10 Best Products For Locking Hair in 2023

If you are interested in dreadlocks you should consider the best products for locking hair.

Many people prefer the freeform loc’d style, but uniform locs with smooth and shiny roots are great as well.

For that purpose, we recommend Jamaican Mango and Lime Locking Hair Gel to our readers.

When buying hair products for locs, you should avoid getting heavy butters and waxes, since they will damage your hair.

It is best to go with light gels, which allow you to retwist your hair and give it a firmer hold, while you must also moisturize your hair with water, or water-based products regularly, and then seal the moisture by applying a light oil.

10 Top Products for Locking Hair

You will need to maintain your locs by giving them special attention and treatment, but what products are the best?

I have helped numerous people find the best products for locking hair and have also compiled a table that will help you select the best hair product for your dreadlocks.

Product Images	Locking Product	Main Ingredient	Price	Our Ratings
	Knotty Boy Locksteady Tropical Gel	Lime, Aloe Vera	$$
	Jamaican Mango and Lime Locking Hair Gel	Mango, Lime	$
	Murray's Gel Loc-Lock	Olive Oil, Sweet Almond Oil	$
	Carols Daughter Loc Butter	Essential Oils of Tangerine, Lime, Pink Grapefruit	$$
	Knatty Dread Dreadlocks Cream	Premium Lanolin and Shea Butter	$
	Organic Root Stimulator Lock and Twist Gel	Coconut Oil, Glycerin	$
	Bronner Brothers Firm Locking Gel	Pineapple, Guava	$
	Taliah Waajid Lock It Up	Rosemary, Nettle	$
	Dread Head Lock Peppa Mega Tightener	Natural Ingredients	$
	Jane Carter Twist and Lock	Essential Oils, Natural Butter, Vitamins	$

Now, get ready to discover the 10 best products for locking hair and their reviews.

10 Best Product for Locking Hair Reviews

Maintaining dreadlocks can be a nightmare if you don’t use the right products.

You can easily end up damaging your hair if you don’t take good care of your locs, which is why it is important that you only buy the best products for locking hair.

To make things simpler and easier for anyone with dreadlocks, I have reviewed the 10 best products for locking hair. Here they are:

1.     Knotty Boy Locksteady Tropical Dreadlock Tightening Gel

Want to give your dreadlocks some extra TLC? The Knotty Boy Locksteady Tropical Dreadlock Tightening Gel is the perfect product for tightening new and mature dreadlocks. It also brings frizzy or lose hair under control, and its unique wash-out formula gives your locs all the tender loving care it needs. It contains pure Aloe Vera, which has been used for centuries to strengthen and groom dreadlocks.

This product is wax-free, which makes it ideal for maintaining and strengthening dreadlocks, while it is heavily scented as well. The aloe-based natural formula is easy on the scalp and the hair, while offering smoother, and shinier dreadlocks.

2.     Jamaican Mango and Lime Resistant Formula Locking Hair Gel

Another great product for dreadlocks is the Jamaican Mango and Lime Resistant Formula Locking Hair Gel. It is perfect for starting and maintaining locks and twists, with no build-up and long-lasting hold. Made from nourishing natural ingredients and an ancient Jamaican recipe this hair gel is ideal for starting and maintaining well-groomed locks and twists.

The hair gel has a specially designed formula that works well on dry and damaged locks. It conditions the hair and keeps it healthy, fresh, and natural looking.

3.     Murray’s Gel Loc-Lock

Murray’s Gel Loc-Lock is an amazing product for locking hair and has been specifically designed to help condition and maintain dreadlocks. This gel has a unique formula that not only helps keep lock-styles in place but also moisturizes and conditions them. The cream formula reduces itching and doesn’t cause flake, which helps maintain dreadlocks easily.

If you have been after a high-quality hair gel that doesn’t contain any hair damaging ingredients, then Murray’s Gel Loc-Lock is the best product for locking hair.

