Dreadlocks Baking Soda Deep Clean

Dreadlocks Baking Soda Deep Clean

I have already posted a tutorial about how to deep clean dreadlocks (baking soda and apple cider vinegar basic version) but it turns out that it is not the best idea to mix them both in the same bowl or bucket or sink or whatever you are using to soak your dreads in. To get the best benifits of both ingredients, it is recommanded to apply them separately on your dreadlocks.

Watch this youtube tutorial about how to deep clean dreadlocks with Baking Soda and Apple Cider Vinegar:

First deep cleanse of your baby dreads:
basically your baby dreads will not need deep cleaning for a while, washing would be enough, because you still don't have any build up yet. But at some point you will notice that washing is not enough, you will also notice that your dreads are getting easily kind of stiff some time after shower. Just keep an eye on your dreads and with time you will know when they need a deep cleaning.

How often to deep clean dreadlocks?
Same as above, keep an eye on your dreads and you will know how often should you do it, because it different from one person to another, for example very tight dreads will need deep cleaning more often then loose ones because build up does not go away with washing, dreadheads living in windy or hot areas tend to have more build up in their dreads.. Also it depends on the shampoo you use, and many other stuff.
Ideally a deep cleanse between once a month and once every two months would be perfect

How to deep clean dreadlocks?
What most (if not all) dreadheads use to deep clean dreads is the Baking Soda soak. (Baking Soda is also called bicarbonate of soda), it is famous for its cleaning benefits and also available and cheap.
The most basic dreadlocks deep clean recipe:

• Bowl / Sink / Bucket...: Anything that could help you soak your dreads for about 30 minutes. Make sure all your hair will sink in water, and try to find a comfortable position.
• 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 table spoons to the warm water, How much to add depends on how much water you are using.. just don't use to much until it builds up in the bottom.
• Stir 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

Now it is time for he apple cider vinegar:
Please note that you need Apple cider vinegar after baking soda because it will balance the PH of your hair:

• You can either resink your dreads in a bowl filled with apple cider vinegar and water
• Or you can use a spray bottle and spray apple cider vinegar all over your dreads.
• Rinse your dreads very well again.
• Proceed to washing your hair with shampoo like you usually do.

You will notice that your dreads are lighter and cleaner than usual.
* You may also check these posts:
How to wash your dreadlocks
How to dry your dreadlocks

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Retwisting dreadlocks

Retwisting dreadlocks (not for all hair types)

Sometimes when your dreads start growing you may want to retwist the roots, the newly grown hair may take some time to lock and that will  annoy some people  who want a neat dreads look. 

how to retwist: simply follow the instructions in the video, you may use some organic wax (I do not recommand wax in general but if you want to use it pick an organic one) then make your dreads into braids as shown, this will help the roots to lock.

As it says in the title, this will not work for all hair types, and you need to be cautious about products you use on your dreads and how you treat them. because twisting your dreads violently may cause some damages, and sometimes you do not notice the damages right away, it takes a while before your dreads start thinning and you wouldn't even know why. That is why I will say it again, be careful how you treat your dreads and always notice any changes, treat them like your babies, because they are.

Other than that I will just suggest that you let your dreads do their thing and be patient, it might get frustrating at some phases but that's the beauty of it.. when your dreadlocks are fully mature and become rope-like, you will have the look that you always wanted and it will be the best feeling ever.

Remember: the only maintenance that your dreadlocks really need is washing, deep cleaning sometimes, and maybe separating from time to time. The rest is optional and must be done carefully

as for Palm rolling your dreads I have already posted about it and what I think of it, you may check the post here

Or you may cheeck the maintenance section where I talked about the other techniques that dreadheads use on their dreads

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Dreadlocks Beads

Dreadlocks Beads

Decoration and accessories are one of the most important stages that many dreadheads can't wait for.For some people it's even one of the reasons that attracted them to start a dreadlocks journey in the first place.
Just like the dreadlocks wrapping that we talked about previously, there is nothing wrong with decorating your dreads with beads as long as you know everything about how to and when to use beads.



Beads on young dreadlocks:
It is not recommanded to put beads on young dreads, because dreads should be left alone to do their things and because they need to breathe. But you can still decorate your young dreads with beautiful beads as long as you don't leave them on for a long time..
(If you leave beads on your young dreads for very long time your hair might start locking on them and then it would be hard to take them off, same with wrapping them)

Washing and deep cleaning dreadlocks:
Whenever you proceed to washing or deep cleaning your dreads, you should take all the beads off, leaving the beads on will eventually cause some build up in the hidden areas, also those hidden areas won't be cleaned properly which is not cool

What beads to use:
There are many kinds of beads to choose from: glass, plastic, wood, metal... you may use any one you want, I have never heard of anyone having problem using a special kind of beads.. maybe if you're alergic to one of the ingridients you might better avoid that kind of beads. I personally like wooden beads. I also have had metal ones, but I was never crazy about beads, maybe couple here and there that's it.

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Me putting some cute colorful beads on my nieces thin dreads:

To encourage my niece and to make her like dreadlocks, I convinced her to try just few ones on the back of her pony tail, I created couple thin dreads there quickly and proceeded to decorating them as you can see in the video, she has few hair beads that are not basically dreadlocks beads but I used them on her hair anyway, tthey're kinda childish beads but so is she lol, they're mostly pink beads.. anyway she loved her thin dreads and her dread beads she even decided to keep them and go to her school with them on and show her friends

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If you like this article about dreadlocks decoration you may also like those posts:
How to wrap dreadlocks
How to make a dread ban

Peace and Love and Dreadlocks

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Sea Salt Spray for Dreadlocks

Sea Salt Spray for Dreadlocks

In this youtube video below you can see how to make a sea salt spray for dreadlocks

Sea salt is amazing for dreadloks, it is a proccess accelerator because it makes the hair frizzy and knotty and dry too. Therefore it increases the formation of locks. it is not only perfect for young dreads, but also for lose hair on fully matured dreadlocks.

You can get the benefits of sea salt by swimming regularly in the ocean, if you do not live by the ocean or you just can not swim for any other reason, you can still have the same effects by making a sea salt spray.
to make a sea salt spray for dreadlocks:



You will need:

Warm water
Warm only because it takes less time for the salt to dissolve


Sea salt
It is better to use a pure salt with no chemical additives, you only want the salt on your dreadlocks you do not need to have other products that might build in inside your dreads


Spray bottle
the best easy to use way to apply the salt all over your dreads 

How to make a sea salt spray: 

• Add just enough salt to water, it does not matter how much since eventually you only want the salt, the water will evaporate, but adding too much may just clog your spray tube and that would be annoying.
• stir very well till the salt disolves completely in the water.

That's it! your sea salt spray bottle is ready to use on your dreads.

Where to apply it

• Spray everywhere on your young dreads because the knots are still forming.
• For mature dreadlocks you may just spray on loose hair spots like on the tips or the new growth.

Important:

1- While spraying avoid your eyes and your hair scalp, having much salt on your scalp might be irritating.

2- If you are just starting to use sea salt it is better that you start spraying for short period of time before showering, because you don't know your hair reaction to salt.

3- If your hair is of the dry type avoid sea salt, as it may dry it more and that would damage it.

Notes:
Some people add lemon juice to the sea salt bottle, and that increases the dryness, but be careful if your hair gets easily dry. You may try and see the result yourself before deciding either to use it or not.

Other people add essential oils, but actually essential oils do the opposit effect of salt, it will only reduce the effectiveness of salt.

Thank you for reading, any feedback is welcome through my youtube channel or my facebook page :)

Peace and Love and Dreadloks <3

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