So i get the impression that one of the main concerns of people with mature dreads is giving them enough drying time between washes. Im only six weeks into neglect so the thought of it taking so long to dry baffles me. One of my questions for those of you with mature dreads is how long does it actually take them to fully dry? If its measured in hours, do you just let your hair get wet during the showers where you're not washing your hair? And i have a hard time believing it but if its measured in days, do you shower cap it during showers in-between hair washes? Can someone shed some light on my confusion? =]
updated by @mikhail-ceballo: 02/14/15 06:12:00AM
Just wondering..
most people i know just shower in the morning so they can naturally dry throughout the day ...thats what i do ...works just fine
Drying time varies. Depends on the thickness of the dreads, and the length. Fat congos can take 24 hours or more to dry. Dreads with blunted tips take longer to dry because they no longer have a drip line of loose hairs at the bottom. I can't even imagine how long it takes for Soaring Eagle's dread to dry.
Mine take about 5 hours, I also use a micro fiber towel to soak out the excess of water. Although dreads may appear to be dry, when given a squeeze dampness can be felt within. The sun would play a roll in drying time, the wind too.
So on the head, even though you have the same amount of hairs, with dreads they are matted into coils, if you will, and these are tons of strands of hairs, much thicker that a strand, so the dampness stays within them for hours.
It is not necessary to always wet it, especially if showering every day, just tie it back or hold it up when rinsing off.
I will be washing mine once a week when they start to grow again and become fully mature. Right now they shrunk to my shoulders from being almost waist length, so I can shower without getting them wet easily. Let's go back to your why question, Why do they take so long? Well, my hair was to my waist almost, now shoulder length, so all that hair is still there, just tightly bunched up in dreads, so the bunches of hair absorb the water like a sponge and the wetness stays longer because, well, the water is kinda trapped in there.
I still wash my hair every 3 days.
Peace
I have some pretty thick congos and some thinner ones. My thickest locks take about 24 hours to dry. And that's with wringing them out with a towel and hitting them a few times a day with a blow dryer. If I were to let them completely air dry, they'd probably take about 35+ hours. So I wash them every 3 days. That give enough time to fully dry and I don't get gross in between washing. If I do have to take a shower in between washes, I just tie them up and pray that they don't get too wet. Usually, only the tips of a few get mildly wet that way.
Thanks to all of you for clearing that up. Especially Barrellady, thanks for taking the time to write such a good explanation. With all that said do you guys think i would have anything to worry about if I'm in the ocean every day? Im still healing from my accident but I'm typically a beach bum, especially if theres waves, ill be out surfing every day. I know lots of people are worried about mold, should i be worried about that if I'm in the ocean every day?
As long as your hair dries completely each time, then there is no problem. Just never go to bed with wet hair or the mold will set in. Rinse the ocean water out of your hair when finished, you don't want the salt sitting in your dreads drying them out.... BTW, hair dreads super fast from being in the salty ocean water, lucky you! (you won't need to mix your own sea salt sprays or use the Hymalian sea salt spray)
Mikhail Ceballo said:
Thanks to all of you for clearing that up. Especially Barrellady, thanks for taking the time to write such a good explanation. With all that said do you guys think i would have anything to worry about if I'm in the ocean every day? Im still healing from my accident but I'm typically a beach bum, especially if theres waves, ill be out surfing every day. I know lots of people are worried about mold, should i be worried about that if I'm in the ocean every day?
Haha yea thanks i can't wait to start surfing again. I used to get dreads just from one session. Thanks again, Love & Peace
the Barrellady said:
As long as your hair dries completely each time, then there is no problem. Just never go to bed with wet hair or the mold will set in. Rinse the ocean water out of your hair when finished, you don't want the salt sitting in your dreads drying them out.... BTW, hair dreads super fast from being in the salty ocean water, lucky you! (you won't need to mix your own sea salt sprays or use the Hymalian sea salt spray)
Mikhail Ceballo said:Thanks to all of you for clearing that up. Especially Barrellady, thanks for taking the time to write such a good explanation. With all that said do you guys think i would have anything to worry about if I'm in the ocean every day? Im still healing from my accident but I'm typically a beach bum, especially if theres waves, ill be out surfing every day. I know lots of people are worried about mold, should i be worried about that if I'm in the ocean every day?
Thanks man this is exactly what i was looking for. And i do love those evening sessions so.. it seems like the main thing is stagnant water staying in them too long. By that i mean its not a big deal if they stay wet all week as long as they're getting rinsed, washed and stay clean. So whenever a good swell hits and I'm pulling the all day sessions five days in a row just do some good bs/acv soaks before bed and after waking up and i shouldn't have to worry about mold even if they don't get a chance to dry for a few days. Does that sound about right?
Justin said:
I'm a Scuba Instructor and see a lot of ocean time as well. Usually if I've done a night dive (a late evening sesh for you) or been in the water near/after sunset, I will wash my hair right before I go to bed and again right when I wake up (even though I'm likely to be diving within a few hours again). If I don't get to it at night it gets a bit more attention on the morning wash. I primarily use the Dreadlocks Shampoo but if I'm worried about mold setting in I do a slightly more concentrated wash using the BS/ACV with oils. On busy weeks I'm fairly certain my dreads don't fully dry until the weekend when I'm out of the water for at least a day. I find that being in the sun and wind as much as I am has a better drying effect than any other method I've tried involving towels.
mine are roughly 5.5 months old and they are shoulder length, they take about 5 or 6 hours to dry, my last wash took 7hrs. I wear a shower cap in the shower between washes.
Makes sense to me. Besides, i know too many people with dreads who are out surfing all the time and they got no problems. Thanks again.
Justin said:
That's pretty much the thought process I have behind doing it that way and I haven't run into any funky smells or issues yet.
