The Dreaded Dread Care.
Washing your hair: When and how?
The thought of washing your hair once a week to keep your dreads nice sounds a little backwards but it works! First of all, you don't want the water to loosen up your (still forming) dreads. Now, the issue of funky smelling locks. When you wash them too much, they aren't getting a chance to dry thoroughly which traps the moisture in, while mixing with the wax and creating mildew, which is gross. So, in order to avoid all of that and still have nice dreads and a nice clean scalp, here a few options:
1.Wash your hair once a week with a dread soap/shampoo (I will post my recommendations at the bottom)-Waiting a week gives them plenty of time to completely dry and that's when it is safe to wash again.
2. If you are totally uncomfortable with waiting that long to wash them, you can blow dry them after which will shorten your waiting time a bit. Maybe blow drying a little everyday for 3-4 days and then wash, as opposed to 7 days. (If you can hold off for the whole week, it will result in tighter, cleaner dreads)
How to wash: Using a good dread soap/shampoo and water. The most impotant thing is keeping your scalp clean. The best way to do this is lather the wash on your hands and massage it into your scalp with your finger tips, then rinse it out. When I had my dreads, the most I would do to the actual hair was, take the soap on my hands, lightly squeeze the dreads and rinse out. That should be enough to clean them without building up soapy residue.
Here are some websites and products that will keep your dread in fantastic shape!
Websites/stores
knottyboy.com
painfulpleasures.com
Sally's Beauty Supply
Products @ knottyboy.com
Deluxe Dreadlock Starter Kit-
Knotty Boy Dreadlock Shampoo Bar
Knotty Boy Liquid Dreadlock Shampoo
Dreadlock Rescue Combo
Knot-Tea Scalp Tonic
Ta-da!
