How to Deep Clean Dreadlocks - Baking Soda ACV Soak

How to Deep Clean Dreadlocks - Basic Baking Soda Apple Cider Vinegar Soak

Every now and then, you will need to deep clean your dreadlocks. not only because regular washing is not enough to clean your dreads from the inside out, but also for the other benefits that a deep cleanse have. You will literally feel the change once you have soaked your dreads in a deep clean recipe, you will notice that your locks are a lot lighter. Remember, no matter what residue free shampoo you are using for your dreadlocks, it is never 100% residue free

Watch this tutorial video about how to deep clean dreadlocks:

When to start the first deep cleanse?
There is no need to start deep cleaning your dreads right away, because you still don't have any build up yet. At some point you will just feel that your regular washing is not enough any more and that your dreads has become kinda heavy.. I can't tell an exact time because it depends on each situation.. Just keep an eye on your dreads and go with how you feel. I did my first after almost a year (Yes I waited too long) in my second set I waited 6 months, which was perfect.

How often should I deep clean my dreadlocks?
there is no rule, again it depends on many factors, like how often you wash your hair, the shampoo you're using, the climate where you live, how magnetic are your dreads, how greasy is your scalp.. etc. So only you can decide just go with how you feel again. I do mine every month or every two months and sometimes less. There also no need to do it very often, if you wash your hair normally, a deep cleanse once a month is more than enough.

How to deep clean dreadlocks?
the most common way for dreadlocks deep cleanse is the baking soda soak.. many things can be added to the baking soda (bicarbonate of soda or just BS). The most common ingredient added is the famous Apple Cider vinegar. 
This time I will only use these two ingredient (Baking soda and Apple cider vinegar) later I will make another post about the other ingredients you can add to your dreadlocks deep clean recipe:

• Bowl / Sink / Bucket...: You will need where to soak your dreads for about half an hour, so make sure you're comfortable and make sure that all your hair will sink in water
• Warm water: fill the bowl or sink or whatever you are using with hot water, as hot as you can stand but not too hot.
• Baking soda / Bicarbonate of Soda: add few tabe spoons to the warm water, there are again no rules as to how much of baking soda you must add, it depends on how much water you are using.. just don't use to much untill it starts to build up in the bottom.
• Apple Cider Vinegar: few table spoon of apple cider vinegar I used half a cup (see video) but I had a lot of water in my bowl.
• Stir the mixture very well
• Take out any beads or accessories left in your dreads
• Soak your dreads in the bowl or bucket
• Massage your scalp
• squeeze your dreads to get water out and soak them again
• Keep your dreads soaked for about 30 minutes along with squeezing and massaging
• Rinse your dreadlocks very well afterwards

You will notice how dirty the water will look even if you just washed your dreads. You will also notice how fresh and cleaner are your dreadlocks.

* You may also check these posts:
How to wash your dreadlocks
How to dry your dreadlocks

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How to make a Dread Bun

How to make a dread bun - 3 ways

You have your long beautiful dreadlocks now, you are doing all kind of Dreads maintenance you can: washing them properly, drying them.. now it's time to think about styles and how to wear your dreads.

There are several choices as to how to style your dreadlocks, this post is only about one of them, making a dread bun. But there are other ways to wear your dreads such as tying them in the back or make a ponytail or even wearing a hat.

Watch this youtube video about how to make a dread bun

There are also no rules to "how to make a dread bun" you can play around with your dreads and invent your own style as long as your dreads are long enough to form a bun. Or you can just watch youtube videos and see how other dreadhead make dread buns and get inspired.



Dread bun Style one:
I have seen many dreadheads doing it this way

• First put your dreads in a high ponytail using an elastic headband, this will allow you to gather them all into a single bunch.
• Then twist your dreads from roots to ends while forming a cercle around the headband.
• Secure your bun by tucking the tips of your dreads under the headband

Dread bun Style two:
This is the easiest one to do, just get your dreads only half way through the headband, it will automatically form a bun, you will still have your dreads down a little bit but that way they will be less annoying and they can not reach your face.

Dread bun Style three:
This one works only for very long dreads, and will need some practice, it is similar to dread bun in style one but without using a headband. twist your dreads form a cercle and secure just by tucking each dread under the bun you are forming. It may not look very secured but I have seen people doing it without any headbands and it doesn't fall off.

