Back after a while of short hair (8-10 years)

Hi everyone!

I couldn't remember the pass to my old account so just made a new one. When I had dreads over 8 years ago I used all the dreadheadhq products, backcomed and twisted/ripped. Good god I needed that lesson, after several years the wax wouldn't leave despite me trying to remove it and even growing new hair, it never left and picked up all sorts of lint and dust so I just cut them and went with short hair for a while.

Now I'm 2-3 weeks into just letting my hair do what it wants, I did get a little impatient and (against my better judgement) backcombed using a very wide afro type plastic comb (looked like this:

, but only for a half hour at most, I dont like the sideshow bob look haha. Guess I didn't totally learn my lesson.

But I'm determined to use nothing from now on except bicarb of soda, lemon, essential oils etc to clean etc. So I'm back for actual good advice. I do have a lot of loose hair especially at the back and sides, I'm hoping that's normal for the first few weeks since I've never done all natural before. Is there any way to get them to knot up or should I just leave em to it? I'm thinking the latter but I just so want to have my dreads back asap! But yeah I know, that's not how it works, I'll post some pics soon and prgress updates I'm just glad to be back and not use dirt/wax this time.

Thanks,

benzene

oh yeah also should I not use oils for now and wait until they have properly formed or will it just take longer to knat up?

heres some pics, again it's only 2-3 weeks so yeah, not much (but I'm so excited to begin the journey again!), I'll have to separate some soon or they'll all congo but otherwise, are they okay? oh and the bandana, it makes them look neater for oing outside but would that prevent or slow the process? thanks

edit: oh dear I just noticed a post saying to not use BS, how do I clean them then? is dr bronners still okay at a 1/12 dilution?

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Bronners is MARGINAL if you DO NOT have hard water in hard water it’s almost like wax with buildup from hell

if your in USA the absolute best The best Organic dreadlocks shampoo  the liquid for young dreads licks em up fast

the bars for mature keep em super healthy

the oils if essential oils are ok in small amounts.. drops..

but the shampoos are .,well.. read the ingredients you’ll see

And..if your gonna backcomb that was a smart comb to use

Damn that sucks, I have hard water and I'm in the UK so buying from dreadlockshampoo will cost $25 in shipping alone!

thank you I thought that was the best comb, but I'm not doing it anymore

What about distilled water? I actually have a distiller (originally for distill alcohol, but it basically heats up any liquid and removes whatever makes it hard water, so I guess that's an option I can experiment with) or I could just buy a few bottles of distilled from the shop and save them for cleaning, I think I'll leave the oils for now, in a few months I'll maybe add them.

haha I just read the ingredients, beer well that's a surprise! I wish I could get it but 25 for shipping then taxes on top make it unaffordable, hmm, I'll have a look on ebay/amazon and see if they have anything similar, or I could maybe make it myself I'm not sure. if you don't mind I'll reply with anything I think is similar but available in the UK, thank you so much I was just gonna buy some BS from my local shop

what about this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Faith-Nature-Tree-Shampoo-400ml/dp/B000NHKWJO/ref=sr_1_16?dchild=1&keywords=dreadlock%2Bshampoo&qid=1619631150&sr=8-16&th=1

the reviews seem good for dreadheads, no parabens and seems kinda natural

ingredients: Aqua, Ammonium laureth sulfate (sounds bad but made from coconuts), Maris sal, Melaleuca alternifolia leaf oil, Citrus limon peel oil, Citrus aurantifolia oil, Citrus aurantium dulcis peel oil, Polysorbate 20, Potassium sorbate, Sodium benzoate, Citric acid, Limonene.

You can get pretty much a years supply for the 25. It’s flat rate I’m not sure where the cut off is but I think it’s something like a six of the bottles 10 of the bars something like that before it goes up to the next tire shipping price

or this?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dreadz-Peppermint-Dreadlock-Shampoo-85gm/dp/B07TJ8D9TX/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=dreadlock+shampoo&qid=1619631792&sr=8-10

ingredients: Aqua, Glycerin, *Sodium Palmate, *Sucrose, *Sodium Cocoate, *Aloe Barbadensis, Decyl Glucoside, Sodium Chloride, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, *Pepermint essential oil and Peppermint Herb. * = Certified Organic.

ahh I'm in a panic now I dunno what ingredients are good or bad!

okay sounds good, I think I'll leave the amazon stuff it's too complicated. I'll keep trying for the dreadlocksshampoo one, thank you very much!