The one question I am asked most frequently is "How do you wash your hair?" More than often a third party will step in and reply "You don't!" For the record, I do wash my dreadlocks. I wash them when they are dirty. Simple as that. When I feel like it's time to wash, I wash. Shampoo wise, dreadheads are quite limited. I have been using the dread head shampoo. It soaps up nicely (something not so common in non residue shampoos) and lacks smell (finally a product that doesn't smell!). Any non residue shampoo will do. Neutrogena makes some that is found in most stores for about $7. If I do feel like smelling good, (which is quite periodic because I'm a CLEAN person) I use Filthy Farm Girl soap that I buy at my local farmers market. Right now I have been using the eucalyptus smelling bar (also great for acne!). I would say that any natural soap would work, as long as they have "no yucky stuff". I wash my scalp with the dread head shampoo, rinse, and wash my dreads with the bar soap. When I first got dreadlocks, I washed about twice a week. As I got used to not washing as much, my head became less itchy and dandruff (ick!) started to go away. I now wash my hair every 8 to 10 days, depending on my activity.
Now we mustn't get too ahead of ourselves and forget about the drying process. The longer the dreads, the longer it takes to dry. Living in the third wettest city in the United States doesn't help speed drying time either. Wet dreads are stinky dreads. I purchased a blow dryer from Target for about $12 when I first got dreads. I use it every couple of months, so I haven't found it to be exceedingly necessary. I find that washing dreadlocks in the morning is better than washing at night. They dry faster (and who wants to sleep with cold, wet dreadlocks?!). If your dreadlocks are really really long, I heard that by wearing a laundry bag like a beanie and shooting a blow dryer in there like a parade balloon cuts down on drying time. Usually giving them a good rub down with a towel will suffice. :)
If you would like to order some of that Filthy Farmgirl soap, please visit: http://shop.filthyfarmgirl.com/
And if you are interested in buying some Dread Head shampoo, or other good dreadlock products, please visit: http://dreadheadhq.com/
Shampoo is a funny one, it seems to divide people.
ReplyDeleteI know dreadheads who don't care what they use, as long as it works (I used to be in this camp), but I also know dreadheads who *hate* chemicals and mass produced commerical stuff (I am slowly moving into this camp.)
Personally, I use what my scalp likes. I used to use KnottyBoy shampoo bar, but I also used to use their wax and gel. I no longer support KBoy and their shampoo made me feel like I had a layer of scum.. like a film.. of .. stuff.. over my scalp, and wherever it touched on my body (mainly my back).
Then I started using cheap shampoo that cost me £1 a bottle. I like cheap stuff. But it was laden with chemicals, some of which I couldn't even begin to pronouce (Methylchloroisothiazolinone, anyone?)
Recently I've been switching to a more eco friendly, use in streams, body and shampoo bar ('Trekker', on ohsoapnatural.co.uk) which was good, but didn't last very long.
Now, I've been shopping at Lush and am starting to use their products. I have a shampoo bar from there and have only used it once but it seems to be alright. My scalp is fine with the changes, and I don't think I'd go back to using chemical laden gloop!
Moral of the story - not every shampoo works for every scalp! You need to try a few for a while and discover what works for you.