Hi everyone,
I became interested in dreadlocks recently so I've been doing a lot of research and I'm verryyyyyy happy that I found this forum b/c this's exactly what I was looking for when I began gathering knowledge on taking he natural path with hair.
Anyways, I have a few questions regarding shampoo bars as well as seawater & freshwater washing. First off, here's some details:
-my hair's about 7 inches long and I have some pretty thick hair (my hair cutter/stylist that I used to use years ago always used to say that I had the thickest hair in town haha); so my hair's very wavy and tends to knot or at least clamp together in it's sections by itself pretty easily (i haven't combed or cut my hair in a year, and i stopped using conditioner as well as using my fingers to take out any knots about a week ago).
-I just ordered some maylee's shampoo bars (both the orange and the nag champu). until those are in i'm still using some non-natural crappy shampoo (tresume)
-my water source is going to vary a lot (i'm temporarily at home now with regular showers), but it's mostly going to be very soft water, such as pouring water on my head along with VERY close access to saltwater.
question 1:I've heard amazing things about Maylee's, but I want to ask if it's fine for when I'm starting out the dreading process. I ask because I've NEVER used a shampoo bar before on my hair and I know a lot of the maylee's reviews on these forums can be from people that have been growing their dreads for awhile, so I just want make sure. I'm also open to other natural shampoo suggestions but I need something that's very portable (unfortunately, home-made mixtures are out of the question for me, I need something smaller such as a natural shampoo liquid itself or shampoo bars).
other questions:
again: i'm going to have access to seawater more than any other water source, but my other water sources will be soft water (just pouring water) and sometimes hard water (showers) but my alternate sources of water will be less seldom than seawater.
-how many times should I wash my hair per week (around once per week maybe?)
-how many times should I get them wet but not wash them? is there a max to this since i want to allow my hair to dread and of course not be too wet all the time to the point of mold?
-which types of water (seawater or freshwater) should I use for when I shampoo and which types (sea of freshwater) should I use for just getting my hair wet?
-I know seawater helps to lock dreads but at the same time i'm worried about the rumors (or facts) that seawater can really dry out your hair. how do you know if you're hair's getting to dried out from seawater? i've been in the sea many a times, but not with dreads. this way if I know this I can decide for myself if my dreads having been getting too much seawater or not.
Sorry I have so many questions but in janruary is when I'm going to be traveling for a long time (mostly across beaches) and i'll only have internet & computer access via libraries or computer cafes of some sort, so i'll only be able to research stuff like once a week or two if i need help.
thanks ahead of time to anyone who's read this long post and/or attempts to respond to my questions, i will be looking forward to your feedback and advice (if I get any!)! peace & love, Ryan
updated by @arrows-of-the-rainbow: 02/14/15 10:42:52AM