Dreads too tight! Causing mold or buildup. My dreadlocks also seem too dry!
Dread Maintenance
My dreads are about 3 months along. I'm African American and I decided to use the "twist and rip" method because I was told it made locks look more formed at the beggining. Now I'm not sure if I did them right, OR SOMETHING,because of the following problems:
They are really tight(not at the scalp at all-just the rest of it).
The roots are thinning and the rest of the dread is bulky or has most of the hair. This is probably because I didn't find a moisturizer for the first month + and my hair was so dry that the roots were joining and I had to keep pulling them apart.
Next, because my hair is so tight, I suspect it'scontaining product and water thusbuildup. My hairis to smelling kind ofstrange-not a good smell.
Additional info.: WAX HAS NEVER TOUCHED MY HAIR-thanks to everyone here. 
I only use coconut oil as a moisturizer. (1 month now)
I have used Garnier Fructis shampoo withaddedGrapefruit extract and natural protein for 2 months. Iwashed with it every 4 days or as needed.(After washing I applieda small amount of coconut oil).As of a few days ago INO LONGERus this shampoo.
I've tried the baking powder solution to replace the shampoobut that did not take away all the smell.
-Iam now usingNuetrogenaAnti-ResidueShampoo.I got it 2 days ago. I've used it 3times but myhair still faintly smells bad.
About a week ago I attempted to take care of the loose hairs by wrapping them (tightly) around my dreads.
My hairtakesliterally all day to dry.
If anyone could help I would be extremely grateful!! Thank you!
updated by @epiphany: 01/13/15 09:15:09PM