You may want to check this post about wrapping dreadlocks : how to wrap dreadlocks

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How to sleep with dreadlocks

How to sleep with dreadlocks - sleeping with dreads tutorial

Watch this video tutorial about how to sleep with dreadlocks

There are no rules to "sleeping with dreadlocks", most dreadheads just sleep without thinking of what to do and what to not do, but when you first start your dreadlock journey you always tend to over think about everything, you want to do everything right and not to miss any kind of maintenance

Anyway, you may use some of these tips:

1- Clean your pillow and sheets from any visible lint or dust, dreadlocks are like magnet to dust, you don't want them to catch anything whil you're sleeping

2- You may put a wool cover on your pillow to encourage the knotting, especially if your dreads are young, a lot of knotting will happen when you sleep

3- You may also make a dread bun on the top of your head, it is more comfortable than having them tied up in the back when it feels like sleeping on a big lump

4- Putting your dreads in a T shirt prevents them from getting in your face while you are sleeping and also keeps them free to move around, unlike when they are tied up or in a bun

5- Always try to avoid sleeping with damp dreads but if you have to then put a towel on your pillow, and spread your dreads all over it

6- If your dreads are young you may sleep with a loose wool hat, it would help the dreads knotting and it's also comfortable to sleep with



Eventually you will end up sleeping with your dreads the same way you use to sleep with your normal hair and there's nothing wrong with that, but sleeping on your dreads in the same way every night may cause some of them to become flat

Hope this tutorial was useful, Thank you for reading, check out these other dreadlocks maintenance tutorials:
Palm Rollind dreadlocks
How to wash dreadlocks
How to dry dreadlocks
Dradlocks separation

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How to Separate Dreads - Separating Dreads quick Tutorial

How to Separate Dreads - Separating Dreads quick Tutorial

Dreadlocks will always try to grow together at the roots, especially if you're using the neglect method. So if you want to avoid that, if you don't want to have any congos or very thick locks, which some other people would love to have, you should just separate them regularly.

Watch here a quick tutorial video on how to separate your dreads

Simply grab the two dreads (or more) that are conjoined together, and pull them apart from each other to the roots.. you do not have to separate your dreads all the way to the sculp, as this may is some cases cause some dread thinning at the roots with time.

you will hear some cracking hair sound, but that's ok don't worry about it.

Separating dreadlocks is a process that all dreadheads do, no matter what method they used to have dreadlocks, even dreadheads who want congos they still want to control how many dreads are going to be in every new formed congo.

So if you are planning to have dreadlocks, be prepared, along with washing and drying, separating your dreads is a routine you will have to get used to.

It is better that you make it a habbit, every other day, play with your locks by separating them.

Note that the best time to separate dreads is after the shower before they are 100% dry.

If you were not separating your dreadlocks until they matured and congos have already been formed, then pulling them apart will become very hard.. At that point and if pulling doesn't work.. the best way to split a thick dread into two smaller dreads is to brush it out and redread it again.(It is a long and annoying process but it's better than cutting them with scissors)

But if you don't want to put that much time and effort in brushing out and starting over again then the only way to separate a congo is using scissors.

But scissors must be the last choice, and it's better that you get someone else to do the cutting for you.
Be careful and enjoy every minute of your journey :)
Peace and Love

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How to Dry Dreadlocks - Dreads Drying Tutorial

How to Dry Dreadlocks - Dreads Drying Tutorial

Drying dreadlocks is one of the most annoying routines for any dreadhead, because it's time and energy comsuming. Unlike washing dreadlocks that takes only 10 to 30 mins, and no matter what you do, drying your dreadlocks will take hours.

Youtube video showing how to dry dreadlocks:

Here are few points to know about drying dreadlocks:

1- Wash your dreadlocks early: First thing you should know is that it's better that you wash your dreadlocks early in the day if you can, the earlier the better, that way you will allow them to air dry before you go to bed, it's not recommanded that you sleep with wet dreadlocks.

2- Drying starts from the shower: right after washing your dreads, proceed to squeezing them very well to get as much water out as you could. 
I do not recommand doing "head bangs" because shaking your head could be dangerous, but if you want to do that, just be careful and don't shake too hard, it does help a little bit in getting the water to the tips of your dreads.

3- Using Towels: you will mostly need two towels or more, because dreadlocks suck a lot of water in. rub the towel on your head and dreads, just like you used to do with your long hair before dreadlocks. 
wrap your dreads in the towel and squeeze them.

4- Blow drying: be careful while using the blow dryer, do not set it to maximum heat ( you don't want to fry your dreads from outside) and don't apply it on one spot for a very long time either. Same things you would actually do with undreaded hair.
You may put a towel on your dreads and make some kind of a tunnel and blow dry them while they're inside the towel like shown in the tutorial video, it helps trapping the hot air in, that way the hot hair will circulate inside and won't get wasted all over the room.. and therefor more thance to get dry dreadlocks faster.