4.     Carols Daughter Loc Butter

Carols Daughter by Carols Daughter Loc Butter is one of the best products for dreadlocks, as its formula allows it to deeply condition hair, and gives it a lot of shine. The strength of the loc butter helps it intensely moisturize the locs, braids, coils, and twists easily.

The greats thing about this product is that it is also great as a scalp moisturizer, and you can maintain and condition your locs by massaging it in between the locs with your fingers.

5.     Knatty Dread Dreadlocks Cream 

The Knatty Dread Deadlocks Cream by Knatty Dread is one of the best all-natural hair product for dreadlocks. The formula of the product is perfect for maintaining long, mature dreadlocks, and it offers the perfect blend for holding your natural hair in place.

Regular application of the Knatty Dread Dreadlocks product is encouraged as it keeps the dreads vibrant, strong, and holds them place. If you wanted a product that made your locs better, then this is the perfect hair cream for you.

6.     Organic Root Stimulator Lock and Twist Gel

The Organic Root Stimulator Lock and Twist Gel is the perfect product for perfecting twists in your locs, and for re-twisting your dreadlocks. The product offers superior hold and shine, while it also works well in controlling frizz. The moisturizing gel is easy to use and washes out easily, ensuring that there isn’t any build-up and flaking.

The great thing about this product is that it is designed for all-natural styles and has been created with the right balance of moisture and hold. The product offers fabulous shine and smoothens all locs.

7.     Bronner Brothers Tropical Roots Firm Locking Gel

One of my personal favorite products for locking hair is the Bronner Brothers Tropical Roots Firm Locking Gel. It contains natural tropical ingredients that are ideal for beginning and maintaining healthy locks, twists, and braids. The firm locking gel offers extra-firm hold, and the natural ingredients ensure that there isn’t any build-up.

The product doesn’t contain any artificial colors or dyes, making it perfect for people who want beautiful, well-conditioned, and soft dreadlocks.

8.     Taliah Waajid Lock It Up

The Taliah Waajid Lock It Up hair gel is one of the most popular hair products amongst people with dreadlocks. It is regarded by many to be the best product for locking hair, and it also moisturizes the scalp, preventing any flaking. The product stops any frizzing, and helps define your curls and locs, with the best thing about the product being that it softens the hair.

This is a versatile product and one that can be used for starting locs or maintaining them. Lock It Up can be used for defining curl pattern, and for settling and styling your natural dreadlocks.

9.     Dread Head – Lock Peppa Mega Tightener

The Dread Head – Lock Peppa Mega Tightener is another one of my personal favorite products for locking hair. It is designed specifically for managing and conditioning dreadlocks, and it helps easily form knots for your locs. Now you don’t need to fight your locs anymore, as applying Lock Peppa on your hair allows you to make and maintain your dreadlocks.

The non-sticky, chemical free formula ensures that your hair don’t get damaged, and can easily be styled, with no residue buildup. It doesn’t matter if you’re starting your locs, or maintaining them, this is one of the best products for locking hair on the market.

10.    Jane Carter Twist and Lock

The Jane Carter Twist and Lock is another great product that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to someone looking to start or maintain their locs. It is a cream that is ideal for re- hydrating natural locks, twists and hair. The product doesn’t contain alcohol and is renowned for providing great hold for lock styling. It hydrates the locks and moisturizes the hair, allowing you to get that finished look for your dreadlocks.

If you are looking for the best product for locking hair, which not only helps style, but also re-hydrates the hair and scalp, then Twist and Lock by Jane Carter is perfect.

What is Locking Hair?

Dreadlocks are one of the most common hairstyles sported by people today, and it is a style where you lock the strands of hair into ropelike strands. Once the strands have been locked, they shouldn’t be combed, as this allows the strands to coil around themselves. This hairstyle is known by several names like dreads, dreadlocks, and locks.

How Are Locs Formed?

