Should I start again?

I would definitely say wash more. Atleast twice a week. I understand your weather situation and all that, but you aren't washing enough. You can use the blow dryer to dry your hair almost exclusively if you need to. I would also recommend a micro fiber type towel. You know, those kind that hold alot of water...? I bought five of them at a discount store and sewed them together so that they would hold all my hair.You will find that Bronners tends to make hair feel greasier in the beginning, but in my experience, that went away after awhile. You need to be scrubbing your scalp, not just putting the soap on...then rinse and rinse and rinse. When you think you have all the soap out, rinse some more. Many times, you will get greasy from leaving some soap in. Next, always rinse with ACV. But, I suspect you may not be using enough. Some people only use like a tablespoon...I recommend approx. a half cup or 3/4 cup to a standard bucket of water. The ACV will help with your scalp and keep your hair from looking dull, it also helps rinse out some soap too. Then, rinse again.....If you are putting your hair up with anydampness at all, you will get mold. I have some very large golf ball type knots on the bottom of many dreads and they dostay wet longer...but, you must use that blowdryer! Don't get lazy about this even though it is a hassle. I usually put my hair in the micro fiber towel for about 15 min. and then I blow dry for about 5 min. I keep doing whatever I need to do and stopping to blowdry until it is pretty dry...then I finish by air drying. I always check by squeezing my hair before bed to check for dampness. If it is the least bit moist, I hit it with the dryer once more. I always wash early in the day as well. I have very thick hair, so it takes awhile. I hope these things all help You will find that those big bumps do go down over time. Mine have shrunk and Iput wraps or beads on the worst ones to help. Find a couple of really big beads, it will make a HUGE difference. Good luck <3 Oh, and since your are oily now...lay off the oils for awhile....use them later when you feel a bit drier.

Jenni Macnair said:

For the first year and a bit i used BS, ACV and oils but my hair colour was looking very faded so my sister bought me knotty dread shampoo but i only used it for a few months because it made my hair really greasy and more recently i started using dr bronners peppermint soap. I wash my hair once a week. I put it up in a towel after washing for a bit then let it air dry. I live in the highlands in scotland so not much sun here to let it dry in any natural heat and if i need to go to work il give it a run over with a hairdryer then i have to put it up. Usually though il wash it on a day off so i can leave it to dry all day. Its only the ends of my dreads that im having problems with though, (except not sure if its relevant but i do have problems with dandruff and my scalp occasionally gets itchy ?! ).

updated by @panterra-caraway: 07/23/15 04:12:24PM

That's great advice :D thanks so much for taking the time to write! I will def wash twice a week now, i was always worried washing too much would loosen them but no more worrying. Yeah, looking into getting some beads big enough. Thanks again <3 xx

Locks will never smell like roses cause you're not using any of that artificial crap in them. They just smell like hair. You can use essential oils to mask any odd smell they pick up, like from bon fires and such.

But yeah, mildew, you'd notice. it smells like a wet dog. Someone else probably would have told you before.

Panterra's got it right. Maybe wash more, and try to do so early in the day. That give it the longest time to dry before you go to bed. (Not that your days are very long there to begin with).