White fuzzy grossness in dreads? :( Help, is this mold or lint??

Yesterday I saw some white fuzzy stuff on one of my dreads. Not like a piece of lint that had just attached itself to the outside, but on the hair itself, stuck to it. So because I was curious I pulled the dread apart a little bit and was horrified to find a ton of this white fuzzy stuff, all inside!

Then in a state of panic attack I end up ripping the whole dread apart and combing it out, getting tons of this "fuzz" out... I washed it and put the dread back in, but still, I am completely freaked out now, thinking that this stuff is on the inside of ALL my dreads. I already am seeing it on the outside of some of my other dreads, I don't understand. It looks like lint, but if it were, why would it be inside the dreads like this? Is it mold? God... it looks like mold and I'm scared.

I have been washing every 3 days with dr. bronner + the baking soda wash with good oils like tea tree, lavender, etc. I have been doing everything right that I can think of. My dreads never have any trouble drying and have never smelled of mildew or anything so I've never worried about mold...until now.

What IS this? Is there something different I should be doing to prevent this? HELP. I don't want to lose my dreads.

updated by @circle-dancer: 02/14/15 09:43:43AM

I actually have that too...but idk what it is...a year ago I noticed it and I dyed my hair because I thought it was lint but it stayed white...it neveroccurredto me that it might be mold :/

Did you happen to take any pictures?

No I didn't. I should have.

I don't think it's baking soda. It's fuzzy, like lint. The way it looks, Id definitely think it was lint if it wasn't on the inside. It worries me because I live in the south and it's very humid here and I've had mold issues at every house I've lived in for the past two years. Is there anything other than lavender oil that can prevent it?

Do you sleep with anything fuzzy? I've started noticing feathers from my pillow weaving their way right through my dreads if I don't have a pillow case on it. If it's a pillow or blanket I could see it going up and through an entire dread.Lint has dastardly weaving abilities. Its my job to delint wool coats at work when they come in. Some lint just weaves itself into the fabric and refuses to come out. Have to whip out the tweezers evry now and again.

lint if it dont smell no reason to panic or take em out!

try the dreadlockshampoo.com bar scrub the whole lengthand it will remove most

if u wanna prevent it wrap em in satin at night

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

Sounds like lint. I guess it's just managed to get on the inside of the dread as the hair locks up and gets inside...or something. I have lint on the outside, but for some weird reason I just can't for the life of me get it out. That's what happens when you sleep on a fuzzy pillow.

If you think its mould or mildew - tea tree oil kills mould - so try a soak with tea tree oil in hottish water - if that helps

i'm thinking it might be soap scum from the dr. bronners. it leaves white stuff all over my shower. i only use it for body wash not my hair.

Okay thanks for the responses everyone. I found some more and I'm 99.9999% sure that it's lint that just worked it's way into the dreads.