Most people form locks the easy way by stopping to comb their hair to create ‘freeform locs’, but if you want a sophisticated look with even partings, you will need to uniform size every unit. This is different from freeform locks, which will have units in various sizes, which range from fat to thin. The most common ways to form dreadlocks are:

• Coiling
• Braiding
• Twisting
• Palm rolling

The tighter the natural curl pattern of the hair is the faster it will lock. That is the reason why people with tightly curled hair start their locks with a simple palm rolling style. However, if you have a looser texture, then you can choose to braid your hair to start locks. You should know that it takes several months for the dreads to grow from their baby stage to get to the rooted teen stage, where they are established into full-grown dreadlocks.

Why You Need to Lock Hair?

Dreadlocks are among the most misunderstood hairstyles, which is mainly because people aren’t familiar with the process of forming locks. The best advice I can give to people is to research thoroughly on dreadlocks because there are various ways you can choose to start and maintain dreadlocks. Once you have proper knowledge about the different lock styles, you can make informed decisions about the best products for locking hair to maintain them.

I have kept and maintained dreadlocks for several years and have some great tips to share about my experience with locks. Here are some of the reasons why I chose to lock my hair:

• Unique
• Sleep with your hair uncovered.
• No more products.
• No more elaborate wash days.
• No more combing, shoulder and back pain, and tender-headedness.
• Less styling.
• Length/ponytails.
• Keep it simple.
• Diversity
• Dancing in the rain.
• After swimming freedom.

If you are thinking about a hairstyle that is casual and elegant at the same time, then you must try your hand at locking your hair.

What You Must Know Before Locking Hair?

I tried all sorts of different hairstyles before I decided to finally lock my hair and kept everything from weaves to mohawks in all colors and lengths. However, I was tired of all the trips I had to take to the hair salon, and the amount of maintenance my hair required was frustrating me.

That is when a friend of mine recommended dreadlocks as a long-term low-maintenance hairstyle. Once I researched about the hairstyle and came across pictures of gorgeous women with elegantly locked hair woven in various styles I wanted to lock my hair as well.

There were several things I didn’t know before locking my hair, because I had a lot of friends with the same hairstyle, so I never really needed to do much research. However, as time went by I learned that all the ideas I had about dreadlocks were wrong, and my hairstyle helped me understand a lot about myself. So, if you’re thinking about locking your hair, I would like to share some valuable insight about the hairstyle, including important things you must know before you get dreadlocks.

Take your time

Don’t put yourself under pressure or force yourself to get a hairstyle that you can’t maintain, or you don’t want. It is imperative that you do your research, and only lock your hair when you are ready. You can start off with temporary dreads made from yarn/wool, synthetic hair, or braids, to get a feel of dreadlocks before you lock your hair.

Consult a professional

This is an important piece of advice because you must consult a professional before getting dreadlocks. There are so many different styles of locking hair and visiting an experienced professional who has expertise in locking hair, you will have all the answers you want. They can offer you valuable advice about the best locking styles for your hair, and about the best products for locking hair.

Practice patience

One of the most important things you must learn about locking hair is that it isn’t an overnight process. Your dreads will take a long time before they mature, but that depends on the hair type and the locking style implemented. It may take you anywhere between 3 months to 2 years before your hair locks properly. It is going to be frustrating in the beginning, but you must remember that the result is going to be beautiful. There are going to be times when you miss your long flowing hair, but you must tough it out during this period and focus on the long-term goal.

Locks are versatile

There are limited styles available in dreadlocks, but you don’t need to stick with ‘one-style’ for a long period. I encourage anyone interested in locking hair to experiment with different potential hairstyles and looks based on their locks. The great thing about dreads is that they are versatile, which means you can have fun with different looks and styles.

Career Orientation

If you work in a professional environment or in the banking industry, you must choose your hairstyle carefully, because it sends the wrong impression. People working in the entertainment or creative industry are the ones with more freedom to express themselves through their hairstyle. You won’t take a bank manager with dreadlocks seriously, because of the nature of their job.

