My dreads are shrinking and getting fuzzy later than expected. Help!

Don't panic! Sometimes dreads do mature and change later than expected. It is pretty un-usual for the timing to be way off when all things are "average"  (average section size, average hair density and coarseness) and the maintenance is followed pretty closely - but there are a lot of possible explanations. Those I just mentioned as well as maintenance routine, washing frequency and hair type are probably the most important variables. A common error that delays maturity is washing too infrequently (every 2 weeks rather than every 3 days) with the wrong shampoo. I hear about this happening to someone at least once a month.

The good news is that although they matured later than expected they are maturing now. Give them time to shrink and adjust. They will probably end up a good bit wider than they were before. I'd leave the loose hair on the surface for now - fuzzy hair is not going to hurt'em. You can pull some of it in with the Lock-Sculpta if you want to, but if you wait, much of it will find it's way in by itself as they tighten. The loose hair at the roots should be pulled in with a loose hair tool to keep things tidy and prevent they dreads from growing together.