I love dread beads and have a number of wooden ones in my hair, plus two metal cuffs. They are so pretty and I don't take them out. There are a couple that I don't know if they will come out now.I am nervous though about mold. How do dreads get moldy? Can beads cause problems with mold? What do you do when you get mold? How do you know when you have mold?I wash with BS and use tea tree, peppermint, and rosemary oils in it. As far as I know, I have not had any problems so far, but I'm a little paranoid ever since I found out that dreads can get moldy. Any thoughts on this?
updated by @andelynn: 01/13/15 08:48:47PM
Can dread beads lead to mold?
@soaring-eagle
14 years ago
29,637 posts
Mold forming isn't a spontaneous occurrence. You don't need to be EXTREMELY careful. Just be sure that your hair is completely dry before covering it or sleeping. From experience, I've fallen asleep a few times with wet hair(I don't have a blow dryer, and it had been drying off for a good 5-6 hours. There was a little bit of moisture at the roots but not seeping wet). I didn't have mold forming the next day. There's really no need to be paranoid. As Knottysleeves said, it forms from moisture not being able to escape or residues being trapped in the hair. I'll reiterate: So long as you just make sure your hair is dry(if not completely, then at least pretty close) before covering it or sleeping, you should be fine. As for beads, well, I have no experience in that area. I suppose sliding them upward or downward and just using a towel to dry off the spot should work fine.
@lenny-ohye
14 years ago
3 posts
I'm trying to find out some info on this as well. What's the longest you should leave beads in for?
@soaring-eagle
14 years ago
29,637 posts
@trina-sandress
14 years ago
87 posts
I can remember going to this Dreadlock Conference ages ago and this woman who said she was a loctitian put some jewelry in one of my dreads. Well I left it in for over a month even when I cleansed my dreads. One day when I was looking in the mirror at that one dread I saw green discoloration on that dread. I immediately took the accessory out and learned that I should take out hair adornment berfore cleansing my dreads.