Very conflicted presently.

Alright, so I'm distressed presently because I've recently taken note of how dirty the interior of my hair is. At the core of several dreads I am able to find clumps of a fluffy, lint like substance, which I suspect to be trapped fabric or cotton or some such. This is very difficult for me to remove short of tearing the dread apart to get at it, and even then some residual is always left within the core of the lock. Dirt is consistently present as well. I've attempted to remedy this through the use of a soak involving baking soda and vinegar, but the results weren't noteworthy. This phenomenon is primarily present in the lower sections of my locks since the upper portions have been better cared for, but I can't help but feel dirty and dishonest to a degree. What I mean by that is that people will compliment me on my hair, which by and large looks superficially good, while I know my literally dirty little secret.

Im considering getting a length of my dreads trimmed and simply hoping that the issue doesn't arise again, but I'm worried that even near the tops there will always be deeply ingrained dirt and so forth. It makes me uncomfortable and insecure, and sort of tempts me to out and out cut my hair off.

I'm not sure what to do about my problems presently. I'd appreciate anything in the ways of suggestions so that cutting off all my hair can be avoided.

updated by @gibra-el-walker: 01/13/15 09:46:39PM

Have you ever used wax?

Initially yes, but I stopped and have used only gel for the better part of my hair I believe.

James Colby Justice said:

Have you ever used wax?

products that you add to your hair is gonna trap dirt. BS/ACV will not get that wax out. I recommend dawn dish detergent in really hot water.. Everyone of us with dreads are gonna get lint. It is just part of it. Lint is not necessarily "dirty". You wash a sweater and it has lint..right? The sweater isn't dirty after you wash it. but it still has cloth, strings, thread and lint . Since your hair is dark make sure you are drying your head with a dark towel. You can gently pick some of it out with tweezers.

But seriously get that wax out. That is what is holding the dirt in.

If it gunky, it's residue and you should wash that out. If they are fibers it's lint and doesn't harm anything. If you're worried about appearances you can dye the lint darker with some black tea to make it considerably less noticeable.

Thank you for the responses everyone. By and large the clumps are fiberesque and therefor Im inclined to believe it's primarily lint. I may get a few inches trimmed off since as I said the lower portions of the hair have more clumping occurring, and in the future I'll attempt to mitigate the lint build up for the rest of my hair.

well quit using any product. you say that having lint in your dreads makes you feel superficial, but you used product? not trying to be rude i m just pointing out a contradiction. like taye said, lint isnt really dirty. lint and dust trapped in gel and wax is dirty. get it out! also look into the Dreadlock Shampoo everyone is talking about on here. they have a wax remover too.