Organic locking on super long hair
Dreading Methods
you need to get all the stuff that the old poo's leave in, like conditioners and smelly stuff, so you would want to us a dread or deep cleaning poo to use, or a lot of people on this site like the stuff from http://shop.dreadlockshampoo.com I haven't tried it but i'm looking forward to ordering some soon. my wife and I have mostly used bs, but we have used a couple of local handmade soap bars that they said were natural and organic, some people like dilluted dr bronners, i think it works for those who do not have hard water, I have used the knotty boy and dreadhead stuff before, save your money and go elsewhere, kb is ok, but not worth the money, dhhq was just terrible, i hated washing with it and could not wait to be out of it.
I would recommend a sea salt spray before if your going to do rip 'n' twist, just gives it a little more texture, but from my experience in my case, i did r'n't and it helped get started some but most of it fell out and redreaded on it's own, my wife did her's natural with out separating unless they pull or something, her's a lot thinker than mine in the back, but she ties her hair back a lot too for work, so that may add to it as she also has a lot of loose hair on top from being tied back so much, I prefer to keep mine in a tam to tieing them back, but a tail isn't to bad sometimes, she used a bandanna instead of an elastic band so it doesn't cut in as much and cause a lot of weak spots.
your scalp will adjust over time to how you wash, i have found that after a year of washing, i have been able to do so less frequently, personal preference, some will say never go more than a week, if it starts to get itchy or uncomfortable, time to rinse or wash, you can also use pepperment sprays to help itchyness if its a problem
i have swam after 2 or 3 days with out a problem in a cholrine pool, but ocean water is supposed to be great for dreads so you may even be doing your self a favor.