional will do it for you so with self retightenings taking so long, who really wants to do that more often than once a month?

On the other hand, waiting too long between sessions has its own challenges that can result in locs breaking or merging together. Palm rolling allows the hair to loc from the outside inwards. Unlike palm rolling, the interlocked hair is forced into the shape of locs and the outer part grows around what is there. When you wait too long there is nothing there for the loc to form around and the base becomes weaker and more likely to break when it is retightened. The second issue is simpler but no less annoying to deal with. Even when I had my traditional locs this was an issue for me. Locs merging together little hairs wrap around other hairs nearby. It happens all the time, but when left alone, these can lead to painful separation or the locs being so entangled that they must either be cut or left to form one thicker loc.

The sweet spot for retightening mature locs is between six and eight weeks. I am by no means an expert, but from my research and knowledge of my own hair, I will be attempting a six week schedule for myself when my locs get to that point. It is up to you to find a schedule to work with what you have. If you can stand your roots looking extremely wild, stretch that time to eight weeks but if you're like me and cannot stand that look for more than a week, keep it short at six weeks.

Right now at about twenty months, I still have locs unravel completely and plenty that are looking almost mature. It's a very interesting stage to be in as you go back and forth between being excited about having mature locs and being disappointed at the lack of progress in others. I am looking forward to the day when I can stop retightening every four weeks. Hopefully, it will happen within the next six months.

Special thanks to Still Learning My Natural Hair.

The Loc Addict Out.
- Lata.