Dread Misconceptions

So I've been dreading my hair naturally for almost 4 months now. I simply wash my hair every couple of days with a residue free shampoo and threw away my brush! Since they are sorta starting to look more like actual dreads than ever before people have been noticing and as they do, commenting. Now most of the people I know are pretty cool and think theyre awesome but I find it craaazy how many wrong ideas and opinions are floating around out there...Do you wash your hair?Do you have to do anything to them? Both questions I hear on a regular basis. The answers? Yes I do wash my hair, clean dreads are happy, healthy dreads and no I dont have to do anything to them I simply stopped brushing my hair.

It seems as though the concept that my hair looks like this all from not brushing my hair is the most crazy thing theyve ever heard! A lot of other things I've heard are 'my mate got dreads and he used surfboard wax to get them' (said to me as though they know what theyre talking about) I was like f*ck man are you serious?? thats the most unhealthy thing you could probably do and if you're speaking to him tell him he needs to get rid of that asap! Another one is 'oh my mate has dreads and she has to use a hook to keep them looking nice do you do that?' to which I replied hell no my dreads form the way they want to form and I love every single one of them, the girl you know is actually preventing her hair from dreading, her hair is bound so tight together from the hook that it is very weak and brittle and could potentially fall off'. One more I've heard was a guy I met at the pub who told me his sister has dreads and didn't wash her hair for 6 months!!!!! I mean each to their own but thats a bit smelly in my books and, if anything, just slows down the process as clean hair dreads faster (and smells a lot nicer too lol).

I'm slowly learning that there are very few people who know the truth about dreads, and the worst part is a lot of this is coming from people with dreads who dont know about dreads either. It makes me so happy to be able to turn these opinions around and show people that not all dreadies have unwashed, crocheted, waxed up hair. Maybe one day when I tell people all I had to do was throw away my brush they wont look at me like i have five heads

Hope you guys are all good and if you can relate to anything I've said help me spread the truth about dreads.

Peace

updated by @jess2: 01/13/15 09:18:22PM

i totally understand! everyone asks me the same questions and/or telling me my hair looks like a crazy birds nest, haha. i just smile and answer questions to my best ability. im suprised that a lot of people think dreads are dirty and gross, and i tell them my dreads are not gross they are washed often! i love my dreadies! and im glad to hear you love yours too!

I always get those kind of questions. Mostly out of curiosity, rather than them trying to tell me what's the right way. I just hold out a lock and let them finger it and play with it for a second. Most of the time they are impressed when I tell them I just let it happen. I did TnR a few, but I've got 23 tips, and they are all congoed together. I can't tell which were made and which were natural anymore.

That's my advice though. Let people who ask you silly questions touch your hair. When they realize that it isn't dirty or waxy like their friends, they will change their attitude

with how long mine are i get way more silly questions like how much of thats your real hair

how longs that take to do every day (like i have to redread it every day)

and yea often ppl with dra=eads know very lil about dreads its a shame theres just so much bad info out there

theres getting to be less and less wax abuse all the time but crochets still a pandemic though that too in the next 2 years i bet is reduced drasticly all thanks mostly to this site

btw

last night was on yourtube talking to aw girl who actualy is on our site ..knew the dam[ngers but chose to ignore the dangers and

bleache the hell out of her hair over anhd over

\crochet the hell out of it the 1st 5 months

add extentions too early

now her hairs literaly falling apart she had to cut ioff the most severely damaged parts remove the extentions etc

but even 7 months since last crochet they are in no way recovered yet and got a long way to fgo still

so

no matter how much good info we put out there there will still be those who choose to go another way

like that kid who inssisted on using the dread kit just cause he bought it even tho he knew all the negatives about using it

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Well that's just ridiculous. "I already paid for it so I might as well use it?" Yikes.

Also the prospect of having to re-dread your hair every day seems REALLY time consuming. lmao

I still have my wax, lock peppa, tools, acceleratorand shampoo. I don't need any of it. I much prefer baking soda, essential oilsand vinegar now.Maybe I'llmake a ritual of throwingthe productsout. I mean, it sucks that I've spent all that money but they're all pretty much useless. Anyone know of a practical use for dread wax? Maybe a good furniture polish? :/

To get back on topic though - I get asked about my dreads all the time, especially from co-workers. And random people in public will ask this one the most "How long did it take you to do your dreads?". It's like they think I went to a salon or that they assume dreads are instantly attainable. I always answer that dreadlocks are a process and I'm still doing them every day by not brushing my hair. They ask if I wash it a lot too and I inform everyone that clean dreads are essential. Everyone knows someone who dreaded their hair without washing it, so I think that becomes a common misconception.

My answer to "How long did it take?" is :"well, I'm about X years in".

Sell that crap on ebay if you don't want it anymore. Or if you are morally opposed to subjecting another to such crap, burn it in a bonfire while dancing around in all your dready glory. :D

Btw, people asking SE how long it takes to put them in every day wins the stupidest question award, I say. :D