Forum Activity for @mel2

No Wash Dreads?? anyone done it?

Dread Maintenance

I did the first wash with just tea tree and bicarb yesterday - what a difference leaving out the acv has made!! Have you tries that Lisa? i know a bloke with waist length dreads who doesnt wash the length every time he washes them - he ties them back at the nape of his neck and soaks his scalp in the soloution - could you do that? Although i will tell you the length of my dreadlocks are beahving today like they havent been washed - before when i used acv all the loose hair and new growth would be fluffy and seperated(i have curly hair) and after a few days they were a bit oilier and started forming ringlets that wound themselves the dreads and looked likek they wanted to begin matting in - but every wash disturbed that . This time my hair looks and feels clean - not greasy - but the loose hair has stayed where it was wrapped round the dreads and after one night of sleeping on them some is tangling in nicely already!! i guess the acv was too conditioning. I also rinsed in cold water. Give it a go and see if it does what you need x

Lisa Wade said:

This is the same question I have. I'm looking for a mixture or method to use on my oily scalp in between washing so I don't have to completely wash my locs all the time. I know it prevents all the loose hairs from completely locking in, but I don't know what to do. Hopefully someone out there understands and can recommend a method...Thanks

mel said:

thanks for the advice about acv - i will stop using that. i have clearly said i have every intention of still cleaning the dreads - i imagine they would be nasty very quickly without washing them . i said i intended to do the bicarb deep clean as often as needed - and was looking for experience of how long that might be. But the thing id like to change is regularly washing my scalp in something that is removing the natural oils and therefore encouraging my body to produce more oil there. If you need un greasy roots for them to dread up then going through the oily stage until your hair self regulates might well work - as i said twice earlier i intend to use water and tea tree - and after the advice given here will also try a little bicarb - to keep my scalp healthy, but would like to be free of the cycle that has happened where i wash my dreads and a few days later my hair is greasy again and needs to be washed. i have a lifestyle that means i will not always be able to keep this routine up for longer periods of time and was looking for solutions.It would seem to me that my roots and my dreads themselves could easily be looked after and kept clean with 2 different methods, allowing me to go longer without cleaning or looking greasy. Maybe i didnt explain myself well enough. thanks again for advice

No Wash Dreads?? anyone done it?

Dread Maintenance

thanks - i use tea tree, lavender and peppermint at the moment in every wash so i'll just keep doing that i think - the peppermint smells lovely!!

do you just rinse them out in a bowl of water or under running water? i guess its important to get the bs out properly.

No Wash Dreads?? anyone done it?

Dread Maintenance

thanks for that - good to know it works! i think cutting out the acv will help loads - thats probably whats making my hair greasy again so quickly as the vinegar is such a strong de-greaser my scalp must think it needs to produce loads of oil to make up for it!! I can happily live with once a week or so knowing i can go a bit longer if i need to and that when i do need to wash when i'm camping etc all i need is a bucket, water and some bicarb! I have been using a shower head to rinse up till now but it disturbs all the baby roots that have started to curl round the dreads every time i do it - wondering if a bowl and a cup will be enough to rinse it? what do you use? ta x

No Wash Dreads?? anyone done it?

Dread Maintenance

thanks for the advice about acv - i will stop using that. i have clearly said i have every intention of still cleaning the dreads - i imagine they would be nasty very quickly without washing them . i said i intended to do the bicarb deep clean as often as needed - and was looking for experience of how long that might be. But the thing id like to change is regularly washing my scalp in something that is removing the natural oils and therefore encouraging my body to produce more oil there. If you need un greasy roots for them to dread up then going through the oily stage until your hair self regulates might well work - as i said twice earlier i intend to use water and tea tree - and after the advice given here will also try a little bicarb - to keep my scalp healthy, but would like to be free of the cycle that has happened where i wash my dreads and a few days later my hair is greasy again and needs to be washed. i have a lifestyle that means i will not always be able to keep this routine up for longer periods of time and was looking for solutions.It would seem to me that my roots and my dreads themselves could easily be looked after and kept clean with 2 different methods, allowing me to go longer without cleaning or looking greasy. Maybe i didnt explain myself well enough. thanks again for advice

No Wash Dreads?? anyone done it?

Dread Maintenance

like i say its something you need to experience to understand!! my daughters hair is waist length blond ringlets - people stop me in the street to tell me how lovely it is. She has never had it washed - it is lightly sprayed each morning with water containing some essential oils and then brushed well - the brushing dislodges anything in it. It smells and feels and look beautiful. The same as mine was clean and healthy when i just used water on it. This wasnt an arguement i wanted to start - i know my hair can self clean because i experienced it for many years, anyone elses opionion or experience with their own hair is up to them. I was after anyone who had experienced not washing the roots and how they dread up after you get through the greasy period - i am sure it would work if i could find a way to keep my scalp healthy and the dreads clean. Then i would be free from the twice a week washing routine - which i would like and would be so much asier when travelling / campingthanks

No Wash Dreads?? anyone done it?

Dread Maintenance

Castaway J said:

baking soda is all you will neeed to keep a clean head so your hair will dread. making sure you onlyt rinse your haior with cold cold water will help regulatre oily hair too. i used to hsave greasy hair too, once i stopped washing with hot water the oily hair and scalp got better

cheers i will try cold water - had heard that before but forgotten it!

do you mean just a cold bicrb wash then cold rinse and forget the vinegar?

ta x

No Wash Dreads?? anyone done it?

Dread Maintenance

within a few days of washing my roots and stray hairs are greasy and then i HAVE to wash - i hate having to do it and would like to be able to go longer, i'm imagining periods of time when im camping or travelling and dont have access to bicarb and cider vinegar. I'm remembering how ungreasy my hair was after a few months of stopping using products(ie stopping trying to degrease it and letting it regulate itself) and wondering if there was a way to get my roots to that stage and still keep the dreads clean!

No Wash Dreads?? anyone done it?

Dread Maintenance

i get what you mean about the dreads needing cleaning and that was my concern - i was imagining doing a deep clean on them once a month or so but only the ends - not my scalp. But you're wrong about unwashed hair not being clean - i was like that for years and have no doubt that my hair was clean, i used water on it on a weekly basis so could see after a few rinses the 'dirt' coming out. Also both my kids have never had their hair washed - they're 8 and 2.5 - and their hair looks and smells beautiful, it is clean! its one of those things you need to experience to understand properly. I realise it might not work with dreads but was looking for opinions on whether it could be done - i was imagining doing a water and tea tree wash once a week for scalp health and the bicarb/vinegar deep clean on dreads but not scalp every 3/4 weeks.

No Wash Dreads?? anyone done it?

Dread Maintenance

hi - my dreads are over 2 years old and ive been using the bicarb/vinegar wash routine and it works fine but i'm getting fed up with having to wash my dreads every 4/5 days otherwise the regrowth and roots look greasy. Before dreads i hadn't used any shampoo/conditioner/products on my hair for years - just water - i got through the greasy stage in a few months and then my hair self cleaned. Surely i can do the same with dreads?? i realise while its greasy it wont dread up as well but that stage will pass and then my hair will be clean so it should dread up fine again? Anyone have any experience? I'm pretty sure the van dwelling travellers of my party-ing days didnt wash in bicarb/vinegar every few days and they all had fab dreads!!

thanks x

updated by @mel2: 02/14/15 02:28:11AM

Do the loose hairs really dread up on their own??!

Dread Maintenance

thanks everyone - i can really feel where mine have stopped being hooked, its so much more comfortable as well. I'll probably end up with a line like the girl you are talking about!!