Locking hair isn’t easy

Don’t think that locking your hair is going to be a piece of cake, because there is a lot of time, money, and care involved in the locking process. However, once your hair is well-locked, it is extremely low maintenance and easy on the eyes as well.

How to Lock Hair Quick and Easy Way?

One of the best things about locking hair is that you can lock any hair texture or type, while there are different methods that help lock hair faster as well. I have experimented with all locking styles and found that some hair textures are easier to lock than others. If you have soft, fine hair, with loose curls that look like waves, then it can take longer for your hair to lock. This is mainly because soft hair doesn’t coil or look like springs that are tightly wound because the locking process will take longer.

The problem with locking soft hair is that they will come undone in the beginning stages and will take around 2 years to lock properly. If you are struggling with the same problem, then I’ll share some quick and easy tips for locking hair, which are as follows:

1.      Add a style or pattern after re-twisting

If you are palm-rolling your dreads, then you are trying to shape your hair to grow into locks, but this can be very frustrating with soft hair. The solution is styling your locks after you re-twist them. Don’t try anything fancy, as a simple two-strand twist, bantu knots, or braids will do the trick.

2.      Keep it nicely tied up

When locking hair, you don’t want them unraveling, which is why you should encourage your hair to intertwine, so that everything is contained. You can wear a satin scarf at night or use a stocking cap when shampooing so that the locks remain in one place.

3.      Don’t solely rely on products to create locks

One of the biggest misconceptions about dreads is that products are responsible for making them. However, locks are formed by connecting hair tightly in an internal matrix. Dreadlocks became popular in the 18^th century, and there weren’t any hair products, creams or gels at that time. Therefore, don’t buy any products that claim to help create great locks, because that isn’t how you get locked hair. If you’re unsure about what products to use for locking hair, check out the ones I have reviewed above.

How to maintain Hair Locking?

When it comes to maintaining your dreadlocks, you must understand that their maintenance is different than other natural hair styles. You don’t need to brush your locks, or trim them regularly, but you must clean your dreadlocks.

Other hair styles need combing to keep stray hair in place, but with dreadlocks, you don’t need to tuck in stray hairs, because locks need stray hairs to be turned into the dread, so they can lock with your hair. You will notice that dreads tend to look better over time, because they keep maturing by becoming smoother and tighter.

One of the best things about dreadlocks is that they require less maintenance as they mature, which means your maintenance routine will vary depending on the method you used to form them and the age of your dreads. The most common methods for forming and maintaining dreadlocks are latching and twisting/palm rolling.

Here is how you can maintain hair locking:

Keep the locks residue-free

The tighter your locks are, the smoother your dreads will look. To ensure that you keep your locks tight, you must watch them with proper shampoos and soaps. Most soaps and shampoos leave residue in the hair, even after they are rinsed out, and you can easily notice that by smelling your hands or your hair once you have used the shampoo.

If there is a scent left behind the shampoo, then there is residue in your hair. The result of residue can lead to itching, which can build-up in your locks, which makes it harder for thicker locks to properly dry. So, make sure that you only use residue free shampoo’s and soaps on your dreadlocks.

Wear a Head Scarf

Dreads will pick up lint even if you keep them clean, which can become a problem when you sleep. Your sheets and pillow cases don’t shed lint but wearing a head scarf when going to sleep will keep feathers and lint out of the dreads, allowing your scalp and dreads to breathe.

Washing Dreadlocks

When you wash your locks, you must dry them as quickly as possible. Don’t leave them covered in a way that makes it difficult to dry them, and you should squeeze as much water as you can out of them, before you wrap them with a dry towel for around 10 minutes. Once you let them out of the towel, let them air dry before you dry them with a hairdryer. This ensures that your dreads are completely dry, and no residue is built-up inside the dreads.

Dreadlock Breakage

A major problem with dreadlocks is breakage, which can be heavy once they get mature. Sometimes they can even break from the root, if they aren’t properly maintained or moisturized. This is the reason why it is recommended that you only buy the best products for locking hair. This will ensure that your locks get the nutrition they need and are moisturized well, which makes them thicker and stronger.

