The Tightening Gel can be used to start and maintain locks. When using it to start locks, it must be reapplied every time you wet your hair as it's a water soluble product (which makes it way easier to clean up than wax, hence it's popularity). It will make washing your hair in the beginning stages a more delicate process for sure, so be prepared for extra backcombing. If you choose to start them this way, just remember using the tightening gel on dry hair will leave your backcombed locks a little tacky, and it will flake when it dries. You can avoid this by spraying a little water into your locks and applying gel onto damp hair. Not too much water, you don't want to disturb your backcombing.

For maintenance users, we recommend switching to Tightening Gel anywhere between 3 and 6 months, whenever your dreads start to knot up nicely and no longer need wax to hold together. Palmrolling with tightening gel after washing, when your hair is damp will draw in all the loose hairs and help your locks get nice and dense.