Can I dread layered or thinned hair? - Dreadlocks FAQ's

If your hair is layered instead of being all one length or if you've had a stylist thin out your hair to make it easier to manage it will effect your dreads but it's generally nothing to worry about.

The more hair you have in your dreads the faster they will lock and the fuller they will look. If you thin the hair, initially you'll have thinner and possibly shorter dreads - probably not what you want. However, since that hair will be growing out later after it's dreaded your dreads will thicken as they grow. The length of the dreads that was originally backcombed with the hair thinned will remain a bit thinner. This may not be a big deal though, especially if you're not stating dreads in long hair there will only be a few inches of dread at the smaller diameter. In the end it's a personal preference and you could really do it either way and be happy with the result, especially when the dreads are being started pretty short.

If you're dreading hair that has been thinned, be sure not to increase the section size to compensate for the lack of hair. If you do, your dreads may end up thicker than you intend when the shorter hair grows out. Another consideration is that if the hairs that have been thinned are very short, 2"or less, many of them won't make it into the dread on their own as they begin to grow out. You'll be able to pull them into the dread with a Loose Hair Tool (for the hair at the roots) and a Lock Sculpta (for the hair on the body of the dread).

Layering also comes up a lot. You can dread layered hair without a problem but the length of the dreads will be determined by the shortest layer in the dread, not the longest. If there is a large difference between the length of the layers this can catch people off guard because they loose more length than they expected to, but the hair still locks up fine. It's not necessary to wait until the layers grow out before dreading, just make sure that the shortest hair you're dreading is at least 3" long.