How to Choose the Best Product for Locking Hair?

There are a lot of different hair products on the market, making it difficult to buy the best natural hair products for your dreadlocks. To make things easier, I have provided a checklist for choosing the right product for locking hair. Here is what you need to look at:

Hair Locking Pattern

The hair locking pattern will also affect your decision in purchasing the best product for locking hair. The hair locking pattern of your dreadlocks will affect the type of hair product you must buy to condition and maintain your locs.

Main Ingredients

Remember to always check the main ingredients used in the formula of the hair product.

This will allow you to effectively gauge the effects or side effects of the product. The main ingredient of any hair product will tell you a lot about its overall quality, so choose one that is the best product for locking hair. Choose a product with the following main ingredients:

Aloe Vera

The ideal product for transforming the health of your scalp and hair.

Olive Oil

The wonder oil that is great for moisturizing and nourishing skin and hair.

Almond Oil

Essential for proper hair care as it contains vital nutrients and properties that strengthen hair.

Beeswax

Helps in eliminating frizz from hair and is ideal for moisturizing and styling hair.

Lanolin

Helps nourish hair and eliminate frizz.

Mineral Oil Free Formula

You should also focus on getting a product with a mineral oil-free formula since you don’t want to spend on a product that doesn’t work effectively on maintaining your dreadlocks.

Petrolatum Free Formula

Your dreadlocks will need a lot of care and maintenance, which is why you should buy hair products with a petroleum-free formula. This ensures you don’t apply a hair product that leaves residue behind and weakens your hair.

Product Aroma

The aroma of the hair product also makes a difference, as you don’t want your deadlocked hair smelling whenever you go out. Therefore, invest in products that not only condition your hair but also allow your locs to smell wonderful.

Risk and Precautions

There are certain risks and precautions you must avoid when it comes to buying a hair product for your dreadlocks. There are a lot of choices in the market, so don’t buy the first one you come across, but instead check the potential side effects and precautions that go along with the product.

Ingredients to Avoid

Avoiding the following products in the beginning stages or discontinuing their use after a thorough locs detoxification will benefit your scalp health and length retention.

Wax

Products that contain wax, including beeswax, are detrimental to the entire loc over a period of continued use because they are very hard to wash away, especially from within the locs. Over time, the wax builds up and can make the locs unnaturally heavy, leading to breakage and thinning as the hair grows longer; and the hair will be dry because the wax prevents moisture from penetrating the cortex of the hair.

Brown Gel

Sure “brown gel” may give you a lasting hold but it is full of parabens, artificial colors, and excessive protein. Overuse of protein can cause breakage and weakness in your locs by making your hair hard and brittle.

Heavy Cremes

Products that are creme-based are often too heavy and thick to allow your hair to intertwine and form into locs. Using creme-based products can slow down the loc’ing process and lead to heavy build-up.

Unhealthy ingredients

Products with tons of ingredients listed on the container, many of which are hard to pronounce, are often filled with cancer–causing parabens, formaldehyde, phthalates, and/or irritating preservatives that damage your scalp and health.

Quantity

You obviously want to buy a hair gel that is easily available in the market, since there is no point in buying a hair product that doesn’t come in great quantity.

Brand

Always buy products of well-known brands, as they are more effective and reliable in treating, moisturizing, and conditioning your dreadlocks.

Price

Of course, the price of the hair product is always going to make a difference when it comes to buying the best product for locking hair. However, there are plenty of options available in the market, ensuring that you don’t have to spend an arm or leg to buy a quality hair product.

Get the Best Products for Locking Hair Today

Haircare is important to all of us.

Whether it is moisturizing weaves or applying gel on natural hair buns, we do the best to maintain our hair style.

Dreadlocks are a hairstyle that has never gone out of fashion and goes well with any look that you are trying to portray. The best thing about dreadlocks is that it is a protective hairstyle, and when done right, and maintained properly, can transform your entire look.