Separate them… All the time: As you sleep on them, tie them up, or wash them, your dreads are going to try to eat each other. This sounds hilarious, but if you don’t pull your dreads apart from each other, you may end up with one giant dread that takes over your entire head. Again, if you like that sort of thing, then go for it. If you want your dreads to be the special, individual snowflakes they are(lol), then you’ve gotta separate them either daily, or weekly.

Washing: Believe it or not, your dreads will mature and lock up faster when they are clean! Again, this is another topic that falls under personal preference. You can wash your dreads whenever, but I do suggest waiting 3-4 weeks before washing your dreads after they have been put in for the first time. This will give your hair a chance to get use to its new home. Your scalp might get dry or itchy as it grows accustomed to not being washed every day or every other day (which is actually not good for your hair and scalp). Itchies are normal! I cannot stress this enough. After your very first wash on your new dreads, you will see loose hairs and fuzziness. This is completely normal while your hair naturally begins to lock up. Mature dreads take years to form into those sexy locks you see other people sporting. Yours will get there too, but they have to get through the awkward stages first. That is when you can start washing your hair whenever you feel like washing your dreads. Personally I wash mine every 1 to 2 weeks. You can wait longer or you can wash sooner than that, it’s your head, your choice. Palm-rolling after your hair is dry is highly recommended. Oh, and always make sure you let your hair dry thoroughly after every wash to avoid DREAD ROT. You can blow dry your dreads, or just air dry them.

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Palm-roll: If you’re not sure what this is, it’s when you take a dread and hold it in your palms and rub vigorously back and forth. This creates friction which makes your hair suck up any loose hairs (expect to see fuzzy dreads for a while), and burry them back into your dread. Do this at any possible opportunity if you want clean and crisp looking dreads. If you want to let your dreads grow at their own rate and you’re all about the natural dread journey then just ignore your babies and they will get a magical life of their own.

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Another thing is choosing the right shampoo, it is always recommended that you buy yourself a shampoo which will not leave residue in your hair. Unfortunately, almost every regular hair shampoo on the market has chemicals meant to cling to hair and not wash off, as well as conditioning properties which are your dreads worst nightmare (conditioners make hair slippery which makes it harder for hair to lock up. Friction is your friend. Dreads are defined as hair that is tangled, and tangling with shed hairs are necessary for your dreads to mature.)

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Itchies: No matter what, in a week or a few days, you will soon start to experience the “Itchies.” Not much of an explanation is needed other then you will know it when you feel them. There are a few things you can do to counteract them. Palm-rolling is one way to deal with the itch, another is you either make or buy yourself a cooling spray for your dreads. There are many recipes online with simple sprays you can make at home, or if you don’t feel like doing that, Sparrow makes a wonderful cooling spray that will also help your dreads lock up, fight mould and make you smell amazing.

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Swimming: We live in basically lake country, your gunna go swimming, Heck, so am I! Swimming with dreads can be a blast if you just remember a few things. Swimming with new dreads will create a tonne of fuzz and loose hairs so make sure you are ready to palm-roll your babies is you are particular about the tidiness of them. The act of swimming will make your dreads do some crazy things: it is not uncommon for you to get more crooked and Congo style dreads after swimming. This happens because the water makes your hair move in fluid motions which can cause lumps and knots unevenly throughout the dreads, this in turn creates a new personality to your dreads which can be difficult to combat without seeing a professional to fix. Again though, this comes down to how you feel about your dreads. If you like unruly textures and personality in your hair, then let your hair do what it wants! Lake and river water can make your dreads smell a little on the swampy side, so make sure you thoroughly wash your hair when you are done swimming. Always make sure you dry your dreads.

Salt water is your best friend: salt water (ocean or prepared by you), will help your dreads do what they need to do because it helps create more friction. Just watch out and don’t use it so heavily that you dry out your scalp too much

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Maintenance: After swimming comes maintenance(not all the time, but usually). Maintenance is another thing that falls under personal preference. If you want your dreads the mature and grow the way they want with very little care, then you don’t need to worry much about maintenance. Also, there are no set guides on how often you should be booking your next appointment to see Sparrow. Some people like to get their dreads tidied up every couple of months, others wait a year. There is no pressure, really.

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Extensions: So you got dreads and had them extending to the length of your dreams! Now what? A lot of the rules above still apply, though there are a few more that you need to know about because if you don’t follow them, your extensions can fall out. It sounds horrifying, but really it’s not that bad and can happen. 

Different fall out factors can be: tying them up too tightly or too often, swimming, or your actual hair is very short or very silky. When you put your dreads into a tight ponytail, it can put a lot of stress on the joins of the extension hair and your own, this can cause the link to weaken, and for one of your extensions to fall out. With swimming, a similar logic applies as is added to by the fluid motion of your hair in the water, followed by the pulling water weight when you finally get out of the water. Having silky hair does not mean you cannot have dreads, it just means you have to work a little harder for them. Extensions can slip out if your hair isn’t tangled enough to hold them in. 

 

If your extensions fall out, be it 1 or more, there are a few quick fixes you can do before you get a chance to visit with Sparrow. One is to crochet the hair back in yourself… this sounds easy, and it is if the extension fell out of an easy to reach place. The other way is to get some thread that matches your hair, and a needle, then you sew your extension back in. This is a good temporary fix that can be permanent if done correctly.

 

At the end of the day, your dreads are yours, they are on your head and you get to decide what is right for you. You can choose to follow my suggestions, or you cannot. I will not judge you no matter what decision you make! I just hope that I can help you be happy and completely in love with your new do, or journey.