Hi there,
I'm having a bit of a massive panic because this morning i noticed my dreads are full of bluey white powdery stuff. really full and i cut one off because it was the first one i noticed. then i noticed all of them are like that. I thought it was mold but it doesnt smell at all. but the one i cut off looked moldy inside. i wash my hair two or three times a week with dr bonners and leave it to dry naturally....help im scared! thank you
oh also i have had my dreads maybe 8 months....i think they could have been like this a while i dont tend to look at them too closely...
Mold smells really bad when it is wet. It is not as strong a smell when dry. It smells like a soured towel. You said you have been letting it dry naturally. Do you let it dry completely before going to bed or before you pull it up? A picture would really help. It could possibly be lint.
The mold that tends to grow on and in locks is usually white. It's a strain of Mucor. It's usually found in rotting plant matter, soil, and on plants, but it is sometimes found in animal hair.
When you cut open your lock, was it on the inside too? Dissectthe lock and see how far it goes in. If it's just on the outside, it could possible be just lint from something. Do you have any shirts, hoodies, pillow cases, etc that have a similar colour? Most locks look whiteish on the inside, but that's just dead skin cells. If they don't smell, but are as full of the stuff as you say, then it's probably not mold. It's probably lint. YOu could do a few things for this.
1: Brew some strong black tea and use that to dye the lint. It does eventually come out, and faster if you use the BS wash.
2: Henna. Use that to dye your hair. But again, BS will strip the colour
3: Permanentlydye your hair to it's original colour. I'm not sure if BS will take that colour out
There's really not much you can do to remove lint of that quantity, but you can pretty easily cover it up.
If it is mold, Well, there are ways to get rid of it. They're not very pleasant, but they work. Check out the Dreaducation page and see what it takes. I't going to be something like the wax removal method.
If you are really not sure, but are paranoid, I'd be willing to check it out for you. If you wanted to, you could mail me the lock you cut off. I've got a microscope and access to lab equipment. I could take a deeper look than you could with your naked eye.
If it is that kind of mold, you don't want it around you for long. It's been known to cause flu like symptoms, and, nasal, lung and respiratory problems.
Message me if you want me to take a look at it
Good job Baba, but ill add
never cut dreads tillyour sure they must be cut!
i bet tyhat being winter and cold you slept with a blue fuzzy wool blanket pulled up over your head and poof your a muppet now a grover a blue fuzzy headed freak
but thats all it is is blue fuzz
if u wet your dreads youd smell it strong a funk surrounding you
if you dont smell it dont cut it
if u do smell it though cut it Treat it!
eep i just wrote a reply and accidentally deleted it! oh well. I just wanted to say thank you for your advice!
I like the dying over it plan, but i've been trying to stop dying it to let it go back to its original colour and stay that way. hmm i guess now it'll just have a wierd tinge of grey until i can get it out. what confused me was how powdery the stuff inside my dread was when i cut it open, in quite a thick ring around the outside just under the surface and its managed to get into every dread on my head. i might try the black tea thing, that sounds good 
i don't think i should use henna...i know i'd just end up dying a lot of things not all of them on my head...
I've bought some baking soda and avc, im sure over time that'll sort it out. its just really annoying in my flat there is only a bath and no shower....
Thank you again!
black tea is what i used
im about to do it again since i stopped using baking soda
i was having the exact same issue, never stink neither wet or dry...but my dreads were gettin white...i stoped using the Dr brooners so often and start doing a acv rinse every time i wash em every 3 to 5 days for the pas 2 months...now they withe stuff its completly gone...what i do now is wash my hair with dr B...but dilute it first...that's my case..not sure if urs too but it sounds pretty much like the same issue...peace
You should always dilute Dr. B. It was made to be broken down to 1 part Dr. and anywhere from 12-40 parts water
Lavender kills mold spores. If you add some lavender essential oil to your bs/acv rinse it might keep you from having to worry about it in the future. Plus it smells really good The biggest way to prevent mold is to make sure it is dry before pulling it up/back and before going to bed. As for the lint...I use tweezers to pull it out. I am not too keen on dying my hair either.
