Micro locks |The tool and products I use to maintain our DIY Sisterlocks

I consider myself to be a bit of a micro locks \ DIY sister lock expert. After seven years of retightening my own micro locks and convincing two other people to let me do their sisterlocks installation. If that’s not enough I’ve watched every video there is to watch about sisterlocks tools, installation and maintenance. What follows s everything I’ve learned on my micro locks journey, including what sisterlocks tool I use to maintain both mine and my child’s hair, both at home and abroad.

Micro Locks Retightening Schedule

I personally can’t stand to see my scalp so initially had an every other month retightening schedule. Now I retighten with my fingernails whenever I feel like a lock needs it because I don’t have a full weekly schedule, maintaining my micro locks does not feel like extra work. I groom two heads of micro locks and two heads of traditional locs every few weeks, and it doesn’t feel like work; just daily living stuff. 

Moisturize | When your hair is dry it’s more prone to breakage and damage all over, but especially at the root. For this reason, you don’t want to retighten your hair while it is dry. Choose your Rotation | I use a four-point rotation and find that it’s the most popular.

How to Retighten Micro Locks 

Step One | Plot out your retightening grid on your overall head. you don’t want to get halfway through then realize that you’ve retightened your micro locks in a manner that doesn’t suit your desired result. It’s not the end of the world, it will probably grow out, but you don’t want to dot that if you don’t have to. This is how I keep track of what’s going on in my hair even though I retighten my hair myself without using a mirror.

You’re essentially treating the top crown of your head like the north pole everything points north.

Step Two | I use a four-point rotation and found that it’s the most popular. It’s a simple way of describing the process of entering the root of micro locks at four points with your desired tool. The goal is to make sure that you always pass through the center of the hair and not to pass through the same side more than once.

Depending on how you like your hair to lay I would pick out at which “hour” you want your rotation to end. If you like more body thou may like your rotation to end at “6 o’clock” versus if you like a more sleek look you would want your rotation to end at “12 o’clock.” Determining how you want your hair to lay will inevitably determine what “hour” of your lock you wish to start your rotation on.

Step Three | Determine a direction, will you be retightening clockwise or counterclockwise? It’s fine either way, however, you’ll want to pick a direction and stick with it.

Step Four | you want to pass the tip of your locked strand of hair through the four cardinal points, trying to always go through the center. Depending on which tool you inevitably choose to retighten your micro locks with, you will either be pushing/ guiding or pulling your lock through the base of your new growth. the pictured rotation goes “12 o’clock to 6 o’clock” “9 o’clock to 3 o’clock” “6 o’clock to 12 o’clock” “3 o’clock to 9 o’clock”

Types of micro locks tools

The two types of interlocking tools are the ones that grab your micro locks by the ends ( better for short hair or thick locks) the ones that grab your locks by the root (easier for long or slender locks)

Tools for short micro locks

Sisterlocks retightening tool | In the beginning only people with official sisterlocks could take the retightening class. Now it seems to be more at the discretion of the loctitian. This official sisterlocks tool is only available once you take the retightening class. It’s one of the best for

Modified needle | I find this is a lot easier to use on thicker locks but this set gives you options, so you can find the size tool that’s just right for your micro locks.

Tools for long micro locks

Once your locks get past a certain length, maintaining the tension in your lock gets really tiresome, imagine sewing with an extra-long piece of thread. So threading your hair through the root becomes time-consuming, these micro locks tools do most of the work for you.

Your Finger nail| I have relatively long nails and don’t mind a looser retighten, with my fingernail I can absentmindedly retighten anywhere I am

Hybrid Tool | is secretly the same as the pro retightening sister lock tool, after a slight modification. When you purchase this tool cut off the long skinny whip-like portion and discard it. the sweet spot is the conical end with the half heart indent. You can purchase them here, or here

What I use for maintenance besides the Sisterlocks  tool

Distilled water | Hard water contains lots of minerals which then react to the products you use you use. This leads to buildup that stays on your hair and gets embedded in your micro locks, weighing them down

Micro lock tool | I’ve had every tool known to man and tried everything. this tool is an all in one tool but also the ultimate

Bonnet | These bonnets are lovingly crafted by a WOC and a mom in her home and are the most aesthetically pleasing I’ve found. She can accommodate custom orders for sizes. I wear mine out and about

Microfiber Towel | Like all locks, Micro Locks are very susceptible to lint, one of the easiest ways to combat this is to reduce the opportunity for your hair to come in contact with lint. Using a microfiber towel will dry your hair and protect it from the dreaded visible lint. In the absence of this wonderful tool, dry your wet micro locks with a tee-shirt in the same color family as your hair.

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