5- Sleeping with wet dreads: If you have to sleep with dreads that are not 100% dry, put a towel on your pillow and spread your dreads all over it.

Different people will have different results, depending on the hair type, the size and lenght of dreads, and the weather where one lives, people living a hot places are luckyer than the ones living in cold humide areas.

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Drawing Dreadlocks - Bob Marley Art

Drawing Dreadlocks - Bob Marley Art

I don't know if you guys already know but I do draw lol, as you can see I just finished drawing the legend, the one and only BOB MARLEY YEAAAHHH!! or Robert Nesta Marley

And here is the video of me drawing Bob Marley on youtube (it's a speed drawing video)

It is not the first time I actually draw a person with dreadlocks, I have already did in this post. But this time I quiet did a better job, I always liked Bob Marley's dreadlocks since I was a kid.

I have a blog dedicated to my drawings and videos, you may check it if you want here: hellxfun.blogspot.com 

(Hellxfun is the name of my brand :P)

anyway, drawing dreadlocks is not as easy as it looks, it's actually harder than drawing normal hair.

Drawing Bob Marley was something I wanted to do for so long now, as a big fan of the legend of course and also because he's the first person who inspired me to start my dreadlocks journey. It all started when I was 7-8 years old when my older brother used to listen to bob marley and the wailers and had a big poster of him. The look of his dreadlocks was fascinating to me, I didn't knew at the time what was it or what is it called or how it's done, I just wanted the same look. and also I must say from that point I really started being a fan of reggae music.

back to the protrait drawing of bob marley, as I said I wanted to draw for so long but his natty dreads made me keep delaying it, because I knew it will take too long to draw, there are too many details. But this time I made up my mind, I had to do it.
Used about four pencils, a lighter pencil, a darker one, a very dark pencil and a very sharp one for the small details. an eraser of course and a paper blending stick.
The drawing took me about 4 days, yes 4 days and a lot of energy and focus, that's because I wanted it to be one of my best Artworks and Also like I said, it has so many details.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this dreadlocks drawing with you as I am very excited about it lol, I've posted it everywhere, it took me 4 days to finish lots of energy and focus

Peace and Love

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How to wash Dreadlocks

How to wash Dreadlocks

Washing dreadlocks is the number one dreads related issue that many people are confused about. Many think that in order to have dreadlocks you should stop washing your hair, while it is actually the other way around, if you want to have healthy clean dreadlocks you must wash them on a regular basis. Clean dreadlocks mature fast while dirty hair is gross and makes your scalp itchy.

I have posted last year a whole article about the top 10 myths and facts about dreadlocks.



How long until I give my new dreads a first wash?
you do not have to wait at all, but it does help if you wait a little bit and allow your hair and scalp to get used to the new thing.
how much time you should wait depends on few factors: 
* Your hair type
* How often do you usually wash your hair
* The method you used to make dreadlocks
so no one can tell you when to wash your young dreads except yourself, I suggest that you wait until your scalp starts to get itchy, the itchyest you wan handle.

How often should I wash my dreadlocks?
Same thing we said before, only YOU can decide, you can keep the same routine as you used to do before dreads or you can change it if you want, our bodies do adapt to anything new, so your scalp will get used to the new washing routine and will produce oils just as needed. So any washing routine would work just fine as long as it's not everyday that's not good,
you can obviously shower your body without washing your dreadlocks.

Shampoo and soap
there are many shampoos and soaps available. But what works well for one may not work well for the other, that's why it's better if you read reviews, ask your dreadhead friends try many types of shampoos and soaps and see which one works best for you. As long as it's residue free. you can even make your own soap if you want.

My personal dreadlocks washing routine:
you may do just as I do or you can do your own, the keys are: residue free shampoo, good rinsing and good drying.

• I first get my hair wet and give my scalp a gentle massage
• Then I put some of my shampoo on my palms and rub it all over my scalp (I don't use it on my dreads because that will happen later, also if your dreads are new be gentle with the rubbing)
• I get under the shower, the shampoo become bubbly and I rub it all over my scalp and dreads very well (massage carefully if your dreads are new)
• once I feel that I shampooed all my hair I proceed to rinsing
• I set the shower to the strongest mode and let water run through my dreads ( the more you stay under water the better)
• I squeeze my dreads to get new clean water runing through them again
• I repeat the rinsing and squeezing until I feel it's enough
• I turn off the shower and start squeezing my dreads to get all the water out
• Once I feel that I can't get any more water out and my dreads stopped dripping I proceed to drying.

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