So I am now 17 months in and I have recently developed a funky new issue. The tighter my dreads get, the harder they are to rinse and dry. I am fastidious about cleaning and caring for my dreads. But about 3 weeks ago I started getting a mildew smell and I am not cool with that. Is there a safe way that I can treat my dreads to remove the funky smell without causing damage?
So, my teen daughter really wanted me to meet her college aged friend with dreads so that I could see how different they were than mine. She forwarned me that it would be a night and day comparison and boy was she right. So I went and met this sweet kid the other night and of course he let me examine his dreads. He backcombed and waxed his dreads and he told me it took only 3 days to loc! Now he is a couple of years into them and to me they still feel like solid wax. He said that sometimes he has green gunk that comes out of them. That was pretty creepy sounding to me. So his dreads are all perfectly sectioned. His dreads are all mature. But I didn't even feel like we shared the same type of hairstyle because I have natural dreads and they are far from perfect or sectioned. I am 13 months in and my hair is so tight, but all my ends are wispy. My husband always questions me about why the ends aren't locked up and if that is okay. I tell him it is because he has only met people with wax tubes and this is what the real deal looks like. LOL! Anyhow, I have never done any wool caps just because I don't like the way they feel on my head. So I don't necessarily have the same fuzzy texture that other people do. All my dreads are kinky and crazy and they all feel super clean. I ripped off two small dreads at the nape of my neck and cut them open just to examine them and the only thing I found inside were a few tiny pieces of fuzz. I can live with that. But I am so glad that I began my dreads at the ocean and just allowed them to dread naturally. I didn't know a single thing about dreadlocks when I started so I am thankful that I never tried anything that would cause them to feel yucky or that would make me want to start over!
Wecome and congrats on starting your dreads! 
I will say too that I have never used any special soap or shampoo. I just use a plain tea tree shampoo that doesn't leave residue. It is about $6 but the bottle lasts me for at least 2-3 months and I wash my hair every other day. Whenever I get the chance to wet my hair in the ocean, then I won't wash for a few days to just let the sea salt remain on my hair.:)
When I begn my journey I introduced myself with my thread about Beach Dreads which is where I started my journey. Now it is 7.5 months in and my husband returned me to the same beach where I began and I'd love to show the progress made in such a short time. For anyone who does not know my story, I began natural dreading at the beginning of last summer. I did some T&R around my face in the early weeks, but everything else was left to dread on its own. About 3-4 months in I began ripping and separating some of the dreads that were trying to cluster together.
I have read a lot of people say that they don't know if they have enough patience for the patience method. But I have to really emphasize the fact that it all happens so much faster than peopple realize. In the sceme of things, 7 months is a very short period of time and already I have great dreads that are so crazy and unique. To the point where I am turned off now when I see neatly manufactured dreads. So to anyone who does not think they have enough patience for this method, I'd just say to live your life everyday and don't even think about the dreading and before you know it, you'll have so much more progress than you'd expect!!
I'd like to postbefore/after pics as well as a close upto show progress. Ignore the date stamp, it wasn't set 
Here is the beginning when I just started dreading.
Here is now 7.5 months in, same beach
Here is a close up when I had my hair twisted up on my head
Sorry to get in a little late on this, but I have both. I have some T&R around my face because when I started I wanted to see some quick progress. But the rest of my dreads are natural. I never thought about sectioning when I did T&R. I just tried to mess with the clusters as they were already grouping themselves. But the end result for me is that both are locking up at the exact same rate of speed. They both have crazy kinks. But the T&R sections are definitely a little neater and straighter and therefore alsolonger. The natural dreads are tight and kinky. You can look at my timeline for some pics if you'd like.
But honestly, I'd say leave them alone and enjoy what you have already done and don't worry about changing anything. They will change so much on their own that anything you have done this early won't make too much difference Even the ones you tried to control will still have a mind of their own
awesome and cute pup
were u going natural? i firget
great progress either way
should begin to grow soon
