Finger Rolling Dreadlocks

Finger Rolling is so much like palm rolling it almost doesn't need it's own section. It's really just a variation of palm rolling that's done just with your fingers instead of your palms. It does the same thing and it's interchangeable in some cases, but if you have very thin dreads you'll probably find it's easier to finger roll the dreads, especially near the roots. Finger Rolling at the roots is often done right after clockwise rubbing to help the new knots compress and tighten.

That last bit could be pretty confusing since Clockwise Rubbing happens on the "A" Week and Finger Rolling happens on the "B" Week right? Here's the skinny...You can palm roll and finger roll during the "A" Week and it will help. In fact I highly recommend that you always palm roll or finger roll your dreads right after clockwise rubbing and dread balling loose hair. This will help compress everything as much as possible and give those new knots a bit more staying power. It's true that you would get better results from the same palm rolling if it were done while wax was present on the "B" Week but don't let that stop you from getting all the benefit you can...any time you've just created knots.

 

How to Finger Roll


Just grab the dread between your thumb and forefinger and roll it back and forth keeping it under a bit of pressure. You can try adding support from your bird flippin' finger, just see what works best. As long as you're able to squeeze the dread together from all sides it will help the knots compress together and allow them to tighten. Wax, if present, will take over from there, holding the knots more compressed than they would normally stay so that they can compress further next time.



If your dreads are pretty thick, having sections greater than 1" square you may find palm rolling always works better or is more comfortable than finger rolling. I didn't really start using finger rolling until I started my second set of dreads with 1/2" sections. One nice thing about finger rolling is that it can be done with only one hand which means you can pull it off while driving and you'll look like less of an idiot of you start doing it in a movie theater out of habit. =]

 That's pretty much it for the A-B Maintenance Routine and the "A" Week and "B" Week activities. Now we'll look at how you can use rubber band and elastics to help your dreads and reduce maintenance...