I don't know your water type in the United Kingdom, ask a neighbor if you don't know either. Many dread shampoos & soaps do not work well in Hard Water, like a dread shampoo/bar called Dr. Bronners. That is one type that does not work well in hard water, it will leave behind a residue and build up inside dreads in time. So it is best to find out your water type to see what hair wash method is best for your soon to be dreads. ...Peace
Hi Hannah. Not sure what your water type is in the United Kingdom, but Dr.Bronners does not work well with hard water and will eventually leave a buildup of residue behind. Sorry I don't know about the other types your shop carries. As for a wool tam, just try putting a wool blanket on your pillow instead. The tossing and turning while you sleep will help it to knot faster, wearing a wool tam keeps the hair still, so I don't think it would speed up the journey, only under the hairline where the hat meets. The wool blanket, or use a wool sweater over you pillow if you have one, will cause friction and knotting, worked for me in the beginning because I do not sleep still....Enjoy your new journey, you will notice how light this set will feel, you'll love them...Peace
Welcome Hannah to the the community and the best site on the web for healthy dread information. In the photo your hair looks short. It will certainly separate right now into sections, but you may not see any knotting starting to happen until it is about 6 " long. There is a product called Biotin for under $10 which promotes hair and nail growth. It can be found at drug stores in the vitamin section. This will speed up your waiting time, just take it for 3 months.
Enjoy the site and your future dreads when you begin...Peace
Welcome to the community Lacey. You will find your hair so much lighter and freer to sway in the wind when you get the wax out. You'll love it and your journey...Peace
Welcome. Check out the dreaducation page and the recovery forums.
Wax is one of the leading causes of locks to be cut off in a few years. The best case scenario is that wax completely prevents progress. It acts like a glue that holds down loops, knots, and tangles. Without those, locks don't form. Since all lock are is a massive accumulation of knots, preventing them prevents locks. Wax only creates the illusion of mature locks. The wax keeps your hair glued together. Then it dries, making it feel like your locks are mature. But they will NEVER mature past the first day you put the wax in. In 10 years, they won't be any more mature than if they were a few weeks old. And yes, the wax will last that long, and longer. For as long as the wax stays in, your locks will never mature.
Worst case scenario (But more likely than not): Mold/mildew will begin to grow in your hair, causing your locks to rot off. Wax is a hydrocarbon. That means that no amount of hot water and normal soap will get it out, ever. You need a detergent, and weeks of scrubbing, to clean out wax. This is because wax is a waterproofing agent. It prevents most water and air from reaching your hair. But what littler moisture and water does get in, when you shower or get stuck in the rain, gets trapped there. Water gets stagnant, and creates the perfect environment for mold/mildew to grow. And it will. No doubt about it. As the mold accumulates, your hair begins to decompose and rot. Trust me from experience, it's nasty. And mold grows unbelievably fast when it has some organic matter to eat. Your hair is nothing but organic matter, same as the wax. So it will grow in a matter of days/weeks. In my case, it took 2 months for it to grow enough to rot off 1/2 my hair.
I don't mean to freak you out and cut your hair. There are ways to get the wax out. There's a good description in the dreaducation page. Or I can give you some pointers. But if you want locks for life, or even just a few years, I'd really recommend cleaning them.
As for palm rolling... It does nothing good for your locks. If you don't do it much, it does nothing to create lasting knots. If you do it too much, it will cause severe damage, that won't show up for years. But once it does, it's nearly impossible to reverse. Here's a video of what my locks look like at about 6 years. I only palm rolld daily for the first 2 weeks:
I don't know your water type in the United Kingdom, ask a neighbor if you don't know either. Many dread shampoos & soaps do not work well in Hard Water, like a dread shampoo/bar called Dr. Bronners. That is one type that does not work well in hard water, it will leave behind a residue and build up inside dreads in time. So it is best to find out your water type to see what hair wash method is best for your soon to be dreads. ...Peace
Hi Hannah. Not sure what your water type is in the United Kingdom, but Dr.Bronners does not work well with hard water and will eventually leave a buildup of residue behind. Sorry I don't know about the other types your shop carries. As for a wool tam, just try putting a wool blanket on your pillow instead. The tossing and turning while you sleep will help it to knot faster, wearing a wool tam keeps the hair still, so I don't think it would speed up the journey, only under the hairline where the hat meets. The wool blanket, or use a wool sweater over you pillow if you have one, will cause friction and knotting, worked for me in the beginning because I do not sleep still....Enjoy your new journey, you will notice how light this set will feel, you'll love them...Peace
Welcome Hannah to the the community and the best site on the web for healthy dread information. In the photo your hair looks short. It will certainly separate right now into sections, but you may not see any knotting starting to happen until it is about 6 " long. There is a product called Biotin for under $10 which promotes hair and nail growth. It can be found at drug stores in the vitamin section. This will speed up your waiting time, just take it for 3 months.
Enjoy the site and your future dreads when you begin...Peace
Welcome. Check out the dreaducation page first. Then take a look through the timeline forums to see what the first weeks/months will look like.
How are you thinking of starting?
thats great that they are recovering
Welcome to the community Lacey. You will find your hair so much lighter and freer to sway in the wind when you get the wax out. You'll love it and your journey...Peace
welcome but no wonfder its a struggle your dou=ing it all wrong wax is pure evil lock peppa a scam and palm rolling useless and harmful
if u start over right they will dread with no effort no frustration
but at the very minumum u got to remive all wax wich is extremely hard to do
Welcome. Check out the dreaducation page and the recovery forums.
Wax is one of the leading causes of locks to be cut off in a few years. The best case scenario is that wax completely prevents progress. It acts like a glue that holds down loops, knots, and tangles. Without those, locks don't form. Since all lock are is a massive accumulation of knots, preventing them prevents locks. Wax only creates the illusion of mature locks. The wax keeps your hair glued together. Then it dries, making it feel like your locks are mature. But they will NEVER mature past the first day you put the wax in. In 10 years, they won't be any more mature than if they were a few weeks old. And yes, the wax will last that long, and longer. For as long as the wax stays in, your locks will never mature.
Worst case scenario (But more likely than not): Mold/mildew will begin to grow in your hair, causing your locks to rot off. Wax is a hydrocarbon. That means that no amount of hot water and normal soap will get it out, ever. You need a detergent, and weeks of scrubbing, to clean out wax. This is because wax is a waterproofing agent. It prevents most water and air from reaching your hair. But what littler moisture and water does get in, when you shower or get stuck in the rain, gets trapped there. Water gets stagnant, and creates the perfect environment for mold/mildew to grow. And it will. No doubt about it. As the mold accumulates, your hair begins to decompose and rot. Trust me from experience, it's nasty. And mold grows unbelievably fast when it has some organic matter to eat. Your hair is nothing but organic matter, same as the wax. So it will grow in a matter of days/weeks. In my case, it took 2 months for it to grow enough to rot off 1/2 my hair.
I don't mean to freak you out and cut your hair. There are ways to get the wax out. There's a good description in the dreaducation page. Or I can give you some pointers. But if you want locks for life, or even just a few years, I'd really recommend cleaning them.
As for palm rolling... It does nothing good for your locks. If you don't do it much, it does nothing to create lasting knots. If you do it too much, it will cause severe damage, that won't show up for years. But once it does, it's nearly impossible to reverse. Here's a video of what my locks look like at about 6 years. I only palm rolld daily for the first 2 weeks:
http://www.dreadlockssite.com/video/why-not-to-palm-roll
thats great that they are recovering