Permanent Extension Installation Methods

A beautiful set of seamless, curly-ended pre-made extensions made by Avani!

There are two main ways that dreadlock extensions are achieve and installed. There are pre-made extensions (extensions that are fabricated either by yourself if you are choosing to do this on your own, or by us if you are coming to us and then attached at a later point; usually during the initial placement of the dreadlocks if you are adding them at the beginning of your journey) OR “flow” extensions (extensions that are both made AND installed by me while you’re sitting in my chair). For folks who are considering extending their own dreadlocks at home, please note that the below information is based on MY experience. Although I find the following to be true of my own work, your experiences and skill with different techniques may vary.

The strain from creating extensions during placement on the arms can be somewhat lessened as compared to pre-made extensions if you are going through this process yourself, since most of the work with the extensions can be done in a relatively comfortable position. The extensions are attached by fraying the end of the pre-made extension and the dreadlock you are attaching it to and using a crochet hook to weave the two together. (There are tons of videos on YouTube about this if you do a search.) Pre-mades are great because you don’t need to do the work of creating the extensions themselves at the time of the install which cuts down on time.

A perfect example of flow extensions to extend partial locks by Avani.

Flow extensions, however, might be a better choice in situations where the length or thickness to be added may be inconsistent from one dreadlock to the next due to the sometimes unpredictable way that dreadlocks and hair shrink up when locked/while locking. However, it is a much lengthier process since everything is made “from scratch” while you’re sitting in the chair. The time and cost are greater, but the results can be even better customized for the most seamless aesthetic possible. That all said, here is a TL;DR pros and cons list in case you need it, too:

PRE-MADE EXTENSIONS
FLOW EXTENSIONS
Pros:

  • Less time spend in the salon chair (shorter appointment)
  • Less strain on the hands and wrist during fabrication.
  • Take less time to fabricate than made-at-installation extensions.
  Pros:

  • Does not require any ‘prep’ work by the technician/dreadlock artist in advance of the appointment/initial placement of dreadlocks.
  • Only suggested for use in locked and established dreadlocks to add length; not to add length to new dreadlocks.
Cons:

  • Requires prep work to be completed by the technician/dreadlock artist in advance of appointment/initial placement of dreadlocks.

 

 Cons:

  • More time spend in the salon chair (longer appointment[s])
  • Fabrication of the extensions takes longer than pre-made extensions.
  • May put more strain on the hands and wrists during fabrication and installation.